NBA: Greatest head coach in each team’s franchise history

Greatest head coach in Orlando Magic history: Stan Van Gundy, 2007-12

Another expansion team to join the league in the late 1980s, the Orlando Magic have a consistent method of operation that has proven true over the years of their existence as a franchise. Most of the time, the team is mediocre or worse, unable to sustain success.

Yet when the team gets its hands on a Hall of Fame center, suddenly they skyrocket into the contending mix. That was Brian Hill in the early 1990s when the team drafted Shaquille O’Neal and started winning, even getting to the 1995 NBA Finals. O’Neal eventually left for the Los Angeles Lakers and a period of inconsistency began for the team.

That culminated under Stan Van Gundy’s watch, who took over as the head coach of the Magic in 2007. The former Miami Heat coach immediately began placing his imprint on the team, influencing a roster that would inject the entire league with a new strategy for team-building.

Van Gundy, armed with a talented young center in Dwight Howard, designed an offensive system where the floor was spaced around a dynamic big man. Hedo Turkoglu initiated the offense from the wing, while players such as Rashard Lewis and Ryan Anderson spotted up around Howard. The team made it to the 2009 NBA Finals.

The partnership of O’Neal and Hill brought just 209 wins to the Magic during their tenure, but Van Gundy fared better. By contrast, Howard and Van Gundy totaled 290 in just one more season. While this team has not amassed a large hit list of suspects, Van Gundy’s work changed not only the franchise but the league itself.