Just one day after the playoff exit against the Detroit Pistons, the Orlando Magic took personnel decisions and fired head coach Jamahl Mosley. A few hours after his dismissal in Florida, the head coach, who was on the sidelines for Franz Wagner’s team for five years, spoke out with an emotional statement.
“It has been more than five incredible years, and this organization and this city will always mean a lot to me and my family. I sincerely hope that during our time here we have made a meaningful and lasting impact on the Magic’s players, staff and organization,” fired head coach Shams Charania (ESPN) quoted
Mosley has been employed as head coach of the Magic since 2021 and has a current contract through the 2027/28 season. However, the sporting results this season obviously made the separation for the Magic inevitable. Mosley led the franchise to the playoffs with a positive record in each of the past three years.
Mosley will “never forget” his time with the Magic
“I will never forget the joy I had coaching this team in this city for the people who live here,” the 47-year-old said emotionally: “All I ever wanted was to make you proud to be Magic fans and I will certainly remember my time here forever.”
The season started with a lot of euphoria with the signing of Desmond Bane. Nevertheless, in the end it was a bit of a surprise that the Magic even qualified for the playoffs after an at times desolate regular season with a lot of bad luck with injuries. With a win in the play-in tournament, Orlando slipped into the postseason as the eighth-place team.
However, a 3-1 lead against the 1-seed from Detroit was not enough to advance to the conference semifinals. Among other things, a collapse in the second half of Game 6 revealed the Magic’s sometimes adventurous offense, which, apart from a strong Paolo Banchero, was no longer used at all after Franz Wagner was lost with a calf strain.
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