The Process of Hiring Scott Skiles

Back in February, nearly simultaneous with the firing of the underachieving Jacque Vaughn there were whispers around the league the Magic would be interested in hiring Scott Skiles.

There are a few things out of the ordinary there.

One is we have all seen Rob Hennigan does not leak anything to the media. Two, Rob Hennigan believes in his process. The idea ANYBODY, let alone a coach with a mediocre résumé in Skiles, would be a front-runner the moment the Magic fired Jacque Vaughn conflicts with Hennigan’s ideas on “process.”

The dots were too easy to connect. The media had information to connect them and the rumor persisted until it truly became fact.

This connection was the precursor to the seeming end of Rob Hennigan’s process.

As time went on, reports leaked left and right the Magic were getting closer to hiring Scott Skiles. Last Saturday it was reported Skiles was the “front-runner” to become Orlando’s next head coach (he obviously did become the next head coach). Interestingly enough in that article something interesting was written:

Skiles, 51, has been the preferred choice of Orlando ownership, which has been fond of him since his playing days with the Magic in the 1990s.

That message should have sent off alarms for Magic fans. The “process” that had guided Orlando during this rebuild was in jeopardy.

Ever since Bob Vander Weide was fired, Alex Martins has become a more prevalent voice in Orlando’s front office. In fact, back in 2011 Stan Van Gundy had some words regarding Alex Martins. Alex Martins became the head of the Magic organizationally, the direct link to the DeVos family.

So did Martins push for this Skiles hire strictly because of their friendship? I do not believe that is the case.