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Magic rumors: Tom Thibodeau named head coach candidate after Jamahl Mosley firing
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- Magic rumors: Tom Thibodeau named head coach candidate after Jamahl Mosley firing
Magic rumors: Tom Thibodeau named head coach candidate after Jamahl Mosley firing appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Orlando Magic are in need of a new head coach after firing Jamahl Mosley , and they might reach for a highly experienced coach this offseason.
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In the aftermath of a seven-game first-round playoff series loss, made only more painful by the 3-1 lead they blew , the Magic fired Mosley today. Mosley had been Orlando's head coach since 2021, and while he had led the team to a .500-or-better record in each of the last three years, not one postseason series win came together.
Now, the Magic will try to find someone that, unlike Mosley, can take a core consisting of Paolo Banchero , Franz Wagner , and Desmond Bane past the first round of the playoffs. And Tom Thibodeau may fit with that goal in mind.
After Mosley was officially let go, Steve Popper, Newsday's New York Knicks beat writer, posted on X , formerly Twitter, that he had "heard rumors of this coming for months with Billy Donovan and Thibodeau mentioned as possible replacements from every rumor about it."
Maybe not so coincidentally, Donovan walked away from the Chicago Bulls last month despite reports that the organization was keen on retaining him and even empowering him to run the team's front office. However, he has had similar issues to Mosley; only Donovan's first season as an NBA coach (2015-16) resulted in a playoff series win. Since then, his teams — the Oklahoma City Thunder and Bulls — have lost in the first round five times and missed the postseason five times.
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Meanwhile, Thibodeau, as recently as last season, led the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals. After losing in Game 7 to the Indiana Pacers , New York surprisingly fired Thibodeau , who has a reputation for being an effective albeit stubborn and demanding coach.
In his career, Thibodeau has 58% win percentage and eight playoff series wins.
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