The National Basketball Association (NBA) team Brooklyn Nets announced on Wednesday that they have promoted Jacque Vaughn as the new head coach. There were reports earlier that the Celtics were in talks with suspended Boston coach Ime Udoka to replace Steve Nash, but ultimately they decided to go ahead with Vaughn.
“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,” Celtics 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.”
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Who is Jacque Vaughn?
Jacque Vaughn was born on February 11, 1975, in Pasadena, California. He attended John Muir High School and became the best player in Pasadena since Muir alumni and NBA player Stacey Augmon. He attended the University of Kansas and became the starting point guard under Kansas coach Roy Williams.
He earned the MVP award at the 1993 Pre-Season NIT at Madison Square Garden in his very first season with Kansas. He hit a game-winning three-pointer at the overtime buzzer to edge Kansas past Indiana.
He was drafted by the Utah Jazz in the 1997 NBA draft and continued to play with them for four seasons. He then joined Orlando Magic, followed by the Atlanta Hawks, then the New Jersey Jets, and finally ended his career with San Antonio Spurs. His final season in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs was 2008-09.
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He started his coaching career with the San Antonio Spurs and worked as the assistant coach between 2010 to 2012. He joined the Orlando Magic as head coach on July 28, 2021, kicking off his career in the top job. After a year of working with the Spurs again as their professional scout, he joined the Brooklyn Nets as assistant head coach under Kenny Atkinson.
Following Atkinson’s departure, he served as the Nets’ interim head coach in from March 2020 to September 2020. When Steve Nash was announced as the new Nets head coach, he returned to his original position as assistant.
