The big news in the NBA this week was Jason Collins coming out as the first actively gay male athlete in professional team sports in the United States. The announcement was met with generally positive comments and support from the NBA and players around the league.

Collins has taken this unprecedented step at a time when homosexuality is widely accepted in American society and the push for marriage equality is gaining steam -- even Paul Ryan, the super conservative Wisconsin senator who was Mitt Romney's running mate in the previous Presidential election, came out this week in support of adoption for gay couples.

It is a major change in the last decade and a sign of progress of acceptance and tolerance within this country. Certainly, a decade ago the mood would have been different.

That was the atmosphere that John Amaechi was playing in when he was a member of the Magic from 2000-01 (two seasons). Amaechi, in his book Man in the Middle, in which he described being a closeted gay man in an NBA locker room, suspected that his career abruptly ended in Utah because of homophobic feelings within the organization.

When Amaechi came out as gay in 2007, the reaction was one of near shock. It was still a completely foreign concept in sports. The mood had changed however, as Tim Hardaway was reviled for homophobic comments he made on a local radio station in Miami. Hardaway, to his credit, has reformed his views and is more accepting now, admitting his ignorance in his past.

Amaechi has been making the radio rounds, providing his usually perceptive and witty commentary on the issue and current events. He was on with Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel on his Open Mike show on 740 The Game on Wednesday to talk about Collins and his experience.

There, Amaechi revealed he suspected Magic teammates knew he was gay and they "took care of" him. It seems even a decade ago, locker rooms were more understanding than originally suspected.

I just thought I would lose my job. My teammates knew. We didn't talk about, but they knew. ... My teammates took care of me.

Over the next few weeks Orlando Magic Daily will be taking a look at the things that went right and wrong this season as Orlando ended its season with its first Lottery season in six years.

Except for a few shining examples, the Magic's drafting history is not so stellar.

We remember, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard and Mike Miller. Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott were great picks in the early years. Between them though you have an organization that has constantly swung and missed on young players.

During the Tracy McGrady years, the Magic were unable to stock up on cheap, young talent to try and stem the tide when Grant Hill was hurt. Often the players Orlando drafted in this era were not able to contribute.

It is not easy to find great draft picks in the middle of the draft, but John Gabriel certainly could have and should have done better than the combination of Keyon Dooling (traded to the Clippers on draft night), Courtney Alexander, Steven Hunter, Jeryl Sasser, Curtis Borchardt (traded to the Jazz for Ryan Humphrey on draft night) and Reece Gaines.

All of those players either never contributed or struggled to contribute to the Magic during an important time in Magic history.

Under Otis Smith, the Magic seemed more interested in dealing their draft picks for veteran players to stay in the championship hunt. Only J.J. Redick and Courtney Lee contributed to the team in the drafts after Howard.

Then came Rob Hennigan and this year's Draft. Orlando picked up Andrew Nicholson and Kyle O'Quinn in their first two picks, two players with experience from the college game and pretty refined games entering the league already. Then Hennigan acquired rookie Maurice Harkless, Philadelphia's first round draft pick. He also picked up second-year player Nikola Vucevic. Later in the season he grabbed second-year forward Tobias Harris.

For once, the Magic mined young talent and struck gold.

Over the next few weeks Orlando Magic Daily will be taking a look at the things that went right and wrong this season as Orlando ended its season with its first Lottery season in six years.

They hit on game number one and did not seem to relent. The Magic had no choice but to roll with the punches and stay positive as they derailed any chance for consistency and success this season.

In the third quarter of the season opener against Denver, Hedo Turkoglu went up for a layup and a player hit his hand. It was broken and Turkoglu would be out until late December. As Adam Papageorgiou pointed out on the ELOOnline Podcast Magic Season Review, Turkoglu came to camp in shape and ready to contribute in a major way after a disappointing season and a half with the Magic (PED suspension aside . . .).

Instead, he played in just 11 games and never found his rhythm, scoring 32 total points and shooting 1 for 24 from beyond the arc.

Unfortunately, Turkoglu was just the beginning of the hit parade that became the Magic's season.

No hit was harder than Glen Davis going down with a shoulder injury on December 19. At that point, Orlando was 12-13 and could at least think about entertaining the idea of a run into the Playoffs -- just to shut some critics up. Davis averaged  15.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, taking full advantage of his larger role within the Magic's offense and taking his leaderhsip role very seriously.

The season fell apart from there as Orlando would win only eight of the final 57 games of the season.

Amway Center continues to impress as a building and arena experience even three years into its existence.

