Magic Moment

Stephen Brooks and his daughter, Ashley, stood in center court at an Orlando Magic halftime ceremony celebrating his selection as a Black History Month honoree. More often, however, you’ll find him on the sidelines treating players’ eyes. As the Magic’s team ophthalmologist for the past 13 seasons, Brooks has mended everything from scraped corneas and torn lids to fractures of the orbital wall. Most eye injuries in basketball result from elbowing, crashes and falls and could be prevented with goggles, says Brooks, who also practices general ophthalmology. “A lot of athletes have ‘gifted’ vision in terms of depth perception, acuity and eye-hand coordination,” he observes. A former Stanford linebacker who played in the 1971 Rose Bowl, Brooks says his close association with the Magic and other teams has been exciting “because I still get to be part of that competitive world.”