After Billy Donovan agreed to coach Orlando and backed off returning to the Florida Gators, Magic acted quickly and hired Stan Van Gundy as head coach.
Florida was eager to re-hire Donovan, who spurned a five-year, $27.5 million contract with Orlando.

On Thursday, Donovan apologized to the Magic, his family and Florida.
"I feel terrible about it. (The Magic are) as a great basketball mind, tremendous respect around the league and will get the most out of our players. Stan was sought after by many teams this summer and we feel very proud to welcome him to the Magic family."

They were lucky to get the deal with Van Gundy as the Sacramento Kings were pursuing the former Miami Heat coach, who coached the Heat for more than two seasons, resigning last year but remaining with the team as an adviser to coach Pat Riley.
Van Gundy also was considered by the Charlotte Bobcats and Indiana Pacers, but those teams hired other coaches.

Van Gundy was under contract with the Heat for another year so Orlando had to give his former team compensation, probably the second-round pick in this month's NBA draft.

"Stan enjoyed tremendous success during his tenure with the Heat," Orlando’s GM Otis Smith said in a written statement. "He has a great basketball mind, tremendous respect around the league and will get the most out of our players. Stan was sought after by many teams this summer and we feel very proud to welcome him to the Magic family."

Van Gundy was Pat Riley’s protégé before taking over as Heat coach in the 2003-2004 season. That was the starting season for Dwyane Wade and the team started 0-7, but wound up 42-40 and made the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Wade, the MVP of last season's NBA finals, credits Van Gundy for turning that season around.