It was an interesting Monday morning for the Brooklyn Nets as they fired head coach Jacque Vaughn right after the All-Star break, which was a shock to some since they signed him to a multiyear contract extension not too long ago. While people are speculating the reasoning behind the big move, NBA insider Shams Charania said on FanDuel's show “Run It Back” that it could have dealt with Vaughn's plan to run the offense through Nets star Ben Simmons.
“Multiple players, including Spencer Dinwiddie who is now departed, Mikal Bridges already there, they were pretty vocal behind the scenes for months now about how the offense was running,” Charania said. “They felt like a lot of what Jacque Vaughn was running, was being run improperly without structure. Jacque Vaughn came into the year saying we’re going to run a free-for-all offense and the team from what I gather have been pretty bonded on the fact that developing a hierarchy was important. And when they went into the training camp a lot of their offense was built around Ben Simmons, and him playing one, and him playing at a high level for them but throughout the season he has been unavailable.”
The timeline of events regarding Vaughn with the Nets
From what Charania had to say, it seemed as if there was a disconnect between the head coach and players of the idea about the Nets being a “free-for-all offense” led by Simmons. Whatever the case may be, Brooklyn thought there needed to be a significant change and they did just that.
Vaughn had been with the Nets since 2016 as an assistant coach where before that, he was the head coach for the Orlando Magic from 2012-2015. He released a statement through ESPN where he thanked the executives of the team and said that “it was a pleasure” being the head coach for the Nets.
“To Joe Tsai, Clara Wu-Tsai, Ollie Weisberg, Sam Zussman, Sean Marks and front office, Nets coaches, staff, players, BSE family and the entire Brooklyn borough: It was a pleasure being your Head Coach,” Vaughn said. “I hope each individual I interacted with felt respected and valued. Just know I gave you everything I had every single day. Onto the next chapter. Amor Fati.”
The Nets have named Kevin Ollie as the interim head coach in the meantime as the team is 21-33 on the season, putting them 11th in the East. Subsequently, their next game will be against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.
Follow Us
Subscribe