The Magic are banking on a different voice to help turn last season’s disappointment into something bigger.
Orlando kept most of its core intact, but the organization made a major change on the sideline by moving on from Jamahl Mosley and hiring Sean Sweeney. The hope is that the switch is enough to push the team closer to the top tier in the East.
Wendell Carter Jr. already sounds bought in.
Ahead of the season, the veteran center told ScoopB.com that Sweeney has brought “championship habits” to Orlando. Carter pointed to the coach’s background and the way he carries that experience into the locker room.
“The group that we have here, these guys want to win. They’re going to do whatever it takes to win, and I think a guy like Coach Sweeney coming from coaching at the highest level, playing for a championship, understanding what it looks like and what it’s not supposed to look like," Carter said.
"You mix those two things together, you have a recipe for a chance to shock the world. When you have a team who’s willing and able to adapt to what championship habits look like, and then you implement those championship habits, the sky’s the limit.”
Carter also said the Magic have enough to compete with anyone in the conference if everyone commits to the same standard.
"You can think that the East is too loaded for us now, but at the end of the day, it’s still five guys on each team who have to lace up and go out there and win the game, and I like us against anyone," he said.
Sweeney is stepping into his first head-coaching job, but he isn’t exactly new to the biggest stages. He has been around two NBA Finals teams, and his résumé includes long stretches with some of the league’s most respected benches.
His coaching path started with the Nets, where he was a video coordinator from 2011-13 and then an assistant from 2013-14. He moved on to Milwaukee from 2014-18, spent 2018-21 with the Pistons, and then had a four-year run with the Mavericks from 2021-25. He was the Spurs’ associate head coach in 2025-26 before taking over in Orlando in 2026.
One detail worth noting: Sweeney has not won a championship as a coach, even if Carter described him as someone who has been “coaching for a championship.”
Still, his path has kept him close to winning environments. He worked under Jason Kidd in Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Dallas for nine seasons total, spent three years on Dwane Casey’s staff in Detroit, and earned the associate head coach role under Mitch Johnson in San Antonio last season.
He also made it to the NBA Finals twice, with the Mavericks in 2024 and the Spurs in 2026. Both trips ended in losses, but Sweeney has seen up close what a championship-level operation looks like.
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Anthony Black is close to returning, and Jalen Suggs is also nearing a return, which only adds another layer to a bench battle that already feels unsettled. Orlando has been using these preseason reps to evaluate who can steady the second unit and who fits best alongside the starters, and the next few games should bring even more clarity once the backcourt gets healthier. [Read more 🡒]