For Sean Sweeney, Thursday afternoon was more than 20 years in the making.
The new head coach of the Orlando Magic was formally introduced at the AdventHealth Training Center in front of family, friends, players and local media, marking the start of a new era for the franchise.
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Sweeney, 42, began his coaching career in 2006 as an assistant coach at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Minnesota and has since risen through the coaching ranks making stops along the way throughout the country and the NBA. He most recently served as the associate head coach for a San Antonio Spurs squad that reached the NBA Finals.
Those two decades of experience are why he believes he’s ready for the job. It’s also why the Magic believe they’ve found the right man to guide the organization past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
“For me, I want to teach and learn at the highest level I can and I also want to compete at the highest level that I can,” said Sweeney, the 16th head coach in franchise history. “And being a head coach here is going to allow me to do that. Selfishly, that’s what I’m looking for.
“I’ve had enough time and have been around enough people that I feel like this is the perfect opportunity for me,” he added. “I’m very much looking forward to it.”
Although Sweeney was formally introduced Thursday, he was officially hired by Orlando on June 1 following a search process that Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman described as “very targeted.” The only other candidates who were known to have interviewed for the job were veteran coaches Billy Donovan and Jeff Van Gundy.
“It was a rigorous process,” Weltman said. “We didn’t cast as wide of a net as we have in the past, but we were very targeted and we went very deep.”
He said Sweeney “knocked our socks off” during his interviews.
“In Sean Sweeney we have somebody who is, in our minds, has the potential to be one of the elite coaches in this league,” Weltman said. “He’s a direct communicator. He has a mastery of the material. He has an understanding of how this is supposed to work from a players’ standpoint to a team standpoint and how the big picture all melds together in producing a winning team.”
Although this is Sweeney’s first stint as a head coach, it’s not the first time he’s gone through the process of trying land such a job. And the Magic weren’t the only team that considered hiring him this summer either, with Chicago and New Orleans having reported interest.
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He explained why Orlando made the most sense for him and what he liked about the opportunity.
“No.1, the DeVos family and the ownership group here is different than any other,” Sweeney said. “Secondly, the front office. … That separated this franchise from the others. The roster is something that really mattered to me, and this is a roster that’s shown a level of competitiveness and is ready to go to the next step.
“And then lastly, Orlando,” he added. “What a great place to live. So, those are the four things that stood out to me. At the end of the day, it starts with ownerships to the front office that I can partner with and then the players that I get to coach.”
Sweeney, a native of St. Paul, Minn., previously spent four seasons as an assistant coach in Dallas (2021-25), three as an assistant in Detroit (2018-21) and four as an assistant in Milwaukee (2014-18). He began his time in the NBA as a video coordinator with the then-New Jersey Nets in 2011 and later served as an assistant in Brooklyn for one season (2013-14).
Those who have worked with him over the years describe him as intense and passionate, which stood out during his introductory news conference Thursday.
“For me, coaching is not a profession. It’s a vocation,” Sweeney said. “And I’m going to work to my highest level to do the best job I can for this franchise. It’s been 21 years of preparation that’s brought me here, and I’m ready for it. And I’m excited to begin.
“Our team is going to be built on our values,” he added. “We’re going to value character, we’re going to value competition, we’re going to value connection and we’re going to value the game. I love the game. I’m a competitor. I want to do things with integrity, and I want to make sure we’re connected in how we play.”
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Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected]