By the time Chen Yu and Hardaway walked out of Orlando International Airport, the NBA had already announced its punishment for the Magic.
An investigation confirmed that the Magic's game against the Hawks was a fixed match.
The Magic received a 500,000 US dollar fine.
Spurred by Hill's heartfelt words—especially his use of the word "disappointed"—Devos didn't hesitate, firing Gabriel with lightning speed.
The Vice President of Operations, John Weisbrod, took his place.
His first act in office was to fire Doug Rivers. In his own words, it was to "reverse the fans' terrible impression of the Magic's front office," stating that "behavior like match-fixing will not be tolerated," even if Rivers was a former Coach of the Year with three years left on his contract.
Following Rivers's dismissal, the team's defensive coach, Paul Plessey, was named interim head coach.
