A week ago, the Brooklyn Nets turned to Jacque Vaughn to step into the head coach’s seat for the second time since he joined the organization in an assistant’s role in 2016. This time, it’s for keeps.
The team made it official Wednesday in announcing that Vaughn would be the Brooklyn head coach going forward.
“We’re ecstatic that he’s going to remain our head coach,” said general manager Sean Marks. “There’s a number of factors why JV was the right choice. Obviously, I’ve known JV for a long time, and all of us have. He’s been a part of this culture. He’s been a part of what we’ve been building here over the years. When we look at the person he is, we look at his connection with players. I obviously look at what’s happened over the last four games, but it’s not entirely that’s what we’re looking at. We’re looking at the big picture and having a relationship with him for seven years and his connection to players. His competitive spirit, a lot of that goes a long way and we’ve seen how this team, to be quite frank, has responded to him lately.”
“I was in the mindset of coaching that Chicago game and that's what I was asked to do, and I did it,” said Vaughn of Brooklyn’s game against the Bulls last Tuesday. “And the next day we had an off day and the next day I was asked to do practice and I did it. And it brought me to this point. I think I can really say honestly I've served every coach that I've been with and staff, looked them in the eye, had their back and did their job. Hopefully to make it easier for them. And I told my son today, you know, you just do what you're supposed to do every day and it's nothing wrong with that and hopefully you get rewarded for it. And if you don't you can look yourself in the mirror every night. If you do get rewarded, off you go.”
During the 2019-20 season, Vaughn guided the Nets through difficult circumstances with a steady resolve. After taking over for Kenny Atkinson, Vaughn coached the Nets to two wins before the season was suspended due to the COVID pandemic. After waiting through months of uncertainty, a reshuffled roster reassembled to complete the season on the single-site NBA Campus that the league set up in Orlando. There, Vaughn coached the Nets to a 5-3 record and back into the playoffs.
Vaughn had a 12-year playing career after starring at Kansas. A first-round draft pick in 1997, he was a rookie on the Utah Jazz team that went to the 1998 NBA Finals. After playing for the Hawks, Magic, and Nets as well, Vaughn won an NBA championship in 2007 during a three-year stint with the Spurs before retiring.
He moved into coaching as an assistant to Gregg Popovich with the Spurs. His first head coaching opportunity came in Orlando, taking over a young, rebuilding roster in 2012 when Vaughn was pretty young himself, 37 years old and just three years removed from the end of his own playing career. “I was a young coach,” said Vaughn. “I definitely am glad I took that job. It made me a better assistant coach, what my head coach needs along the way. So that part was powerful. I've just grown as an individual. Much more secure in myself as you see with this beard right here. And so I just felt you can grow and be a better person, be a better coach and I'm fortunate to be in this situation. But I would have taken that job again. I learned from it. Still have friends, players that I coached that still come up to me so I'd do it again.”
After a year back with the Spurs as a scout, Vaughn joined the Nets as an assistant coach in 2016.
Going into Wednesday night’s game against the Knicks, over Vaughn’s first four games the Nets had the second-best defensive rating in the NBA (102.1) and the second-best net rating (9.9) while splitting the four decisions.
“I like the way the team has been playing,” said Marks. “They’ve been competing at a high level. They’ve obviously rallied around each other. They’ve rallied around the coaching staff. They’ve rallied around JV. He’s been the catalyst for that.”