While the era of superstars for the Brooklyn Nets when they had Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and eventually James Harden at the same time didn’t work out well, it was one of those eras that gave Nets fans hope. From 2019 until now, despite being one of the better teams in the NBA during that time span, the Nets have only one playoff series win to show for it.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn was an assistant throughout most of the superstar era as he only became the head coach after Kenny Atkinson was fired (Steve Nash was hired as the team’s next head coach instead of Vaughn) and after Nash was fired. Vaughn was able to see how players acted during different moments of the franchise and one of the players he appreciates is now Phoenix Sun Kevin Durant.
Vaughn has always preached working hard and keeping things simple to his players. He wants his players to keep basketball as the main thing because that’s what he would do. After Thursday’s impressive 116-105 win over the Chicago Bulls, Vaughn explained why he appreciated Durant’s tenure with the team so much:
“Yeah, unbelievable time, in my opinion, I’m gonna give you my perspective, my relationship with him (Durant). Got a chance to coach one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball. And, to see his love for the game, to see the way he worked every single day on his game. Pretty impressive. So, I’m gonna give him his flowers. He deserves it. We had some some good times together trying to grow this thing and appreciate him respecting me and our ride along the way.”
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