NBA Rumors: Orlando Magic Coach Scott Skiles Abruptly Resigns From Team

By Jenn Loro - 14 May '16 11:23AM

Orlando Magic's team executives never saw it coming. When Scott Skiles abruptly resigns from the roster as head coach after just one season of leading the team, everyone was in shock.

"After much thought and careful consideration, I and I alone, have come to the conclusion that I am not the right head coach for this team," Skiles said in a statement released by the team as quoted by ESPN. "Therefore, effective immediately, I resign my position as head coach of the Orlando Magic.

As the team tries to make sense of what happened last Thursday, Magic was trying spin control the news following Skile's sudden decision to leave the team. Skiles somehow survived a turbulent and less impressive season but improved the team's stats by 10 wins, finishing 35-47 but missing the playoffs again, NBA.Com reported.

Looking back at Scott Skile's resume, his average shelf life as coach is four seasons or so if one has to calculate his stints with the following teams: Milwaukee (4.4), Chicago (4.3) and Phoenix (about 2.4 spread over 3 years, after 2 as a Suns assistant coach).

For Skiles, signing with the franchise was a mistake to begin with. He seemed to be not in good terms with the management in terms of how the roster is built. There are also some speculations that he maybe positioning himself for Indiana Pacers' coaching job after it was made vacant, Inquisitr reported.

Despite a seemingly internal conflict within the organization, Magic somehow thought that when they signed Scott Skiles in for a long-term contract as coach, the executives were hoping he'll be staying for a long time, or at least, finish the deal. While his official statement mentioned that resigning from the team was 'his alone', he reportedly wanted to get out of the team as soon as he can.

What would the NBA world make of Skiles resignation?

Well, one thing's for sure. No team owners and general managers would ever want to embrace a one-year coaching plan. Generally speaking, teams would prefer to preserve their pride by firing an underperforming coach rather than let an unhappy coach go loose with an unexpected resignation. With his action, Skiles won't be near any team's radar searching for coaches who will fill in such an important post.