Mike Bianchi: Playoffs? Markelle Fultz says Magic can win Eastern Conference.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Did he really just say what we thought he said?

Did Orlando Magic point guard Markelle Fultz really just say he thought they could win the Eastern Conference this year and advance to the NBA Finals?

Did he really say the Magic, who finished 12 games below .500 last year, could become East champions in a season when superstar Damian Lillard just joined the Milwaukee Bucks and All-Star Jrue Holiday just joined the Boston Celtics?

These were my initial thoughts at Magic Media Day on Monday when Fultz was answering a question about what his team is capable of achieving this season.

“I have high expectations for this team,” Fultz said. “We have a lot of great talent, and what we’ve been through is only going to make us strong. I think we can come out of the East.”

Just to be sure of what he said, I interjected: “You said, ‘Come out of the East.’ Do you mean win the East?”

Replied Fultz: “Yes, that’s the belief I have in this team.”

I admire Fultz’s confidence and his willingness to put such a bold statement out there for public consumption, but I do wonder if this was just Media Day bravado. Almost every player I spoke to said — as they should — they think the Magic will make the playoffs. In fact, star player Paolo Banchero, at a team celebration after he won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year last season, said it loud and clear: “Playoffs or bust!”

When old-school taskmaster Tom Coughlin built the Jaguars into the most successful expansion franchise in NFL history — leading them to the conference championship game in only their second-year of existence — he had a sign hanging on the locker room wall. On the sign was the Latin phrase, “Res, non verba.”

Deeds, not words.

This is my challenge to the Orlando Magic.

Prove that you are serious about your preseason predictions and expectations.

Prove to your beleaguered fans, who have endured 10 losing seasons in the last 11 years, that you’re different; that you’re willing to put in the dedication, perspiration and preparation to become great.

Don’t sell us on high hopes; sell us on hard work.

Yes, it’s great that this young, up-and-coming Magic team has the inner confidence to think they are playoff contenders and maybe even NBA Finals material, but do they have the inner drive? Are the Magic willing to put in the work to back up their words?

By all accounts, this is a hard-working basketball team. At least that’s what coach Jamahl Mosley says; that’s what president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman says; that’s what the players themselves say. But doesn’t every team in every sport think they are working hard?

Have you ever heard a coach say, “Man, I’ve got a team full of lazy malingerers.”?

Have you ever heard a GM say, “Good grief, how did I draft such a bunch of goof-offs?”

Have you ever heard an athlete say, “I’m pretty much just going through the motions out there, relying on my athletic ability and doing just enough to get by.”?

Working hard is a matter of opinion. As legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said, “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” Translation: It’s not what you do during basketball practice when you’re being coached; it’s what you do after basketball practice when you’re alone. Do you eat right? Sleep right? Train right? Live right?

Former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told me a story about Kobe Bryant once. It was one summer when Kobe was on a Disney vacation in Orlando with his wife and his young daughters. Kobe couldn’t find a gym to work out in for the few days he was here, so he phoned then-Magic GM Otis Smith to see if he could use their old practice court at the RDV Sports Complex.

“Kobe assured Otis that he would show up at 5:30 a.m. at RDV and be gone before any of our [Magic] players got there,” Van Gundy recalled. “I remember thinking at the time, ‘As if this guy’s not tough enough to beat. Wow, this is a little above and beyond what most people are willing to do.’ ”

Added Van Gundy: “Here’s a guy who was on vacation and there was no thought of taking off three or four days and just enjoying it with his family. No. No. It’s a bit of a drive from Disney to Maitland, so Kobe was probably getting up at 4:30 in the morning to get his workout in every day while he was on vacation. It was tremendous what he was doing as an athlete, but also with his family. He wasn’t looking to get his workout in at a more convenient time in the middle of the day and take away from the family’s vacation and fun; he was going to do his work real early in the morning and then have the days with his family on vacation. Pretty impressive stuff.”

That’s what working hard and living right means. That’s what separates good players from great players. That’s what separates championship teams from lottery teams.

Sometimes, even when you think you’re working hard, you’re really not. During his team’s Media Day last week, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards recalled a pre-draft workout he had with Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and then-team president Bob Myers leading up to the 2020 NBA draft — when the Timberwolves had the No. 1 overall pick and the Warriors had the second pick..

“I thought I was working hard,” Edwards said. “I was going through drills and [Kerr] kept stopping them, like, ‘That’s all you got? That’s all you got?’ And I’m like, ‘Bruh, I’m going hard as you want me to go. What do you want me to do? I’m sweating like crazy.’

“He’s like, ‘Man, you’ve got to see Steph [Curry], KD [Kevin Durant] and Klay [Thompson] work out,’ ” Edwards continued. “They [Kerr and Myers] were continuously telling me, ‘You didn’t work hard enough. If we had the No. 1 pick, we wouldn’t take you.’ And I was just like, ‘Damn, that’s crazy.' ”

But as he left the meeting with his agent, Edwards realized Kerr was right.

“After that, I was a madman in the gym,” Edwards said.

What about it, Orlando Magic?

Are you willing to become madmen in your quest to make the playoffs?

Are you willing to live in the gym and show us basketball isn’t just your sport; it’s your passion?

Are you willing to dive headfirst for loose balls and collect floor burns as if they were badges of honor?

Are you willing to do the grunt work every minute of every game; play relentless, belly-to-belly defense and attack the boards like a shark in a feeding frenzy?

Are you willing to chase greatness one game and one sweat-saturated jersey at a time?

And are you willing to live up to the tattoo on Markelle Fultz’s left calf: “F2G” — his abbreviated mantra for “Faithful to the Grind”?

Prove it to us.

Back up your words with work.

Res, non verba.