With the New York Knicks struggling and possibly in the hunt for a new head coach this summer it was inevitable that Doc Rivers' name would eventually surface in rumors.

But while Rivers, a former Knicks player, has a distinct affinity for New York and the Knicks' franchise, he said he has no plans of leaving the Orlando Magic any time soon.

"I'm a Magic coach and I'm going to stay a Magic coach," Rivers said. "That's not going to change. I'm going to stay here."

Jeff Van Gundy resigned as New York's head coach on Dec. 10 and the Knicks have gone just 7-16 since then under Don Chaney, who was promoted from within. Despite having the NBA's highest payroll, New York lost eight games in a row at one point, including a 43-point home drubbing to Charlotte. But since then, New York has won four games in a row.

Rivers played for the Knicks from 1992-95, the period during his 13-year playing career that he calls his favorite. Rivers won the NBA's Coach of the Year award in 2000 after leading a starless Magic team to a 41-41 record. He was influential in the Magic landing free-agents Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill in August of 2000, and he has the Magic in the playoff race again this season despite another season-ending injury to Hill.

Rivers is under contract with the Magic through the 2004-05 season and has an option for the 2005-06 season.He originally signed a four-year, $8 million contract with the Magic in 1999, but inked a two-year, $16 million extension last spring that boosted his pay to an average of $5 million a season.

"I loved the Knicks and I still think it's still the single-best place I played as a player," Rivers said. "I love New York, I love the fans there and I love the city. But I love where I'm at more. I love a lot of things about where I'm at so I'm going to stay here."

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Shaq impact: Rivers is the first to admit that Shaquille O'Neal's monstrous shadow continues to hover over the Magic franchise that he jilted in 1996 with his free-agent defection to the Los Angeles Lakers. Rivers said that even though he wasn't a part of the Magic when O'Neal left, he is often asked by fans how the franchise could lose the 7-foot-1, 315-pound center. Rivers said the only way the Magic will ever get beyond the O'Neal loss is by winning a championship.

"People around here will always be injured and stung by that," Rivers said. "But there's nothing we can do about it now. You move on and we're trying to win a title here without him. The only way to really move on is to win a title here.

"But there will always be a 'How-can-you-lose-Shaq?' syndrome around here until we do something big. And really that's the only way it can ever be."

And if Shaq were still in Orlando? Rivers admitted things would be drastically different. "We'd have a new arena, we'd have a title and everybody would be happy," Rivers said."We'd have the arena, we'd be driving new cars and we'd like each other a lot more."

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Grant gone: Magic center Horace Grant missed Wednesday's game with an intestinal virus, forcing the Magic to start 6-foot-8 Don Reid against O'Neal. Grant played alongside O'Neal in Los Angeles, helping the Lakers win their second championship in as many seasons. As a joke, someone in the Lakers' lockerroom wrote a message on the blackboard directed at Grant. "Where's Horace?" the message said. "Shaq-o-ria."

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Owner Shaq?: With Magic owner Rich DeVos putting the franchise up for sale, Grant was asked if O'Neal might be interested in possibly buying into the team someday. Grant said such a scenario isn't quite as far-fetched as it might seem because of O'Neal's sincere affinity for Central Florida. O'Neal still lives in his Isleworth mansion in the offseason and was back in Orlando earlier this month when he was suspended for three games for fighting.

"I think if the right person went to him and asked him to invest half and gave him all of the pros and cons he'd think seriously about it," Grant said. "He already sings and makes movies. Who knows, he might want to be an owner too."

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Back to school: Magic stars Tracy McGrady and Mike Miller drove from Orlando to Gainesville for Tuesday night's college basketball game between Kentucky and Florida. Miller starred at the University of Florida for two seasons before jumping to the NBA following his sophomore season. McGrady verbally committed to Kentucky after high school, but later chose to bypass college and jump straight to the NBA.

"That might have been the first or second college game I've ever been to and it was kind of different because the fans were into the whole game," McGrady noted."It was kind of a different game to watch in person. I guess it looked kind of easy, but I wouldn't know because I didn't go to college."

And which team was McGrady pulling for? "I wasn't even watching the game," he joked. "I was looking for (actress and Kentucky fan) Ashley Judd."