Shaquille O’ Neal questions Orlando Magic’s head coach hunt – NBA News
Orlando Magic have been in fire fighting mode for the past few months now, and their lack of decision making and inability to get back on track is forcing people to criticize and question what the team management is doing in Orlando.
Among those Shaquille O’ Neal has by far been the most vocal (not as much as Charles Barkley off course).
The former Orlando big man recently tweeted his feelings about Magic’s handling of the head coaching post;
“Orlando Magic is about to hire jock Vaughn over Mike Malone or Brian Shaw are you kidding me, wow, good luck winning wit dat team Dwite Howard.”
The whole downfall for the Magic started last season when head Coach Stan Van Gundy revealed in an astonishing press conference that All Star Centre Dwight Howard had asked team management to fire him, setting up a fall off between
the coach and star.
Howard was already interested in moving to the Brooklyn Nets next season to pair up with point guard Deron Williams and he again asked to be traded. The Orlando Magic fired Van Gundy in an attempt to keep their franchise player,
but Howard still insisted on his demand.
This set off a long and tiresome trade process for the Magic, with the Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers as the prime candidates to land Howard. The Houston Rockets also got involved in the trade mix, but the inability of the Magic
to make a decision on what they wanted, frustrated all teams to a point, that recent reports have put the Dwight Howard trade to take a few more months.
The same is the scenario with the Magic’s hunt for a new head coach. Orlando are set to be going with San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Jacque Vaughn, who is one of the final three candidates selected by General Manager Rob Hennigan.
Vaughn had a meeting with Orlando President Alex Martins in Las Vegas over the weekend, and is expected to meet with the DeVos family, the owners of the Magic franchise.
The news comes as a shock to many since Brian Shaw, assistant coach of the Indiana Pacers and one of the most talked about prospective head coaches, was either turned down by the Magic or decided to withdraw from contention. Mike
Malone was also one of the frontrunners for the job, but the less fancied Vaughn is said to be preferred by the Magic management. Vaughn has been with the Spurs for the past two seasons, and lacks the dynamism of Shaw and Malone.
Shaq joins a list of commentators and analysts who are unable to find any sense or logic in the way the Magic are handling their offseason decisions. However, the important aspect is that Hennigan must feel comfortable about his
decision since he will be the one who will have to live up to its consequences. With that in mind, it is best he makes whatever decision he feels is right, with no regard to what others are saying about it.
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