The Orlando Magic are planning on hiring San Antonio Spurs associate coach Sean Sweeney as the franchise’s 16th head coach. Sweeney will finish his duties with the Spurs for the remainder of their playoff run and then join the team in Orlando.
The news comes two weeks after former Magic coach Jamahl Mosley signed a five-year deal as the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. After blowing a 3-1 lead to the Detroit Pistons, Orlando decided to look in a different direction and landed on Sweeney.
After starting his coaching career with the New Jersey Nets as a video coordinator, Sweeney served as an assistant coach for the Nets, Bucks, and Pistons. He replaced Mosley on the Dallas Mavericks’ coaching staff after he took the Magic job in 2021, where Sweeney helped coach them to the 2024 NBA Finals.
Sweeney joined the Spurs in 2025 as an associate coach under Mitch Johnson. In his lone year on staff, Sweeney helped improve San Antonio from 25th in the league in defensive rating to second-best in 2025.
Both Billy Donovan and Jeff Van Gundy were linked to the Magic job, finishing as finalists for the role. According to Shams Charania, Sweeney met with Orlando ownership on Wednesday, where he “blew them away.”
Coming into a team with a win-now mindset, Sweeney has to manage a roster that underperformed in 2025. With his experience coaching three conference finals teams in the last five seasons, the Magic have a coach with the experience to hopefully win their first playoff series since the 2009-10 season.