The Brooklyn Nets have fired coach Jacque Vaughn after a 21-33 start to the season, the team announced Monday. Vaughn has coached the Nets for 129 games in this current stint, leading the team to a 64-65 record.
The Nets went into the All-Star break with an acidic taste in their mouth after taking a 50-point loss in Boston in the first half finale and sit in 11th place in the East. They rank 21st in points scored and 16th in points allowed per game.
A former Nets assistant coach, Vaughn was promoted to interim head coach on Nov. 1, 2022, after the team parted ways with Steve Nash. He was named the permanent coach about a week later, then signed a multiyear contract extension on Feb. 21, 2023.
In that Nov. 1 to Feb. 21 stretch, Vaughn guided the Nets to the fifth-best record in the league, including a 12-1 record in December 2022. But by the end of the season, the team traded away All-Stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, pivoting to a rebuilding period built around newly acquired forward Mikal Bridges.
Vaughn previously coached the Nets for 10 games as interim head coach in 2020 following Kenny Atkinson’s midseason departure.
This marks the second February firing of Vaughn’s career, as he was relieved of duties by the Orlando Magic on Feb. 5, 2015. Vaughn had coached Orlando for the two years prior, garnering a 58-158 record.
Vaughn got his coaching start with the San Antonio Spurs, joining Gregg Popovich’s staff in 2010 as an assistant coach. Vaughn finished his playing career with the Spurs in 2009, closing a 12-year career that previously featured stops with the Utah Jazz, Atlanta Hawks, Magic and Nets.
Why fire him now?
The timing of Vaughn’s dismissal is certainly a surprise. The Nets are, objectively, not having a bad season. They are only 2.5 games behind the Hawks for the No. 10 seed, so the Play-In Tournament is in sight during a year in which they were trying to find new equilibrium. But the Nets have still been a bit unmoored. They have lost 18 of their last 24 games since being at .500 on Dec. 26. Vaughn’s appeal in the locker room may have diminished too. He had lost favor among some players, league sources said.
Now, the Nets will move on to their third head coach in 17 months and the organization has yet to name an interim. They hired Kevin Ollie and Will Weaver this offseason. Ollie won a national championship as the head coach at UConn. Weaver has been a head coach in Australia and France and has interviewed for NBA head coaching jobs; he won G League Coach of the Year coaching the Long Island Nets. — Mike Vorkunov, national NBA business reporter
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(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
Christine Lake is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. With an extensive background in sports journalism, he covers everything from major league championships to grassroots sports events. When she’s not on the field or at the stadium, you’ll find Christine coaching youth sports teams.
