Orlando Magic head coach Steve Clifford of Island Falls, Maine has tested positive for coronavirus twice in a three-day span according to the Associated Press on Sunday. One must realize that Clifford had been vaccinated twice, however his second vaccine came only this past Thursday. Due to the fact Clifford tested positive one day after his second dose of the Moderna vaccine, he had not been considered fully vaccinated as of yet because it takes two weeks for the vaccine to completely work.
Now it is a question if Clifford will not only coach the Magic at any point for the remainder of the 2020-21 National Basketball Association regular season, or if at all. The Magic are dead last in the Eastern Conference with a record of 18 wins and 43 losses, and have lost their last six games in a row. There is a strong chance Orlando will make a coaching change at the end of the season.
Expectations were high in Orlando in 2020-21 after they made the playoffs in 2019-20, and upset the Milwaukee Bucks 122-110 in game one of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. However, after a disastrous January where Orlando only won four of 16 games, the Magic moved out of playoff contention early on. A major blow came early when Markelle Fultz tore his ACL against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 6.
Then at the NBA trade deadline, the Magic were very busy, as they in essence gave up on their season. They moved Nikola Vucevic to the Chicago Bulls, Evan Fournier to the Boston Celtics, and Aaron Gordon to the Denver Nuggets.
Clifford’s replacement down the stretch will be Tyrone Corbin. The 58-year-old spent four seasons as the head coach of the Utah Jazz from 2010 to 2014, and 28 games as the interim head coach of the Sacramento Kings in 2014-15.
There have been 2,217,368 cases in the state of Florida alone. There have also been 34,970 deaths.
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