The Orlando Magic have been rebuilding since the Dwightmare of 2011-12. After firing Stan Van Gundy, the Magic hired Jacque Vaughn to lead a dismantled roster through grueling 60-loss seasons. With Vaughn’s ousting on Thursday, SVG took the opportunity to throw shade at his former franchise. Per the Free Press:
Van Gundy finds the situation of absurd — particularly the way organizations bend over backward to not publicly blame a coach, but the coach is the only sacrificial lamb in such instances.
“All those things are the same,” Van Gundy said today. “You get in the press conference, they loved Jacque. He did a great job. You listen to all that, and then I listen to Rob say it doesn’t fall on Jacque, but he takes full responsibility. I laugh, obviously, because that’s not true.
“You’re still sitting there with a job, and Jacque doesn’t have one, so I don’t know what full responsibility means. But I would say they left the full responsibility on Jacque.”
Van Gundy also said of the Magic: “They’re an organization that turns over coaches a lot. I don’t know if anybody coached there longer than I did. There’s no such thing as a longtime Magic coach.”
Van Gundy’s five-year stint is the longest in franchise history, although former Pistons assistant Brian Hill has coached the most games for the Magic, over two stints.
“Being there for his first two years, being there in the town and following them and reading, I thought Jacque gave them everything that they wanted, so I feel bad for him,” Van Gundy said.
