Shaq criticizes Vaughn as Magic's choice for head coach

Written by Kyle Boenitz on .

Nothing is official yet but it appears that San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Jacque Vaughn will be the next head coach of the Orlando Magic. The Magic are still narrowing down their options but Vaughn appears to be the frontrunner.

There’s nothing that should indicate that Vaughn would be a bad head coach, but there’s one guy who’s not happy with the Magic’s decision. Former Magic center and current NBA big mouth analyst Shaquille O’Neal expressed his disapproval on Twitter.

“Orlando magic is about to hire jock Vaugh over mike Malone or Brian shaw are u kidding me, wow, good luck winning wit Dat team Dwite howard”

Shaq’s writing style really captures his voice, doesn’t it?

Spelling and grammatical errors aside, his disapproval is kind of a mystery to me. I’m wondering if there’s some bad blood between these two. They have played against each other a few times in their careers, but other than some healthy competition, I don’t know of any ongoing feud.

How can you automatically say Mike Malone and Brian Shaw would be better candidates than Jacque Vaughn? None of them have any NBA head coaching experience on which to base your opinion. My only explanation is that Shaq has it out for Vaughn.

Back in May, Shaq was rumored to be a candidate for Orlando’s open General Manager position. These rumors were quickly dismissed as being highly improbable, but Shaq could be throwing in his two cents in hopes of being considered the next time the position opens up.

Or maybe Shaq just likes to stir the pot.

7 comments
Boo-J
Boo-J

Shaq has his opinion granted.  I like Vaughn, what's not to like.  I imagine Shaw and Malone have much more experience being assistant coaches and have been considered before for other jobs.  Not likely at all Shaq has a personal beef with Vaughn!  If it was David Robinson, that might be another story!    I personally don't think Vaughn is ready, but how many coaches, especially former players, have been given a shot at head coaching way too early??  Could Vaughn still do a good job?  Pop thinks so and has given Vaughn his seal of approval, which does carry major weight.  I'm not sure Pop meant right now though.     

09202150
09202150 like.author.displayName 1 Like

@Boo-J

Typical Shaq, what a dumbass ...and he calls himself an analyst?? 

 

The fact that neither of them have successfully landed a head coaching gig after all these years of being an assistant is very telling of their capability as a coach. They've reached their limit. There are only a few great coaches in the league, and now that Jackson and Sloan are gone, Pop should obviously be the unanimous choice for 'best' coach in the league among 'good' coaches like Collins, Rivers, Thibodeau, and probably a few more. The rest of them are filler, and even more so when you get to the assistants.  

Although he fell short, Avery proved that he had the charisma and leadership to lead a championship team while his tenure with Dallas. Don't forget that happened during his first official season as head coach, after he took over for Nelson halfway into the prior season. He now has rejuvenated his career, given a beast of a team in BK, and it will be interesting to watch how Avery will handle it. I have no doubt in my mind that he will do a great job.

Jacque always had a coaching mentality even throughout his days as a player and he makes it clear that Pop was a huge influence for him that helped him pursue a coaching career. To his fortune, it was a seamless transition for him as he spent the last three years of his career in SA and retired into an assistant coaching position with the team. He was pretty much an assistant when he played for us. Just like Avery, he possesses similar charisma, intelligence, and leadership that so many aspiring head coaches lack. This was even more glaring throughout his interviews and leader of the summer league squad. 

It'll be a blow to our bench to lose Jacque but it's no surprise that he is being pursued. He will be, at the very least, a serviceable coach for any organization. I hope the Magic hire him as it will be a low-risk, high reward gig for him. Orlando is a mess and they're looking for anyone who could potentially save them from the seemingly apocalyptical summer of 2013. I love how we keep producing head coaches.. speaks volumes about our organization.

 

Can't wait to see how 'nastier' we get next year: Kawhi.. droooool....

Go Spurs Go. 

 

Spursfan66
Spursfan66

 @09202150  @Boo-J even funnier than analyst..DOCTOR bahahaha

Spursfan66
Spursfan66

 @Boo-J Ya definitely qualifies as random..but good to know theres at least ONE other commenter here that began following Spurs in the 70s

Boo-J
Boo-J

 @Spursfan66    and  09202150 (interesting comment)  Former coach, also now a Psychotherapist, Author, and a Spurs fan since about 1978 when I saw Gervin ring up Cleveland for 36 in old Hemisphere Arena.... Yup... qualified for random commentary!  :)

Jeffthegymrat
Jeffthegymrat

@sa2ny2004 @projectspurs @kyleboenitz o well, no biggie

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