Jamahl Mosley's five-year tenure as the head coach of the Orlando Magic has come to an end.
The Orlando Magic on Monday fired head coach Jamahl Mosley, ending his five-year tenure with the team after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
The decision to part ways with Mosley comes after a season that was, in a lot of ways, a disappointment. The Magic finished 45-37, eighth in the Eastern Conference and nearly saw their season end before reaching the playoffs after falling into the Play-In Tournament.
The 2025-26 season was one that carried hefty ambitions and expectations for the organization after it acquired Desmond Bane last June from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony and four first-round draft picks. The state of the Eastern Conference was also tenuous with players such as Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton set to miss most of, if not the entire 2025-26 campaign due to recovering from injuries.
Instead, the Magic’s season did not meet the expectations that were set for them, and the ones they set themselves. Once again, injuries played a factor in their struggles, but there were stretches in which Orlando seemed out of sorts, and speculation about Mosley’s job security began to pick up steam as the season progressed.
For most of the year, the fanbase took to social media to express grievances regarding Mosley’s position, but after the NBA Trade Deadline passed on Feb. 5, president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman emphasized the organization’s confidence in Mosley.
“Jamahl has our full support, and Jamahl is our coach for the rest of the season,” Weltman said at the time. “So, it's not a matter of— like I know there's a lot of chatter out there and stuff — it's not one person. That said, this is a basketball team. It's a basketball organization and it's a group effort.”
Shortly after, Mosley talked about the gratitude he felt that, for the time being at least, his job was secure.
The Magic continued to struggle and stumbled into the All-Star break at 28-25, but demonstrated a resurgence afterward that saw them go 10-3 over 13 games. However, the momentum would not last, and Orlando proceeded to follow up a seven-game winning streak that propelled it to fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a six-game losing streak.
The Magic then had a chance to secure the seventh seed and host the Philadelphia 76ers in the first play-in game, but a shocking loss to the shorthanded Boston Celtics on April 12 dropped the Magic to No. 8 and compelled them to go on the road to face Philadelphia; causing increased anger within the fanbase and additional speculation surrounding Mosley’s future.
The Magic demonstrated a brief resurgence with their season on the line by routing the Charlotte Hornets in the No.8/ No. 9 play-in game before going to Detroit and stealing Game 1 of the series. After falling in Game 2, Orlando won Games 3 and 4 at home and were on the precipice of advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2010, but a historical Game 6 loss sandwiched between losses in Games 5 and 7 ended the season.
They will now conduct the search for the franchise’s 16th head coach.
Join the Community
Don't miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news!
It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast
For additional coverage, subscribe to our Full Court Magic Podcast!