Theyre family: Thunder broadcaster Michael Cage and Aaron Gordons dad share special bond

ORLANDO, Fla. — As the final buzzer sounded Wednesday night and frustrated Orlando Magic fans trudged toward the Amway Center exits, a Magic player’s dad walked in the opposite direction. Ed Gordon, the father of Magic forward Aaron Gordon, headed straight toward the scorer’s table.

He had to — had to! — visit an old friend, Michael Cage, the color commentator for Oklahoma City Thunder television broadcasts.

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Ed Gordon smiled, plopped down on a courtside seat and waited for Cage and play-by-play announcer Chris Fisher to finish recapping the Thunder’s 120-114 victory over the Magic. When Fox Sports Oklahoma finally went to commercial, Gordon rose from his seat, pointed his iPhone at Cage and yelled, “Say ‘cheese’ for me one time!”

Cage pointed at Gordon and smiled as Gordon snapped a few photos, and Gordon then walked over to Cage, clasped his hand and gave him a hug.

Forty years ago, they were the ones on the court. In 1980, Cage and Gordon became teammates at San Diego State University. Along with senior point guard Tony Gwynn — yes, that Tony Gwynn — they led the 1980-81 Aztecs to a 15-12 overall record.

Cage has worked as a Thunder broadcaster since 2014, the same year the Magic drafted Aaron Gordon fourth overall. Although Cage has called two Magic-Thunder games each season since then, analyzing games that feature Ed Gordon’s youngest child always feels special.

“When you see someone’s child come up through the ranks, work their way up and become what Aaron has become, you feel happy,” Cage said in an interview. “They’re family, first of all, and you’re happy to see them prosper in a business that’s very difficult and unforgiving.”

Cage understands how competitive the business of pro basketball can be. He played 15 NBA seasons at the power forward and center positions and won the league’s rebounding title during the 1987-88 season, collecting 13.0 boards per game.

Cage enrolled at San Diego State when Ed Gordon was a sophomore, and Gordon recognized immediately that Cage had a special talent.

“He just had that big NBA body in college already,” Gordon said. “He had shoulders like bowling balls and the long arms, and he just had a knack for getting to the ball. He could go out there and rebound with anyone. He wasn’t especially a good offensive player yet. But we knew people had problems at the college level trying to defend him, so we kept feeding him.”

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San Diego State players nicknamed their star rebounder “Front Page” Cage because Cage’s on-court exploits regularly put him on Page 1 of newspaper sports sections.

Cage flourished, in part, because his older teammates, especially Gwynn and Gordon, welcomed him from the moment he arrived on campus. The kindness shown by Gwynn and Gordon has carried additional poignancy ever since Gwynn, who would become a San Diego Padres legend and a Hall of Famer in baseball, died in 2014 from cancer.

“They just treated me with respect, treated me like I was part of their brotherhood, even though I wasn’t,” Cage said. “Eddy was just a good guy. He was always willing to talk to you. Even though I played a similar position as Eddy, there was no animosity. Now that’s something that after my college days were over I really appreciated about him.”

Ed Gordon taught middle-school physical education and math for 25 years.

In college, however, he distinguished himself as a relentless 6-foot-6, 222-pound rebounder. During his freshman season in 1979-80, he had 13 double-digit rebounding games.

Cage sees a resemblance between Ed and Aaron.

“First of all,” Cage said, “everything you see in the athleticism of Aaron Gordon, his dad gave it to him. His dad was a high-flyer. He could play above the rim. He could run all day. I think he was born looking like some Greek god or something. He had just a perfect body: shoulders, arms, really muscular. When I first saw him, I said, ‘Who is this old dude?’ And I realized he was just a sophomore at the time.”

In 2013, Cage saw Aaron Gordon play for the first time. As a high school senior, Aaron’s Archbishop Mitty team lost in the California state title game to Mater Dei, a team that featured future NBA player Stanley Johnson and Cage’s son, M.J. Cage. Michael Cage was an assistant coach.

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The defeat broke Aaron’s heart. Mitty had won state titles during Aaron’s sophomore and junior seasons, and he desperately wanted to complete his high school career with a third consecutive championship.

For Ed Gordon, the only saving grace to the loss was seeing his former teammate and his former teammate’s son happy. “We would’ve loved to have had a third championship,” Ed said. “But if we had to lose one, I prefer to lose it to family.”

Aaron Gordon has gotten to know Michael Cage over the years. They typically say hello to each other well before tipoff of Magic-Thunder games.

“Basketball is a small world,” Aaron said. “You meet some really good people in this lifetime through basketball. The people that you meet throughout this game of basketball is a blessing.”

Ed Gordon watched Wednesday’s game from a seat along one of the baselines and saw his son scored 14 points, grab eight rebounds and dish out three assists.

Ed said he was disappointed with the Magic’s loss, but he said he at least looked forward to speaking to his old teammate again.

After their hug, Ed took a selfie with Cage.

And soon, Cage and Fisher had to go back on-air.

Ed said goodbye, and as he walked toward one of the Amway Center tunnels, he smiled and said, “That’s my guy! That’s my guy!”

(Top photo of Thunder announcers Michael Cage and Chris Fisher: Kim Klement / USA Today)

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