Boy, Billy Donovan sure knows how to make a team feel special. By abandoning the Magic to return to his Gator-topia, he may have avoided one of the biggest mistakes of his career and for the second time forced me to write about him.
It’s too bad he didn’t heed the advice of Coach K, who faced a similar predicament when the Los Angeles Lakers offered him the head coaching position three years ago. However, the major difference between the two men lies in their decision making process.
Coach K mulled over his decision for what seemed like an eternity to view every possible perspective and appeared ready to accept the challenge until he received a last second plea from a passionate Duke fan, which altered his decision.
Donovan meanwhile, rushed through his decision making process, did not hasten to jump at the Orlando Magic’s Gator-bait and in the process nearly affected the future of another head coach—Anthony Grant. The Florida Gators who had been courting the former Florida assistant, nearly put both coaches careers in limbo on Saturday afternoon.
Can you imagine the moral and professional obligation that Jeremy Foley would have been facing, if Grant had hopped on that private jet back to Florida, accepted the head coaching position at a televised press conference only to have it retracted hours later?
One of two scenarios would have occurred. Either Foley would have simply taken the high road siphoned off Anthony Grant and welcome back Billy Donovan with open arms or he would have had to tell Billy D. to "hit the road jack" and head back to his lucrative NBA career.
But this is a moot point because at the last second Billy Donovan senses finally overruled his cents, 2.5 billion of them to be exact, at the 11th & a half hour. Well, with the past behind and the University of Florida in his immediate future, Donovan’s coaching future has two directions it could take at this point.
Scenario A
With the stipulations of his contract nullification being arranged at this moment, if Donovan wants to regain the faith of Gators fans, he should accept the Orlando Magic’s 5 year NBA ban, under the No-Compete Clause with no apprehension.
Not only will this quell the NBA rumors which will swirl for years to come but it should strengthen his recruiting pitch for prospects knowing that the only coaching job he would value over the Gators is inaccessible to him.
In this timeline, top basketball recruits will steadily ebb and flow into Gainesville. Meanwhile, Donovan will gradually attain iconic status on a football-centric campus—right behind Urban Meyer. Following his third national title, and then his fourth a few seasons later, athletic director Urban Meyer and the Board of Regents will agree to anoint the O’Connell Center, Billy D. Court.
In 2027, Donovan will finally make the decision to retire as Florida head coach, promising to spend more time with hiswife and grandkids, only to cry uncontrollably during his Farewell Speech. Heading home filled with regret, he’ll inform his wife that his heart still lies at Florida. After a few days of difficult negotiating, he’ll convince her to give him her blessings with the stipulation that he will sleep on the couch for the next 5 days.
Scenario B
My second scenario doesn't foresee such an auspicious ending fr Donovan and the Gators, Unable to shake the stigma of seeming discontentful, overambitious, and indecisive at Florida, elite recruits will hesitate signing with the Gators. (Patrick Patterson, already stated this reason as one of the factors in him committing to Kentucky over Florida.)
With the talent unavailable to sustain his previous levels of success, Donovan will and the Gators will struggle to reach the Sweet 16 the of the NCAA tournament.
With his NBA stocking declining, and his enthusiasm for coaching at Florida waning, he'll jump to the NBA as either an assistant or head coach.
This newest skid mark on the Orlando Magic’s petrous road to redemption is atypical of their franchise’s dubious and dysfunctional history. For a team which began with auspicious beginning in 1989, their fortunes have slowly crumbled into shambles. For all intensive purposes they remind me of the NBA version of the Boston Red Sox.
It’s been described as Hollywood East because of it’s bevy of tourist attractions, however, throughout, the NBA it has been ridiculed for it’s lack of fan support and for the past 18 years, the Magic have been one of the most poorly run and ill-fated franchises in the NBA. Unlike the cheap, frugal fiscally responsible Clippers and the Magic are willing to spend the cash to turn the franchise into a winner. In addition, unlike the recent tragic decline of the Boston Celtics, they don't have a storied past or a single NBA legend who left behind a legacy in a Magic uniform or a Conference Finals appearance as recent as 2002(to all those Boston fans. Enjoy your All-Pro NFL dynasty and your 162 game lead over the Yankees. If the Celtics are cursed, then so are the Knicks, Suns, Golden State Warriors, SuperSonics and Washington Bullets who vicariously constructed the current Detroit Pistons.Look at the roster.) But again, I digress...)
Sure they may have an NBA Finals appearance on their resume, but the wasted opportunities have been plentiful. While drafting Shaquille O’Neal with the #1 pick in the 1992 NBA Draft may be the crowning achievement in their history, it was their handling of their other number one selection, which may have sealed their bleak fate.
In the wake of a .500 season, which earned them the 11th worst record in the NBA, and miniscule odds of attaining the #1 pick in the draft lottery. On that night, in 1993, a life preserver from the basketball heavens descended into GM and chief operating officer, Pat Williams’ of the Orlando Magic’s laps.
However, on Draft night a month later the Magic figuratively drowned. Instead of pairing the finesse and athleticism of Chris Webber, with the physically overwhelming post presence of Shaquille O’Neal, Webber was immediately shipped off for the wildly overrated Penny Hardaway.
