Magic name Jamahl Mosley new head coach

Jamahl Mosley (Twitter) (left with Rick Carlisle)

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Sunday, the Orlando Magic have named Jamahl Mosley of Milwaukee, Wisconsin as their new head coach. This will be Mosley’s first head coaching job in the National Basketball Association. He was previously with the Denver Nuggets as their player development coach from 2005 to 2007, with the Nuggets as their assistant coach from 2007 to 2010, with the Cleveland Cavaliers as their assistant coach from 2010 to 2014, and with the Dallas Mavericks as their assistant coach from 2014 to 2021.

Mosley’s strength from a coaching perspective has been creating defensive strategies. While with the Mavericks, he was named defensive co-ordinator, a position very common in the National Football League, but not so much in the NBA. Mosley takes over from Steve Clifford, who “parted ways” with Orlando following the 2020-21 NBA regular season. It should be noted that the Mavericks head coach from last season, Rick Carlisle, is now the new head coach of the Indiana Pacers.

It is interesting that Mosley was with the Cavaliers and the Mavericks over the last decade, but was not with them when they won the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers won the NBA Finals in 2016 (two years after Mosley left Cleveland), while the Mavericks won the NBA Finals in 2011, three years before Mosley joined the Mavericks.

The Mavericks are also going with a coach who never played in the NBA as a player. During his professional playing career, he played professionally in Mexico, Australia, Spain, Finland, and South Korea. While in Australia, Mosley was honoured while with the Victoria Titans of the National Basketball League. Before the Titans changed their team name to the Giants, Mosley won the 2002 National Basketball League Best Sixth Man of the Year Award. Prior to playing professionally overseas, Mosley played college basketball at the University of Colorado.

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