Nets appoint Jacque Vaughn as head coach

The Nets named Jacque Vaughn as head coach on Wednesday to replace Steve Nash, who was fired last week. Vaughn has coached the team on an interim basis in all four games since then.

Vaughn took over at a particularly difficult time for the organization, whose star point guard Kyrie Irving posted a link to an anti-Semitic film on Twitter in late October.

“Jacque’s basketball acumen, competitiveness and intimate knowledge of our team and our organization make him the best person to lead our group going forward,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. , in a statement on Wednesday. “He has a proven ability to get the most out of our players, empower them and play a consistent, team-oriented style of basketball.”

Vaughn has been an assistant coach for the Nets since 2016 and served as interim head coach in 2020 after Kenny Atkinson was fired as coach.

The team announced on November 1 that it had agreed to part ways with Nash. Soon after, the media began linking the Nets to Ime Udoka, the Boston Celtics coach whom the team had suspended for violating unspecified team policies. According to two people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to speak about it publicly, Udoka had a relationship with a subordinate.

The Nets hadn’t said if they were considering Udoka to replace Nash. The Celtics gave Udoka permission to talk to other teams and would not demand compensation if another team signed him, according to a person briefed on the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.