Without anyone currently employed in either the head coach or general manager positions, the Orlando Magic can go in a number of different directions. One of which, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel, was to hire Phil Jackson in some kind of non-head-coaching capacity. Jackson was interested in the idea for a few days, writes Brian Schmitz, but then he bowed out of the running late on Thursday afternoon.
Scott Schroeder of SB Nation Basketball has a summary of the bizarre story:
It appears, as long as yours truly is correctly comprehending the story, that former NBA assistant coach turned D-League head coach turned NBA head coach turned Lebanon National Team head coach Sam Vincent was brokering the Zen Master to Orlando deal.
Schmitz never really explains how Vincent got involved but quoted him as saying the deal, "drew some interest from Phil, but in the end, Phil decided to go with another opportunity."
Vincent's involvement was much deeper than just being the Jackson spokesperson, however -- he also had a master plan that would have involved Jackson mentoring the Magic's next head coach (which apparently was going to be, in this scenario, a former NBA All-Star without any previous coaching experience).
Read the entire Sentinel story here.
For more on the Orlando Magic's 2012 offseason, visit SB Nation's Magic blog Orlando Pinstriped Post.