The Brooklyn Nets have fired coach Jacque Vaughn, the team announced Monday morning. An interim coach will be named “in the near future.”
The Nets are currently the No. 11 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 21–33 record. The Nets are promoting assistant coach Kevin Ollie to interim head coach, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday afternoon. Ollie coached the UConn men’s basketball team to the national championship in 2014.
Vaughn joined Brooklyn as an assistant coach in 2016 and was named interim coach in 2020 when Kenny Atkinson stepped down from his coaching duties. After that, Vaughn stayed on as an assistant for new coach Steve Nash and ultimately was named interim coach yet again in November 2022 when Nash was fired.
Just days later that, he was officially announced as the team’s new coach, and he eventually signed a multiyear contract extension. But he never found consistent success.
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Vaughn posted a 64–65 coaching record with the Nets, not including a 7–3 mark as interim coach in ’20. Including his previous stretch as coach of the Orlando Magic and both of his interim stints with the Nets, the 49-year-old has a 129–226 NBA coaching record.
“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.”
