New Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane held his introductory press conference on Tuesday, and he took a bit of a shot at his former team, the Memphis Grizzlies, during it. A reporter asked Bane about him saying the Grizzlies needed a facility like the Magic’s AdventHealth Training Center a couple of years ago, and he stated he finds this one a whole lot better.
“It’s different, bro,” Bane said. “The one in Memphis, we ain’t have not one window… We joked around and called it the dungeon, but this is a breath of fresh air. I mean you literally can step outside and get a breath of fresh air and eat on the patio. I mean there’s indoor, outdoor training facility. You know all the bells and whistles are in here,”
This is certainly not a good look for the Grizzlies. The fact that the players themselves were calling it a dungeon is far from ideal, and free agents certainly would take note of that.
Grizzlies fans didn’t like Bane’s comments and started sharing pictures of the team’s practice courts. While those look just fine, the problem becomes clear when you take a look at the weight room.
I think he’s talking about this pic.twitter.com/3RsuKOwHOr
— 𝐈𝐓𝐙𝐒𝐊𝐈🏹 (@Itzski_) June 18, 2025
I suppose you can understand this being called the dungeon by the players, with the lack of windows. Perhaps the Grizzlies’ owners will decide to change things after Bane made these comments. As for his original post from 2022 that led to the question, you can check it out below.
“This what we need!”
Bane appears to have deleted this post, and you can imagine that the Grizzlies wouldn’t have been too happy when he put that up. Now that he’s no longer on the team, he can speak his mind without hesitation.
As for the Magic’s training facility, it is quite an impressive one. The team and AdventHealth unveiled the $70 million state-of-the-art facility in August 2022. The 130,000-square-foot complex is just a block away from the Kia Center as well.
The facility has two full-sized courts, a large team living room with nutrition offerings and a kitchen, three pools, an altitude chamber, a sensory deprivation chamber, and a barber shop. There are also indoor and outdoor training spaces, which is something Bane particularly appreciates.
Bane also revealed during this press conference that after his 2024-25 season ended, he and his agent discussed his preferred landing spots if he ever got traded. He claimed that the Magic were right at the top of the list and is delighted to be here.
“Before [Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman] told me where I was going, my heart sank, just because there’s 29 other teams outside of the Grizzlies that I could have ended up [with],” Bane stated. “Once he said Orlando, I was smiling through the phone. I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful like I was moving on from Memphis that fast, but I was genuinely excited about the new opportunity.”
The Magic acquired Bane from the Grizzlies by parting with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, the 16th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns‘ 2026 first-round pick, and their 2028 and 2030 first-round picks. They also agreed to a first-round pick swap in 2029.
While that was a lot to give up for Bane, who averaged 19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in 2024-25, the Magic desperately needed a shooter like him. The 26-year-old has shot 41.0% from beyond the arc for his career and helps address one of the major problems with this roster.
