Peter Okereke
The Orlando Magic are bringing in San Antonio Spurs lead assistant Sean Sweeney as their new head coach after firing Jamahl Mosley earlier in May, as first reported by ESPN.
Per reports, Sweeney will finish the remainder of the postseason with San Antonio before fully becoming the Magic’s next coach. The Spurs will play the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday, with a chance to reach the 2026 NBA Finals on the line.
Former Bulls coach Billy Donovan was a finalist for the job in Orlando, along with current LA Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy. Donovan was considered a favorite for the job after departing the Bulls and had met with Magic executives in Orlando to discuss the position.
But ultimately, Donovan wasn’t offered the job upon meeting with the franchise last week as it appears the Magic favored Sean Sweeney for the head coach role.
Before joining the San Antonio Spurs last offseason, Sweeney spent multiple years as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks under Jason Kidd. He first joined the NBA back in 2011, serving as the video coordinator for the New Jersey Nets before going on to become an assistant for the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Detroit Pistons.
But after spending over a decade as an assistant in the NBA, working his way up to be Mitch Johnson’s right-hand man in San Antonio, Sweeney now embarks on a new journey as a first-time head coach, taking over in Orlando, where immediate winning is expected of him.
Last year, Sweeney was also a finalist for the Phoenix Suns head coaching vacancy before they eventually hired Jordan Ott.
The Magic blew a 3-1 lead in the opening round of the playoffs against the 1-seed Detroit Pistons, leading to Mosley’s departure and major questions about the current state of this roster, with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner leading the way.
With Banchero, Wagner, Bane, and Jalen Suggs all making over $32 million next season, the Orlando Magic enter the offseason with a projected payroll that already exceeds $200 million.
Nonetheless, Sweeney’s first task with the Magic will be fixing their lapses on defense, much like he did with the Spurs over the course of the 2025-26 season. Orlando ranked 11th in defensive rating this past season and 13th in opponents’ points per game.
