The board will appoint an interim as soon as possible.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn was fired today by the Brooklyn Nets after two and a half seasons on the job. The team made the head coach’s departure official in a statement on its X account.
In a statement on the Nets website, general manager Sean Marks confirmed the move and wished the now-former coach the best. “This was an incredibly difficult decision, but one we feel is in the best interest of the team going forward,”Marks said.
The GM explained: “Jacque has represented this organization with exemplary character and class for the past eight years.” It is worth remembering that Vaughn came to the team in 2016 as part of Kenny Atkinson’s coaching staff and was later an assistant to Steve Nash.
Vaughn had two brief stints as Brooklyn’s interim coach, the first after Atkinson left and the second when Nash was fired on November 1, 2022. Just a week later, the board decided to give him the full-time job
The Nets’ gratitude
In the statement, the general manager assured, “The consistent positivity and passion he poured into our team daily will remain with the players and staff he interacted with throughout his tenure.”
He ended by saying, “We thank Jacque for all he has done for the Nets and the borough of Brooklyn and wish him, Laura, and their family nothing but the best in the future.”
The team has not yet named an interim, although it assured that it will do so in the coming days. The suddenness of the announcement has also not allowed names to be shuffled about who could reach the position, either temporarily or permanently.
Despite Marks’ words, team sources assured local media that Vaughn had lost the confidence of the players, and the last straw for the board was the overwhelming 136-86 defeat they suffered on Friday against the Boston Celtics.
Vaughn left a record of 71-86 as the head coach of Brooklyn, and this season he had a record of 21-33, which placed the team in 11th place in the NBA’sEastern Conference.
