NBA Coaches on the Hot Seat Amid Jamahl Mosley Firing

The Orlando Magic fired head coach Jamahl Mosley on Monday, and he may not be the last NBA coach to lose his job this offseason, even among playoff teams.

Mosley lost his job less than 24 hours after the Detroit Pistons dispatched the Magic 116–94 on Sunday. Orlando, the No. 8 seed, blew a 3–1 series lead over the top-seeded Pistons, and the Magic had a historic collapse in Game 6 along the way.

While the Magic made the playoffs three consecutive years under Mosley, all three appearances resulted in first-round exits. The Magic also never eclipsed 47 wins in a season during that span.

“We’re grateful to Jamahl for all he’s done for the Orlando Magic,” team president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said in a statement on Monday. “We appreciate his leadership and the positive contributions he made as head coach. While this was a difficult decision, we feel it’s time for a new voice and fresh perspective. We wish Jamahl and his family nothing but the best.”

Other NBA teams, including ones still in the playoffs, could still be facing those kinds of difficult decisions regarding coaches’ futures. The Denver Nuggets, the No. 3 seed in the West before elimination, could face pressure this offseason to part ways with head coach David Adelman.

Denver came up short against a shorthanded No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves team that didn’t have stars Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo for the back half of the series.

Adelman had the core of the Nuggets’ 2023 championship roster to work with in star Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, but the Wolves prevailed. That had Nuggets fans clamouring on social media for Adelman’s firing amid the Game 6 loss.

As of Monday, Adelman’s “job is safe,” according to ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania. Adelman served as an assistant coach from 2017 to 2025 before he took the head coaching job in place of Michael Malone.

The Nuggets fired Malone after four consecutive late-season losses last year, which marked the latest in-season firing for a playoff team. Adelman coached the Nuggets to the Western Conference semifinals last year.

Another playoff team this year also made a coaching change once in the past year, and another could still loom. That’s the New York Knicks, which fired Tom Thibodeau last year after the Knicks fell short in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Knicks head coach Mike Brown has already been the subject of firing rumblings since the team struggled against the Atlanta Hawks early in their first-round series. The No. 3-seeded Knicks broke the 2–2 series tie and put away the No. 6-seeded Hawks decisively in six games.

New York faces a tough test in the East semifinals, however, with the No. 7-seeded Philadelphia 76ers fresh off eliminating the No. 2-seeded Boston Celtics. Philadelphia has been on fire since the return of star center Joel Embiid from an emergency appendectomy.

A loss to the 76ers could have Knicks fans calling for Brown’s job again, and depending on how the series goes, Knicks owner James Dolan could make the call. The Knicks are in win-now mode with star players such as Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges.

In addition, the East looks more wide open than ever with the Celtics out and no other past champion from the past seven years. The No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers last won the East in 2018, and the No. 1 seed Pistons haven’t won the East since 2005.

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse and Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson also could both face the hot seat, depending on their playoff results. Nurse has been under fire amid the 76ers’ injury issues and the team’s playoff struggles. Atkinson’s failing to get the Cavaliers past the East semifinals for a third consecutive year, despite 48 or more wins each time, won’t help his longevity in Cleveland.