Stadium Journey Magazine has once again ranked Amway Center among the top arena experiences in the league, coming in third place in this year's poll of NBA stadiums. The Amway Center ranked second in last year's poll behind only the Staples Center in Los Angeles for Lakers game.

This year's poll has Amway Center third behind AT&T Center in San Antonio and Staples Center (Lakers) in Los Angeles.

If having a gorgeous place to watch a game is why you come to the place, then it is outstanding. It is very upscale, even if you are in the cheap seats. The employees there are among the friendliest stadium workers in the business. They really go out of their way. They have something for everyone, including a play area for the little kids. Even outside the arena, walking in and going up the escalators to your seats is impressive. The streets are clean and the arena is lit up in Magic Blue lights. The lobby looks like something you'd find in an airport. For "WOW" it is hard to beat.

The poll takes into account the overall stadium experience including the price of concessions, in-stadium atmosphere, the neighborhood the stadium is located and "return on investment."

Paul Swaney of Stadium Journey Magazine said the reason the Amway Center dropped from second to third in the league was because of the in-game atmosphere at the stadium, something he attributed to the team's overall record and performance.

The Magic were not a strong team this season, but still did decently in attendance. They ranked 16th in the league in attendance this year according to Basketball-Reference, averaging 17,596 in attendance per game.

The criticisms of the Amway Center crowd experience still exist. Fans are still often late to return to their seats after halftime and the crowd can be disinterested at times. However, when the game gets tight or when it is a big game, Magic fans are as good as any others in the league. The team's poor record certainly affects interest on the court.

It will be interesting to see how the atmosphere might change when the Magic complete the entertainment district they have planned for the property across the street from Amway Center. That is still in its planning phases and is at least three years away from being realized. By then, hopefully the novelty of Amway Center has not worn off and the stadium is still delighting fans.

Mark Jackson was faced witha difficult dilemma entering his team's second matchup with Denver in the Playoffs. With David Lee out for the Postseason thanks to a torn hip flexor, Jackson asked his assistant coaches to talk him out of starting point guard Jarrett Jack alongside Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry.

They gave him the go-ahead and the rest was history. Golden State evened up its series behind a 64 percent shooting night, one of the great offensive performances in Playoff history. The move worked perfectly and seems to continue to work as Golden State's offense continued to efficiently hum along in Game Three on Friday night.

The Rockets were faced with a similar decision and opted to sit power forward Greg Smith for Game Two and commit to a small lineup by starting Patrick Beverly. It worked to some degree as Houston turned a 29-point Game One loss into a two-point Game Two loss.

Even the Celtics, looking for an offensive spark, opted to slide Jason Terry into the lineup and take out power forward Brandon Bass. That plan did not work as well as the other two, but the general idea was there. These teams wanted to spread the floor more and create defensive issues by putting as many shooters on the floor as possible -- sometimes defensive consequences be damned.

The power forward position has changed dramatically in the last decade. Perhaps it started with Mike D'Antoni putting Shawn Marion at power forward. The revolution in the NBA into positionless basketball largely happened in Orlando the last five years.

The 3-pointer is one of the most important shots in basketball. Offense are now completely built around it. The power forward is more or less dead. And the Magic might very well have started it. However, now the team is in transition and the franchise's relationship with the 3-pointer has completely changed.

The Magic signed Rashard Lewis to a max contract and change the NBA in four years. Stan Van Gundy, Orlando's recently hired coach, did something drastic in putting him at power forward instead of his traditional small forward. Van Gundy's idea was to spread the flor with 3-point shooters and let it fly with Dwight Howard drawing the defense into the paint.

Washington Wizards center Jason Collins came out as the first active openly gay player in American team sports Monday in an article in Sports Illustrated, a landmark moment in the gay rights movement and for acceptance in American culture.

I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay.

I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand.

Collins is a 12-year pro who has bounced around the league but has always been a model of professionalism and grit. He never cared about stats and was more likely to foul than score. He led the league in personal fouls and was often the guy teams sent in to foul hard and set screens. It was not a glamorous role. But as Collins writes, he did not care.

In his 12-year career, Collins has gone to the Playoffs nine times, including a turn as the "Dwight stopper" in the 2011 Playoffs. OK, so maybe Howard still averaged 27.0 points per game and 15.5 rebounds per game. However, Atlanta's willingness to defend Howard one on one using Collins stymied Orlando's outside shooting in Atlanta's six-game series win.

Collins should be remembered for that kind of grit and determination. In a perfect world, he would.

The Orlando Magic season is two weeks from its conclusion. The focus for the organization has slowly turned toward the NBA Draft and the next stage of the team's growth and development. The players have dispersed from Amway Center and from Orlando for a brief vacation and they will be going in and out of the city as they prep for the 2013-14 season. It is a long way away.

