NBA NEWS

Magic fire coach Vaughn

The Sports Xchange

February 05, 2015 at 12:11 pm.

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. Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

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.

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