A reunion between Jamahl Mosley and Moritz Wagner turned sharp on Wednesday night, and it happened long before the final horn.
The Brooklyn Nets rolled past the New Orleans Pelicans 145-111 at the Smoothie King Center, but the game also delivered a tense sideline moment between the former Orlando Magic coach and his ex-forward. Early in the second quarter, with Brooklyn up 12, Wagner was seen jawing at the Pelicans bench after a Jordan Poole three-pointer trimmed the lead to nine and forced a timeout.
Mosley then moved toward Wagner at center court, and the two had to be separated. Mosley was later hit with a technical foul.
Wagner still finished with 16 points in Brooklyn’s fourth straight win over New Orleans, but the postgame focus landed squarely on the exchange.
Asked about it afterward, Wagner downplayed the incident and said he believed the two simply missed each other, adding that it was nothing negative from his side. He also said he has love for Mosley and the rest of the people he worked with in Orlando. Wagner spent time with the Magic from 2020 to 2026, overlapping with Mosley’s run there, and Orlando wound up being a major stretch of his career.
Mosley’s response was much shorter. When asked about the confrontation, he said it was the heat of the moment.
He didn’t linger on the relationship. Instead, the conversation shifted to the Pelicans’ problems.
New Orleans is now 4-8, and the season has already swung wildly. The Pelicans opened with four losses, then ripped off four straight wins, and have now dropped four in a row. The last three defeats have been especially rough, with opponents putting up 139, 138 and 145 points.
That kind of defensive collapse cuts against Mosley’s coaching identity, which is built on toughness and consistency on that end of the floor. Still, he didn’t address Wagner directly, even as Wagner made sure to acknowledge him.
Maybe the next time they cross paths, the tone will be different.
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