Magic inducting John Gabriel, Brian Hill into team’s Hall of Fame
The Orlando Magic will induct former general manager John Gabriel and head coach Brian Hill into their Hall of Fame in March, the team announced Tuesday morning.
Gabriel and Hill will become the 10th and 11th inductees into the Magic’s Hall of Fame, joining Darrell Armstrong, David Steele, Tracy McGrady, Jimmy Hewitt, Penny Hardaway, Rich DeVos, Shaquille O’Neal, Pat Williams and Nick Anderson.
Gabriel and Hill are currently executive advisors to the Magic’s basketball operations department.
Their induction ceremony will be at 3 p.m. on March 2 at Amway Center and they’ll be honored before that evening’s home game against the Indiana Pacers.
“Both Gabe and Brian are intertwined with the history of our franchise,” Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a statement. “With their leadership, we not only reached our first NBA Finals in 1995, but continue to use their skills and guidance to this day. We are proud to induct them together into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame.”
Gabriel joined the Magic as the franchise’s first basketball operations hire in 1987 — two years before the team started play. He had multiple roles within the organization, including director of player personnel, director of scouting and an assistant coach before being named vice president of basketball operations/player personnel in January ′94. Gabriel was promoted to general manager in April ′96, a role he had until March 2004.
He helped build the Magic roster that went to the 1995 NBA Finals. Orlando had 11 consecutive seasons with a .500-plus record (′92-2003) and made eight trips to the playoffs with Gabriel at the helm. Gabriel was named the NBA Executive of the Year for the ′99-2000 season after acquiring Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady as free agents and signing Doc Rivers as the team’s head coach.
Gabriel has been in the NBA for nearly 40 years. He began his career with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1982, where he served as a scouting coordinator and assistant coach before joining the Magic. He was an executive for the Portland Trail Blazers and New York Knicks after leaving the Magic in 2004 before returning in an advisor role.
Hill had two stints as the Magic’s coach: from 1993-97 and 2005-07. He has the most wins in franchise history at 267-192.
The Magic qualified for the playoffs in five of six seasons during Hill’s tenures as coach, including the first four. Hill led Orlando to its first playoff appearance in 1993-94, two Eastern Conference Finals (′95, ′96) and its first NBA Finals (′95).
Orlando won a franchise-best 60 games during the 1995-96 season and won 40 consecutive home games from March 21, 1995-March 19, 1996, under Hill. He was the head coach of the Eastern Conference at the ′95 NBA All-Star Game.
Hill started his NBA coaching career as an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks in 1986 before joining the Magic as an assistant coach in ′90. He was the Vancouver Grizzlies’ head coach from ′97-99. Hill also was as an assistant coach for the New Orleans Hornets, New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons.
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Khobi Price at khprice@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @khobi_price.
