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Magic fire coach Vaughn
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
The Orlando Magic fired head coach Jacque Vaughn on Thursday, ending a week of speculation about his job security. James Borrego was named interim head coach.
The Magic (15-37) are in the midst of a 10-game losing streak and have the fifth-worst record in the NBA. They are 13th in the Eastern Conference, 7 1/2 games behind the eighth and final playoff spot.
Vaughn, 39, leaves the Magic with a 58-158 record in three seasons, and his 27.2 winning percentage is the lowest in franchise history.
“Jacque has been a trusted friend and colleague,” general manager Rob Hennigan said in a statement. “We thank him immensely for his contributions and sacrifices in bringing our team to this point, and we greatly appreciate his unwavering commitment to our organization. We have tremendous respect for Jacque and certainly wish him the best as he embarks on the next phase of his career.”
ESPN.com reported last week that the team’s management had decided it would relieve Vaughn of his duties. The only question was how soon, and that was answered Thursday.
Vaughn is a former San Antonio Spurs assistant coach under Gregg Popovich. He replaced Stan Van Gundy before the start of the 2012-13 season, and was the second youngest head coach in the NBA at the time of his hiring.
Borrego is in his third season with Orlando after working as an assistant coach with New Orleans for two years and seven with San Antonio previous to that, initially breaking into the league as an assistant video coordinator. He has worked with the Magic’s summer league team each of the past two seasons.
