ORLANDO -- Former Kutztown University men's basketball player John Gabriel '78 was inducted into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame on Wednesday, March 2, celebrating more than two decades of distinguished work in the organization's front office.

Gabriel and former Magic head coach Brian Hill became the 10th and 11th members enshrined in the team's Hall of Fame.

A 2006 KU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Gabriel has spent almost 40 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA). His professional career began with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1982, where he held a number of roles, including scouting coordinator and assistant coach. The Sixers won the NBA title during the 1982-83 season, Gabriel's first on staff.

Pat Williams, the Sixers' general manager from 1974-86, tagged Gabriel to help start the Magic as the organization's first basketball operations hire, two years before Orlando would debut as an expansion team in 1989-90. Gabriel served various roles with the team, including director of player personnel, director of scouting and assistant coach. In January, 1994, he was named vice president of basketball operations/player personnel and was later promoted to general manager on April 29, 1996, succeeding Williams and remaining in that role until March, 2004.

Gabriel was the architect behind the Magic roster that advanced to the 1995 NBA Finals, just six years into its existence. Orlando finished with an above .500 record 11 straight seasons from 1992-03, making eight trips to the NBA Playoffs during that time. In 1999, he signed Doc Rivers as the team's head coach and Rivers went on to win the NBA's Coach of the Year award in 1999-2000, while Gabriel was named NBA Executive of the Year. The next summer, Gabriel landed prized free agents in five-time NBA All-Star Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady, who went on to become an All-NBA First Team selection in 2001-02 and 2002-03, and two-time league scoring champion.

Following his time with the Magic, Gabriel joined the Portland Trail Blazers as director of pro scouting and made a stop with the New York Knicks in a similar capacity in the late 2000s. He's currently back with the Magic as an executive advisor to the team's basketball operations department.

As a member of the Golden Bear basketball team from 1976-78, Gabriel was a fierce defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent's top backcourt player. He graduated from Kutztown in 1978 with a degree in art education.

Gabriel and his wife, Dorothy, have two daughters, Amelia and Meredith, and one son, Jack. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2007. For two years (2019-21), Gabriel served as president of the Parkinson Association of Central Florida. Under his leadership, the Association raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Parkinson's programs throughout the region and made a tremendous difference in the lives of so many in Central Florida.