Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn looks towards the scoreboard during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
AP
Jacque Vaughn’s time as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets is over.
Multiple outlets reported Monday morning that Vaughn has been fired, and the Nets formally announced it a short time later.
Vaughn, 49, was named the Nets head coach in November of 2022 after Steve Nash left the organization following just two years as head coach.
Vaughn was originally named interim head coach and it was widely reported that the Nets were targeting Ime Udoka to replace Nash, but that became controversial and Vaughn had the interim tag removed a week later (Udoka is now head coach of the Houston Rockets).
In 75 games as head coach, Vaughn led the Nets to a 43-32 record. Last February, just a few months into Vaughn’s tenure, the Nets moved into a partial rebuild when they traded Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns, per Durant’s wishes.
This season, the Nets are 21-33 and 2.5 games out of the final Play-In spot in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
This marked Vaughn’s second stint as a head coach in the league, as he led the Orlando Magic from 2012-2015 before getting fired.
In all, his career head coaching record is 108-193.
The 27th overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the 1997 NBA draft, Vaughn played in the league until 2009 (he was with the Jazz until 2001) and then got into coaching with the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant in 2010.