The Brooklyn Nets announced on Monday they fired head coach Jacque Vaughn.
Vaughn took over as head coach early in the 2022-23 season after the team parted ways with Steve Nash. The interim tag was removed from him days later.
However, after a 21-33 start at the All-Star break, the Nets decided to make a change.
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Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn looks toward the scoreboard during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
“This was an incredibly difficult decision, but one we feel is in the best interest of the team going forward,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Jacque has represented this organization with exemplary character and class for the past eight years.
“The consistent positivity and passion he poured into our team daily will remain with the players and staff he interacted with throughout his tenure. We thank Jacque for all he has done for the Nets and the borough of Brooklyn, and wish him, Laura and their family nothing but the best in the future.”
The team said an interim coach would be named in the “near future.”
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Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn works the sideline during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)
Vaughn had been in the Nets’ organization since the start of the 2016-17 season. He was previously the head coach of the Orlando Magic for two and a half years before he was let go.
He served as an assistant under Kenny Atkinson and was named the interim head coach when Atkinson was eventually let go. He decided to stay on as an assistant under Nash.
Vaughn was 43-32 as the team’s head coach last season after Nash left. He tried to guide the team to a championship even as the team traded away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The team was swept by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs.
Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn, left, speaks with Gordon Chiesa before the game against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Dec. 18, 2023. (Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports)
This season came with a little bit more hope that Ben Simmons would be fully healthy and emerging talents like Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton would be able to mesh well with Mikail Bridges and Cam Johnson.
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The team has not congealed in the way the organization or fans have hoped and now find themselves fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament with more than a month of the season left.
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