The Orlando Magic have hired Jacque Vaughn as their new coach. Vaughn just retired from the NBA in 2009 and spent the past two seasons as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs. There’s a connection here, newly minted Magic GM Rob Hennigan worked with former Spurs Exec Sam Presti. Presti was with the Spurs while Vaughn was there. It pays to have connections in high places, right?
During his time in the NBA, Vaughn was drafted 27th to the Utah Jazz and spent time with the Magic, Hawks, Nets and lastly the Spurs where he won a championship in 2007. The former point guard had career averages of 4.5 ppg and 2.5apg. Shaq – a former Magic player and former teammate and good friend of Brian Shaw, who was also a candidate for the position- openly questioned why neither Shaw or Mike Malone were hired.
Hennigan is young and Vaughn is pretty young for a head coach in the NBA at 37. It will be interesting to see how this approach plays out with a Magic team that is comprised primarily of NBA vets. Being honest, I can’t really speak to his coaching ability but the Magic, on and off the court will be interesting to watch.
