Florida Today

December 4, 2007
by John Denton II

Orlando Magic's Foyle is content

OAKLAND, Calif. - Rare is the NBA player who sits in the locker room and reads the Wall Street Journal, talks politics and uses the kinds of words to describe basketball that would make an Ivy Leaguer scratch his head.

Even rarer is the NBA player who would willingly give back guaranteed money on his contract.

Adonal Foyle, a godsend of a backup center for the Orlando Magic, is both.

Foyle spent the past decade in Golden State, and even though the franchise toiled mostly in mediocrity, he became a fan favorite in the Bay Area because of his fearless style of play and humanitarian work off the court.

A native of a Canouan, a tiny island in the Eastern Caribbean, Foyle became a U.S. citizen last spring in a ceremony in San Francisco. And the Colgate University graduate founded "Democracy Matters," a non-profit political organization that encourages grass-roots involvement in campaign reform.

But none of that mattered last season when new Warriors coach Don Nelson opted for a faster tempo and unceremoniously shoved Foyle out of the rotation. Golden State became the NBA's feel-good story last spring, making the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons. But Foyle knew it was time to move on because he didn't fit in the new run-and-gun style.

Still owed $20 million of a five-year, $42 million contract, Foyle and the Warriors worked out a contract buyout that would allow him to move on and play for a franchise that better suited him. What was unique was that Foyle actually cut his former franchise quite a deal. Whereas most NBA buyouts equate to 90 cents on the dollar, Foyle forfeited some $6 million for his release.

"It is rare, especially at the threshold that I did the buyout," said Foyle, who returned to Oakland on Monday night with the Magic to face the Warriors. "I think people who know me know the money wasn't a big decision in terms of what I hold important. I could have done a lot of good with that money, but at the same time when you are talking about someone's emotional health, there's no comparison in that sense.

"I have no animosity whatsoever. They have a winning team and if they wanted to go in that direction I felt it was important for them to have the people they wanted and me not just stay because they had made a commitment to me. I really am OK with it."

Foyle, 32, has helped the Magic immensely, be it guarding Dwight Howard in practice or bellying up against the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Eddy Curry. Twice on the Magic's roadtrip he bailed out the Magic when Howard got in early foul trouble, contributing eight points and 10 rebounds against Portland and eight points and seven rebounds against the Los Angeles Lakers.

For the season, he's averaging 2.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 9.8 minutes, but his value goes so much deeper than that.

"He's a veteran leader and a leader in the locker room," said Magic GM Otis Smith, who knew Foyle from his time working for the Warriors years ago. "He's going to come to work every day and show Dwight how it's done. He has to guard Dwight a lot in practice and that's huge for us. You can look around the league and it would be hard to find one better than him. He's done everything we we've wanted and then some."

Foyle quickly signed with the Magic last July days after working out his buyout with Golden State and says he hasn't regretted it at all. He said part of his decision to move on from the Warriors was because of the love he has for the franchise.

"I think part of loving a place and respecting who you are is being able to make difficult decisions and living with whatever consequences come," he said. "For me, the Warriors were very good for me for 10 years and if they wanted to go in another direction that was OK with me.

"To me it was more important to go and play somewhere a couple of more years. I'll never make back all of that money (lost in the buyout), but at least I can enjoy the last few years of the game that I have left. Then, I can retire and go to the islands and live if I have to."

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