Eight days after parting ways with former head coach Steve Nash, the Brooklyn Nets have named his permanent replacement. On Wednesday, the team announced Jacque Vaughn, who had been serving as the interim coach since Nash’s departure, has been named the new head coach of the Nets.
Vaughn’s appointment is a change in plans from original reports in the wake of Nash’s exit. Mere hours after Nash was fired, Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania both reported the Nets were in advanced talks to hire Boston’s Ime Udoka, who is serving a season-long suspension from his team for a violation of organizational policies.
According to those reports, the Udoka hiring was imminent — but handling the Kyrie Irving situation became the priority for the team, and there was criticism from fans and analysts over the Nets’ ties to Udoka given his situation. As reported by Marc Stein, owner Joe Tsai faced strong pushback against hiring Udoka.
Vaughn, an NBA champion as a player with the Spurs, has been with the Nets organization since 2016. He previously served as a head coach with the Magic for three seasons and posted a record of 58-158 in Orlando.
Nets GM Sean Marks says Jacque Vaughn is the ‘clear-cut best person to lead our group moving forward.’ Nets named Vaughn permanent head coach today: pic.twitter.com/pbSPIt2qoa
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) November 9, 2022
The Brooklyn Nets have named Jacque Vaughn as head coach. pic.twitter.com/sgQZ4OtFNA
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) November 9, 2022
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