Jacque Vaughn, the former Utah Jazz point guard, has been appointed the new head coach of the NBA team, the Brooklyn Nets. The decision comes after the outfit fired former coach, Steve Nash, in early November. Vaugh has been serving the franchise as its assistant coach since 2016, and had also held the position of interim head coach on two separate occasions- once when the Nets fired Kenny Atkinson in 2020, and again after Nash was let go from his position.
The Nets announced their latest appointment on Twitter. Check it out right here:
Vaughn has gone 2-2 as acting coach since the Nets and Nash parted ways on Nov. 1. His first game as the head coach will be Wednesday night at home against the New York Knicks.
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“Jacque’s basketball acumen, competitiveness and intimate knowledge of our team and organization make him the clear-cut best person to lead our group moving forward,” general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “He has a proven ability to get the best out of our players, hold them accountable and play a cohesive, team-first style of basketball.”
After moving on from Nash, the Nets had been in discussions with Udoka, who along with Vaughn had been a Nets assistant before taking the Boston job. He led the Celtics to last season’s NBA Finals but was suspended for at least this season for violating team rules by having a relationship with a female staffer within the organization.
However, the Nets opted against taking that action, possibly not wanting to draw further controversy while dealing with the repercussions from Kyrie Irving’s decision to share a link to an anti-Semitic movie on his Twitter page.
Vaughn’s skills will be put to a strong test this season owing to the Nets’ poor performance so far. They are currently struggling at the 11th position Eastern Conference, having won four and lost seven games. Kevin Durant has had a few great games so far, but did not receive much support from his teammates.
