The Nets announced Wednesday that they have named Jacque Vaughn as head coach.
Brooklyn parted ways with Steve Nash on Nov. 1 after a 2-5 start to the season. Nash led the Nets to a 94-67 record, and won one playoff round during his time with the team.
Vaughn was named acting head coach immediately following the firing of Nash, and has been with the team for seven seasons as an assistant coach. His deal runs through the 2023-24 season, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowksi.
“Finding somebody with some stability, that’s J.V.,” Nets GM Sean Marks said prior to Wednesday's game. “Very stable, poised under pressure. Gentleman. That’s sort of who he is.”
Under Vaughn, the Nets are 3-2 after Wednesday's 112-85 win over the Knicks and the way the team has played really caught the organization's eye when deciding on who will be Brooklyn's coach this season.“We’re looking at the big picture here and having a relationship with him for seven years, his relationship to players, his competitive spirit, a lot of that goes a long way,” Marks said. “We’re seeing how this team, to be quite frank, has responded to him lately.”
The Nets were expected to hire Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, but decided to go in a different direction, in part because some Nets decision-makers like how the team has responded under Vaughn. They feel that many of the players have connected well with the coach, according to SNY's Ian Begley.
Vaughn, who was passed on when he was interim coach for the Nets during a 10-game stint during the 2019-20 season, and aware of the reports, couldn't help be jokey and light-hearted with his hire before the game.
"I guess I was the write-in candidate in the minds of elections right now," Vaughn said. "But I'm ok with that. I said to my wife I might have not been her first choice, but we've been together 20 years so it could all work out, so off we go."
The Celtics had suspended Udoka for the 2022-23 season before the start of training camp due to improper conduct with a female employee, among other infractions.
Udoka helped lead the Celtics to an improbable NBA Finals run last season, and was previously with the Nets as an assistant from 2020-2021.
When he was in Brooklyn, Udoka was one of few coaches who coached stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving with an edge, Begley reported. Durant and Udoka have had a close relationship over the years. That relationship is one reason why offseason Nets-Celtics trade discussions centered on Durant gained traction. Udoka was also an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers with Ben Simmons from 2019-2020, and Simmons played at a high level with Udoka on the staff.
If the Nets were to have hired Udoka, they would have had to answer questions about its vetting process prior to hiring him. Due to the circumstances of Udoka's suspension, the Nets would have needed to explain how they determined he was fit to return to the sideline when Boston decided to suspend him for the year.
Meanwhile, Begley also reported that there were some concerns on Udoka's side about coaching the Nets due to all the uncertainty surrounding the franchise right now.