With the season freshly concluded, enough time has passed to really get into the nitty gritty and review the season.

I joined Sports Talk Florida's Mary Stevens and Eric Lopez and Magic Basketball Online's Adam Papageorgiou on Sunday for a discussion of all things Magic from a review of Jacque Vaughn's first year, who could be leaving the Magic this summer, what the future holds for Maurice Harkless and Tobias Harris and who the Magic might take in the upcoming NBA Draft.

It is an hour long podcast, but is well worth the listen. To take a listen you can click on the link above, or click here. I will hopefully be back later in the day as I continue my season recap with a look at What Went Right and What Went Wrong this season.

The Magic will be sending a reliable token of luck for the NBA Draft Lottery on May 21.

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports that Pat Williams will represent the Magic once again at the NBA Draft Lottery. Williams was present when the Magic won the Draft Lottery in 1992 (Shaquille O'Neal), 1993 (Anfernee Hardaway) and 2004 (Dwight Howard). The Magic are hoping that he can once again provide some luck and help the Magic get the No. 1 pick.

Of course, Williams has little to do with actually helping the Magic win the lottery. The lottery is conducted behind closed doors (overseen by Ernst & Young representatives) at the NBA's offices in Secaucus, N.J., before the envelopes are put in place for Adam Silver to reveal on national television.

Williams is the Magic's ultimate good luck charm. He came down from Philadelphia in the mid-1980s and helped Jim Hewitt fulfill his vision of bringing basketball to Central Florida. Williams has been a part of the Magic organization in some form or fashion ever since -- serving as the team's first general manager and then moving into an executive vice president role.

He is the ultimate salesman and if anyone can coax randomness his way, it is Williams. Those ping pong balls will not know what hit them.

The Draft is now two months away (exactly two months away -- June 28) and the Magic are going to begin bringing in prospects and working them out very soon. There is still the NBA Combine in Chicago to get through and, of course, the Lottery. The Magic are still doing their due diligence on the top prospects such as Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore, Trey Burke and Victor Oladipo among plenty others to be sure.

Rob Hennigan has his work cut out for him. He has surely begun his research and analysis with his scouting staff reviewing their thoughts from the scouting done during the season.

For now the waiting begins. At least the Magic have their Lottery ace in the hole ready to go.

Glen Davis is known for speaking his mind. He provided some of the most quotable moments of the season in his short playing time this season -- anyone remember "Opinions are like butt holes. Everyone has got one. Some of them stink." during the Magic's opening weekend?

Davis took the role of team captain seriously and was a leader on and off the floor. When he was injured, he was taking his energy and boisterousness out to the community.

For the first time in his career, Davis is not playing in the Playoffs and that certainly hurts him. He talked all season about the hunger to compete for a championship and that is an important presence on this team.

A little thing like staying home for the Playoffs is not going to keep Davis from being part of the Playoffs though. Davis is taking his turn as a member of the media this postseason (h/t Michael Brumagin of Sheridan Hoops):

Happy to announce that I will be a guest commentator throughout the playoffs with the @bleacherreport. Should be fun. Ayo Baby!!!

— Glen Davis (@iambigbaby11) April 25, 2013

Oh yeah, that is right, Davis is providing his Playoff thoughts for Bleacher Report. And Davis is providing his unique perspective on the postseason.

Over the next few weeks Orlando Magic Daily will be taking a look at the things that went right and wrong this season as Orlando ended its season with its first Lottery season in six years.

The season was a tough one to get through. It would have been easy to give in to despair pretty quickly and disparage the players on the team and the organization's fate. Dwight Howard put fans through the ringer and it would be difficult to trust someone again. The next star on this roster might have to deal with that collateral, emotional damage from that.

In Year One, post-Dwight, Magic fans generally left the season with a positive frame of mind. Orlando might have finished with the worst record in the league, but you would not know it from how fans talk about the team and the general direction it is going.

It is tough to find optimism when you are losing 10 games in a row multiple times, suffer through 62 losses and eight wins in the final 57 games. That would be plenty of reason to stop watching.

Yet, Jacque Vaughn and the young players on the roster helped put a positive sping on an otherwise frustrating season. It did not feel as bad as the record would suggest.

A lot of that credit could go to lowered expectations and the surprising emergence of several young players to build on for future years. A lot of that credit should also go to the way Jacque Vaughn approached this team.

Vaughn had a difficult task put ahead of him for his first year as a head coach. There were growing pains with his first year as he learned how to manage a roster and guide a team through a season. But one thing he certainly did well was keep his team playing hard and playing together through difficult losses.