Billy Donovan to coach Magic, then backs out of it

[Dwight Howard]

The Coach is good but Magic have a need from one typical scorer like Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson!

[Its_asdf]

Boy do the Magic suck with making decisions. First Vasquez and now their coach.

[mcoll86-2]

it was reported on CStV that he diffently returning to Gators. CSTV geraly doest report stuff unless if verified and not uselly the first to say reports college news of at the major level.

[Andrew]

Dan Wetzel has an interesting take on the situation. I think it will be a real shame if the whole chain of events is spun into "Donovan resists the temptations of the evil NBA and big bucks to stay loyal to the college game" and he's made out to be a big hero, although as Wetzel said it seems inevitable that something like that will happen. I guess everyone is going to call it how they see it.

[Sauru]

my opinion is, everyone he talked to told him that no matter what happens in the nba, even if he wins a ring, he will never be as loved as he is in college. in college the coaches get all the love in the nba you win now or you are out of here, oh and btw if you do win we will just throw all the glory to the players.

so bottom line, i think he realized he has a damn good thing and already brings home a damn good pay check so why fix whats not broken

[cyanide]

Seems that Donovan's backing out completely and will not coach for the Magic. That also means he's not allowed to coach in the NBA for five years, according to a RealGM article I recently read.

[Andrew]

my opinion is, everyone he talked to told him that no matter what happens in the nba, even if he wins a ring, he will never be as loved as he is in college. in college the coaches get all the love in the nba you win now or you are out of here, oh and btw if you do win we will just throw all the glory to the players.

so bottom line, i think he realized he has a damn good thing and already brings home a damn good pay check so why fix whats not broken

True, and it's fair enough that he'd want to avoid the double standards an NBA coach so often suffers, opting to remain in a system he's familiar with, successful in and on the whole finds preferable. All the same, I don't think it's the way to do business.

[Sauru]

oh i agree, it was a very poor choice on his part and will probably prevent him from ever getting a really good deal outside of florida again. he should have taken the offer from the magic home for a few days, or weeks, and talked it over with friends, family, and people from florida, then made his choice

[Andrew]

Absolutely. I think the Magic deserve a lot of credit for letting him out of his contract with only the stipulation that he can't accept another NBA coaching position for five years. As they mentioned in their statement, they could very well hold him to his contract which he is essentially breaching. That's why it will be a real shame if/when he's portrayed as a hero for returning to the college ranks. That's not to say he's a villian in all this but his actions aren't heroic by any means.

[magius]

i think, personally, i'd actually prefer to coach college over the nba too.