Jamahl Mosley was the first to acknowledge that this season is different for him.
The Orlando Magic hired Mosley to be a teacher at the beginning of the rebuild. The team hoped he could inject his infectious energy and optimism into a team that would see some hard days in the early years after resetting the franchise.
They hoped Mosley would be able to grow and develop with the team. He largely had, leading them to two solid showings in the Playoffs.
But this year was different, and he knew it.
This year the Magic needed to see if he could level up his game and compete for something more. They needed to see if the whole team was as ready to compete for a championship as their cap sheet would suggest.
Failure to do so would require change to get there. The pressure was on Mosley and he knew he had to be willing to adjust and change his approach to get there.
Count Tuesday's 120-112 loss to the Washington Wizards as a major challenge. Simply letting his team figure things out was not going to cut it after falling behind by 26 points in a lifeless effort.
Mosley needed to take a stand. What he say through the first 2.5 quarters cannot be acceptable. He needed to be the bad guy and hold his team accountable.
The effort level from the team was largely unacceptable in the first half. When the starters came out in the third quarter and gave up 11-for-13 shooting, fouled their way into the bonus less than four minutes into the quarter and gave up nine free throw attempts to fall behind by 26, Mosley needed to send a statement to the team.
That statement and what the Magic did after could define his future with the team.
Mosley benches his starters
Jamahl Mosley turned to the players deep on his bench to close the game, seemingly waving the white flag. He was simply looking for anybody who would play with some effort. With a back-to-back, the starters got some extra rest in a game that seemed over.
But then, the bench group whittled that 26-point lead down to 14 by the end of the third quarter. They got it down to as few as two with five minutes to play.
Just as they did in the loss to the Boston Celtics when the Orlando Magic seemingly got run out of the gym, their deep bench proved how far some effort and attention to detail can go.
Just like that loss to the Celtics, the Magic ultimately fell short. But it showed what the team was missing and that Mosley's message can still resonate with someone.
But all losses count the same.
Despite what they said after the game, that group was certainly starting to tire after playing nearly a quarter's worth straight. There was a chance to reload with the starters to try to finish the game.
That is what the Wizards did. CJ McCollum threw an alley-oop to Alex Sarr, hit a floater, grabbed an offensive rebound and drained a three to restore a nine-point lead and essentially end the game.
But Mosley stuck with the group that brought the energy that got them back in the game. He had no intention of going back to that lifeless group that dug the team in a hole.
"They are the ones that got us back in the game," Mosley said after Tuesday's loss. "They deserve to be in the game because they were the ones who battled that far back. That group deserved to be on the floor. They played their tails off, they had energy, they had spirit, they had fight. That's what you ask these guys to do every time they touch the floor, and that's what they did."
Fans have spent their Wednesday debating this decision. It is either a sign that Mosley knows what he is doing or that he is finally holding the team accountable.
Regardless of whether Mosley made the right tactical call for that moment, what matters is what happens next. What matters is whether that message is received.
And how the team plays Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets and how the team moves forward will have a lot to say about the way the rest of the season will go and what Mosley's future with the team might be.
An uneven season raises questions
There have been many moments during this 20-17 start to the season that have given everyone pause.
The 1-4 start raised the initial questions of why this team was not coming together quickly. A fit that seemed easy and the team's established defensive identity were not working.
The team found its footing only to find itself back in this same predicament.
The team has lost much of its consistency and is merely treading water -- 6-7 in their last 13 games, alternating wins and losses. They have gone .500 since Franz Wagner's injury in early December.
The Magic have found themselves again asking why the team has struggled to give a consistent effort and uphold its standards. It has raised plenty of long-term questions about this team and about its leadership.
Mosley is not one for grand statements. He is not the kind of coach who publicly challenges players or subtweets them in media availabilities. He handles that business behind the scenes.
But it is undeniable that this team has not responded the same. These issues have repeated.
That does not reflect well on Mosley and his message reaching the team. It is among the many reasons there is this feeling of inevitability that his job is in question. It feels like perhaps he has reached his expiration date, as all coaches seem to with very few exceptions.
Mosley is not one to overreact or panic to anything. He has always been good at seeing the big picture and working his team toward it. Orlando has played its best at the end of the season in each of his years at the helm. There is still time to bring things together.
It is also worth noting that the Magic feel they will get Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs back soon. Both will provide a huge boost to the team. There are seemingly better days ahead.
But none of that will matter if the team does not respond to this challenge to their effort, intensity and urgency. If the team fails to respond to this challenge, then there will be bigger problems to parse.