Daryl “MaJic” Dorsey lights up the courts with his fancy footwork and lightning quick crossover, often breaking his opponents’ ankles and dazzling crowds.  If you have ever seen him play, he seems like he is driven by an unknown force. 

The 6'1" point guard began playing at an early age as a streetballer and earned international acclaim when he played on the And1 Mixtape Tour.  While Dorsey is the proud owner of a copyrighted move called “DaMaJic Tornado” and is well-known in the streetball circles, his basketball pedigree, life experiences, and sheer determination have enabled him to elude the stigma attached to playing on the streetball circuit and put himself in a legitimate position to make the jump to the NBA.  Last season, MaJic played in the NBA Developmental League (NBDL) with Albuquerque and Reno, where he averaged 8.7 ppg, 3.3 apg, and 1.8 rpg in 20 minutes per game.  MaJic is pursuing a spot on an NBA roster this summer and looks to be on the cusp of following the path of former AND 1 Tour streetball legend Rafer Alston (AKA Skip to My Lou), who successfully made the transition to the NBA.
 
Growing up in East Baltimore, MaJic was a talented athlete in football as well as basketball. Not only is the basketball “magic” in his hands, this 185-pounder boasts 4.4 40 speed.  On the football field, Dorsey was the 1998-1999 Maryland High School Football Player of the Year and a Gatorade High School All-American at Dunbar High School in Baltimore, Maryland.  He also still holds the Maryland state records for most touchdowns in one game with 6 and most all-purpose yards in a single contest with 624.  On the basketball court, he received All-Metro and All-State honors, averaging 25 ppg and 8 apg and leading his team to the Maryland 2A State Championship in 1999.
 
MaJic seemed to have the world at his fingertips; then the unthinkable happened.
 
During his junior year at Dunbar High, a classmate was killed and fingers were pointed at MaJic.  For five weeks, this talented athlete sat in a cell, waiting for his name to be cleared.  When that day finally came, he had lost the treasured football scholarship Florida State had offered him due to the time he missed from school, which caused his grades to drop to the point that he no longer qualified academically.
 
Instead of dwelling on the past like some might have been tempted to do, he forged ahead, making the most of every opportunity he could find.
 
Putting the incident behind him, MaJic enrolled at Brevard Community College in Florida, where he joined the basketball team and put up incredible numbers for two years—21.5 ppg, 8.4 apg, and 3.7 spg (2001-02 season) and 28.7 ppg, 8.4 apg, and 3.4 spg (2002-03 season).  In 2003, MaJic was named the top Juco point guard in the nation by Sporting News Magazine and Slam Magazine.  That year, he ranked second in the country in scoring with 28.6 points per game.  In addition to those honors, he was also selected as the 2002-03 Florida Juco Player of the Year.  Dorsey broke the school record at Brevard Community College for career points, steals in a single season, and free throws made in a single game.
 
After dominating at the Juco level, MaJic sat out a year and transferred to Division II Southern Indiana.  Before the 2004 season started, MaJic decided that it was time to move on from his college career and signed his first professional contract with the Las Vegas Rattlers of the ABA.  In 2004-05, he was named the ABA Rookie of the Year, averaging 27 ppg, 8 apg, and 3 spg. 

The next season, he excelled again, but this time, it was with the Rome Gladiators of the World Basketball Association (WBA).  MaJic was named the 2005 WBA League MVP, leading the league in points and assists with 24.3 and 10.2 respectively.
 
After putting up big-time numbers, it seemed as though MaJic was ready for the NBA.  He was the only junior college player invited in 2005 to the NBA Chicago Pre-Draft Camp, but sadly his name was never called.  

"I came out of school early after my sophomore year.  I was the Junior College Player of the Year in the U.S.  I was the only junior college player that year to be invited with top division one players.  It was a tough draft that year.  I have a lot of teams working me out this summer, so hopefully everything will be fine.  I got drafted into the Developmental League that year."

