Tag: Brian Keefe

Former Nets assistant coach Brian Keefe becomes HC for Wizards

Former Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Brian Keefe is the head coach of the Washington Wizards, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday.

The Brooklyn Nets are one of the organizations that people think about when it comes to what could have been if things went as intended with the Big 3. While that era of the franchise is a subject for another day, one of the coaches in Brooklyn during that time is moving on to bigger things.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, former Nets assistant coach Brian Keefe is being hired as the new head coach of the Washington Wizards. Keefe took over as the interim head coach of the Wizards after Wes Unseld Jr., who held the job since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, was relived of his head-coaching duties to transition into a front-office advisory role following a 7-36 record.

Keefe became an assistant coach for the Nets heading into the 2021-22 season when Steve Nash was the head coach during the era of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. Nash was fired during the 2022-23 season following a 2-5 start and Keefe stayed on the staff even though Jacque Vaughn took over as the interim head coach.

After the season ended, Vaughn began to assemble his coaching staff as he saw fit as the next head coach of the franchise and that led to Keefe leaving the team last summer for Washington. After Keefe took over for Unseld as the interim head coach, the Wizards went 8-31 as a team that will be looking for plenty of talent as they move into the next chapter of their franchise.

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Report: former Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Brian Keefe goes to Wizards

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, former Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Brian Keefe will be on the Washington Wizards’ coaching staff.

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The Brooklyn Nets have been making a lot of changes this offseason as they have significantly changed the roster to get the team in a position to get to the playoffs and possibly, win a series or two. It looks like one of head coach Jacque Vaughn’s former assistant coaches has moved on to another opportunity.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, former Nets assistant coach Brian Keefe is going to the Washington Wizards to be part of Wes Unseld’s coaching staff. Keefe had been with Brooklyn for the past two seasons in a tenure that spanned the coaching eras of Steve Nash and Jacque Vaughn.

As Wojnarowski pointed out in his tweet, Keefe interviewed for the Detroit Pistons’ head coaching position before Detroit hired Monty Williams. Keefe was considered a candidate for the Pistons’ job because of his relationship with Detroit general manager Troy Weaver during their days with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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Woj: Detroit Pistons receive permission to interview Nets’ assistant Brian Keefe

The Pistons have received permission to interview Brooklyn Nets’ assistant coach for Detroit’s open head-coaching job, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Detroit Pistons have received permission from the Brooklyn Nets to interview assistant coach Brian Keefe for Detroit’s open head-coaching job, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. This seems to be an escalation of Keefe’s candidacy for the job as it was reported last week that Keefe was expected to be a candidate for the position thanks to his relationship with Pistons’ GM Troy Weaver.

Weaver held various positions within the Thunder front office from 2008 to 2020 before he went to Detroit to be the GM. Keefe had two stints with the Thunder (2009-2014 and for the 2019-2020) as an assistant coach.

Keefe has been in the NBA since 2006 when he broke into the league as a video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs. Since the 2007-2008 season, he has been an assistant coach for the Thunder, the New York Knicks, and the Los Angeles Lakers in addition to his current position with the Nets.

Keefe is currently trying to help the Nets win their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Brooklyn is currently down in the series 1-0 with Game 2 taking place on Monday night.

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Woj: Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Brian Keefe is candidate for Pistons’ HC position

Nets assistant Brian Keefe is expected to get a look for the Pistons’ HC position, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.

Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Brian Keefe is expected to be a candidate for the Detroit Pistons head-coaching job, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski explains that sources told him that in addition to well-known head-coaching candidates like Bucks assistant coach Charles Lee and former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, Keefe is expected to be included in the pool for the Pistons’ head job.

It can be inferred from Wojnarowski’s tweet that part of the reason that Keefe is expected to be in the pool of candidates is because of his prior connection with Pistons general manager Troy Weaver during their days with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Weaver held various positions within the Thunder front office from 2008 to 2020 before he went to Detroit to be the GM. Keefe had two stints with the Thunder (2009-2014 and for the 2019-2020) as an assistant coach.

Keefe has been in the NBA since 2006 when he broke into the league as a video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs. Since the 2007-2008 season, he has been an assistant coach for the Thunder, the New York Knicks, and the Los Angeles Lakers in addition to his current position with the Nets.

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Brian Keefe and Will Hardy mentioned as potential Thunder head coaches

Slow and steady wins the race. Maybe that’s why the Thunder seem to be in no rush to fill their head coaching vacancy.

It’s been several weeks since Billy Donovan and the Thunder agreed to part ways, and since then, there’s been plenty of movement in the NBA with respect to head coaches.

Steve Nash was hired by the Brooklyn Nets, Doc Rivers took his talents to Philadelphia and Donovan himself was hired by the Chicago Bulls.

In both Houston and New Orleans, the likes of Ty Lue, Jeff Van Gundy and his brother Stan Van Gundy have been mentioned as potential torchbearers for those clubs, while things have been relatively quiet in Oklahoma City.

Enter Will Hardy and Brian Keefe.

As evidenced by the speculation as to what the future holds for Chris Paul and the team’s other veterans, the prevailing sentiment is that the Thunder will be fully embracing rebuilding. In that regard, it would make more sense for the team to find a young coach looking to cut his teeth than to spend big money on an established veteran looking to contend.

That’s probably why the Thunder haven’t been reported to have been involved in conversations with any of the more high-profile coaches — either Hardy or Keefe would seem to make much more sense.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the two are each among the candidates being considered for the post.

Keefe spent eight years as an assistant coach under Scott Brooks in Oklahoma City before leaving for an opening in New York. Keefe spent two years in New York before moving on to the LA Lakers, where he spent three seasons. He returned to joined Donovan’s staff before the 2019-20 season began and now, would seem a logical successor.

Hardy, on the other hand, is a Spurs lifer. He began with the franchise in 2010 and eventually joined Gregg Popovich on the bench as an assistant coach prior to the 2016-17 season. Among Popovich’s more famous assistants turned head coaches are Brett Brown and Mike Budenholzer, but the likes of James Borrego, Jim Boylen, Monty Williams and Jacque Vaughn are all fruits of the Pop tree, as well. Hardy could be next.

With the close connections between the Thunder and Spurs organizations, it would surprise nobody for Presti to hire Hardy to lead the team moving forward. On the other hand, Keefe has been an assistant with the franchise under two different head coaches and could make for a seamless transition. It could also be a benefit that Keefe has a year of experience with some of the club’s young talents including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort.

The one thing that seems certain at this point, though, is that the Thunder are not in a rush to fill the vacancy.

After all, slow and steady does often win the race.

Jackson’s triangle magic didn’t work in …

Jackson’s triangle magic didn’t work in New York. Rosen can count the reasons and blames Jackson for not finding the right coach. “Hiring Derek Fisher was a mistake for a lot of reasons,’’ Rosen said. “He wasn’t ready. And there was a division in the coaching staff between Derek’s OKC guys [Brian Keefe, Josh Longstaff, Dave Bliss] and Phil’s guys [Kurt Rambis, Jim Cleamons]. Fisher’s guys didn’t want anything to do with them.’’