Don’t take this the wrong way but as good as Penny was in his prime which lasted all of 5 seasons, Chris Webber would lay claim to being one of the top two NBA power forwards over the next 12 seasons. Instead of molding the most dominant front court this side of Duncan and Robinson, the Magic would settle for Shaq and a poor man’s Tracy McGrady.Following, the ’95 season, the Magic would lose the incomparable Shaquille O’Neal with no compensation to free agency.
With Shaq no longer around to carry the bulk of the load, and with injuries abound, Penny’s career would fall apart.
Sidenote: One of there most underrated acquisitions would be the procuration of Ben Wallace in the offseason of 1999.
Their opportunity for redemption would arrive 6 seasons after the exodus of Shaq, when the Magic set their sights on the trio of Tim Duncan, Grant Hill, and Tracy McGrady.
Instead, Duncan would remain in Texas defending The Alamo, Grant Hill would descend into an injury mired era comparable to baseball’s Ken Griffey Jr. while McGrady would develop into a perennial All-Star and the top scorer in the League on a mediocre team.
In the one of the cruelest ironies, Grant Hill would be traded from the Pistons to the Magic in exchange for the package of young Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins in what was at the time considered the most one-sided trade in NBA history. However, history now remembers this as the trade which provided the Pistons not the Magic with the vital component to their championship team.
Ben Wallace would proceed to have the more productive career after The Trade, by winning 4 Defensive Player of the Year Awards(second only to Dikembe Mutumbo) and most importantly, an NBA title in the six years since.
Who remembers the ill conceived acquisitions of Dominique Wilkins on the perimeter and a creeky Patrick Ewing roaming the paint for the Magic? If you don't that's okay, no one does.
Tracy McGrady would never leave the first round as a member of the Orlando Magic after ironically capitulating a 3-1 series lead to the Detroit Pistons in 7 games in the ’03 playoffs.
In his fourth season with the Magic, problems with team chemistry, coaching, and management forced Orlando into a downward spiral. The season ended with Orlando failing to reach the playoffs and an impatient McGradyseeking a trade.
With a history that bleak, it’s no wonder Billy D. reneged. But he wasn’t the only high profile Magic employee under contract to turn the other cheek to the Orlando in recent years. 2005 first round draft pick, Fran Vazquez accepted the Magic’s rookie contract only to dupe management and return to Europe for slightly more cash.
Last season, we even witnessed Steve Francis’ once flourishing career mushroom right before our eyes. Dwight Howard is progressing at an accelerated rate, but their 2006 first round pick J.J. Reddick is decomposing on the bench for 48 minutes a night and the coach they hired Donovan to replace was the same man they dumped a decade ago!
Even now, the fate of their summer rests on whether to take a gamble and re-sign Darko Milicic to a lucrative contract based n his "potential".
Though Shaq has publicly stated that one of his post career ambitions was to buy the team but how far in the future could that be?
This franchise is a mess and they need a savior soon or else they can wave Adios! to Dwight Howard sometime in the near future. Until then the Magic Conundrum continues...Links
- Why does the media love to criticize the Oregon Ducks uniforms so often? I came across this link which ranked five of the ugliest Oregon unis of all time. In fact, they don’t even have the ugliest uniforms in the southwest corner of Oregon. If you wanna find those look no further than the bra straps the Oregon State Beavers will be wearing in 2007.
- But his by far has to be the worst list of uniform rankings of all-time(In fact, maybe I should create a list ranking The Worst Rankings Of All-Time). Check out #3 and #1. Just click on The Worst College Football Uniforms Of All Time, Non-Oregon Edition (another Oregon cheap shot.)
- Is it just me or does this seem to me like SI is predicting an NBA Finals Sweep? Bold Stance, blatant disrespect.
- This photo below advertising the NBA Finals was posted on NBA.com, today! The image is a screenshot of what you'll see if you visit NBA.com/unbelievable. Something seems out of place. I just can't put my finger on it...
- Quote of the Week
"NASCAR drivers don't use their legs, they use their feet. Placing your foot on and off the pedal does not require strength or conditioning. It is repetitive and retarded. So instead – accelerate, brake and bite me."
NASCAR is the only sport in America that allows spectators to bring coolers full of alcohol into the stadium. ... Alcohol is all well and good, but I am not cool with Billy Bob and Mary Ann conceiving a child on the track's infield. I'm sorry sport fans, but I don't think a brother and sister should be doing that sort of thing."
- "One more thing: Years from now, we will remember "Yao Ming over Jay Williams" the same way we remember "Bowie over Jordan," "Traylor for Nowitzki," "Carroll for McHale and Parish," "Aguirre over Thomas" and every other great draft day blunder in NBA history. I'm not just predicting it, I'm guaranteeing it."-- Bill Simmons in an ESPN article 5 years ago. Actually, this is the quote that he'll never live dwn for sooo many reasons.
- This article has to be the greatest piece of anti-NASCAR bashing I have ever read, heard or imagined.
- Scot Pollard of the Cavs giving his stance n drugs.
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