MaJic picked up the pieces again and went on with business.  In 2005, he played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the NBDL for 7 games before joining the Marietta Storm in the WBA in April 2006.  With the Storm, MaJic averaged 32.9 ppg and 11.4 apg in 20 games, leading the league in both categories.  In July, he moved to Mexico to play for the Mayas de Yucatan (WBA), where he again led the league with 35.4 ppg and 11.2 apg.  MaJic was then selected as the 6th pick in the 2006-07 NBDL Draft by Anaheim, the NBDL affiliate of the Los Angeles Clippers.  For Anaheim, MaJic averaged 12.5 ppg, 5.3 apg, 1.4 spg, 88.5% ft.  After a very short stay with another NBDL team in training camp, MaJic joined the Mayas again, scoring 29.7 ppg, winning a WBA Championship, and receiving the League’s MVP for the second time.


Since then, MaJic has been bouncing around the NBDL with stints on several different teams including Albuquerque and Reno.

MaJic’s talents have enabled him to play ball around the world, including in Mexico (Mayas de Yucatan) and in Venezuela (Guaros de Lara).  It must be exciting traveling to foreign countries doing what you love to do.  In speaking about playing oveseas, MaJic said:

"My experience playing overseas was a great experience because the fans really embrace you.  It's not like America.  In America, fans just come out for a game, but overseas, it's like the whole city comes out.  I did well over there.  I got MVP, import player of the year twice.  The fans really embraced me over there.  It was a wonderful feeling just to be able to leave out of the country and play basketball and have people around the world wanting to see you play."

Basketball has also given MaJic the opportunity to build a strong friendship with Detroit Lions QB Daunte Culpepper.  While playing a pick-up game on the And1 Tour in 2003, MaJic ran into an old friend from Baltimore, Larry Tucker, who was with close friend Daunte Culpepper. Tucker had often mentioned MaJic's talents to Culpepper after watching MaJic play back home.  After watching Dorsey perform his magic with the basketball, Daunte exchanged phone numbers with him.  The two played a few games of hoops together and soon became good friends. Culpepper has watched over MaJic ever since, referring to him as his "little brother."

"I grew up real tough and as far as my last name being a Dorsey, out of everyone in my family, no one had a degree.  No one finished school.  No one was an athlete, doctor, lawyer, teacher, nothin'.  So I'm just trying to represent my last name the way it should be represented because no one in the family did it.  That's my motivation on the court; to see 'Dorsey' as trying to start a new family trend of living the right way."

This young man has his head on straight, doing the best he can do to improve his way of life, his family's name, and to show other young men and women that growing up in a bad neighborhood doesn't always mean they have to follow that way of life.  There is a way out, but only if you want there to be one.
 
When asked about himself and who MaJic really is, he said:

"I'm just a hard worker and I'm just the type of person that I want to make it.  I want to live my life the right way and have my faith in the Lord.  I just want to be able to be on the basketball court to be able to compete, doing something that I love to do, being around kids who know who I am.  I feel like I have accomplished something.  My blessing is basketball, my God-given talent.  As long as I'm doing what God wants me to do, I am a happy person."

MaJic was very humble during our conversation, never uttering a negative word, and only looking forward to the future.  I asked him to give me a few last thoughts, a piece of advice for those less fortunate.

"I just want to say to people who are likely going through stuff right now, they need to find out what their God-given talent is and put their faith in the Lord and use that God-given talent to change, get off the streets, fix family problems and stuff like that.  Look for the positive things and not the bad things."

MaJic knows that he has a limited amount of time to make his dreams come true.  Everyone needs a back-up plan if they can't be doing what they want to do, so I asked MaJic what his future plans are after basketball. 

"If I wasn't playing ball, I'd be working with kids, trying to be a coach, and working on getting my real estate license to get into that field.  I have my degree in public relations.  I'd be doing anything dealing with the public and dealing with kids."

MaJic Dorsey has yet to sign an NBA contract. He has been at home in Orlando, Florida training with the Orlando Magic.  He has also received offers to play in Italy and Turkey.  The Magic could have one of the most dynamic and exciting backcourts in the league if they sign Daryl “MaJic” Dorsey as a complement to newly acquired Jason Williams (AKA White Chocolate).  If the Magic want to repeat last year’s run, they better add a little more “MaJic” to their roster, especially after the recent departure of Rafer Alston to New Jersey and the toned-down court demeanor of White Chocolate at this stage of his career.

Matthew Allinson was a contributing author.

On behalf of Access Athletes, we would like to thank Daryl "MaJic" Dorsey for taking time out of his busy schedule to do an interview with The Real Athlete Blog.