There are few things more Brooklyn than “Do The Right Thing.” That’s exactly what the Nets did Wednesday, when they named Jacque Vaughn head coach — and nixed Ime Udoka.
That isn’t a guarantee or even a prediction that Vaughn will guide the Nets into the NBA Finals, the way Udoka did with the Celtics last season. But Udoka would’ve added more drama to a team already more dramatic than reality TV.
“The Real Housewives of Flatbush & Atlantic” couldn’t make up Kevin Durant telling the Nets to trade him unless Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks were fired. Or Kyrie Irving’s string of controversies, the latest getting suspended for promoting an anti-Semitic film.
The Nets needed a dose of sanity. They needed some stability. And that’s Vaughn.
“You hit on it right there: Finding somebody with some stability. That’s JV, a very stable, poised under pressure gentleman,” said Marks, who celebrated with a 112-85 rout of the rival Knicks on Wednesday night. “That’s who he is. He’s seen it all.
“He knows all of us. There’s a relationship here that he already has, whether it’s front office and staff and also the players. At this particular time, to be honest, we were going to have to find somebody better than JV in order for it not to be JV.”
Gentleman.
Let’s be clear: This isn’t a Boy Scout merit badge. Vaughn is being hired to win games. But doing it without drama is good. Doing it with class is better. Doing it without the kind of sexual misconduct that got Udoka suspended is a must.
Jacque VaughnCharles Wenzelberg/New York Post“We got a lot of respect for him and we’re going to follow his lead,” Ben Simmons said.
Added Markieff Morris: “He’s a serious-type coach.”
Udoka was banned for a year by the Celtics for an affair with a subordinate, sending unwanted and inappropriate texts, and a “volume of violations.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s office was tight-lipped about any league input, but Boston’s Jaylen Brown told reporters after Wednesday’s Celtics game that the Irving drama likely kept the Nets from taking the risk on Udoka.
“The situation here in Boston was unfortunate, but I think with the Brooklyn Nets now they’ve got a lot more going on right now, the Kyrie Irving situation which everyone is monitoring,” Brown said. “So I think that’s probably what hindered him from getting that spot.”
While the Nets had been on the brink of hiring Udoka, team owner Joe Tsai heard concerned voices from inside the organization, around the league and women’s groups. After all the Nets’ talk of culture, hiring Udoka would’ve flown in the face of that — or proved it to be empty talk.
Instead, the Nets did the right thing.
“JV is more than deserving of this,” Marks said. “He’s proved it. [And] we factored in what we knew about JV and the person he is.”
Marks has known what kind of person Vaughn is for a while.
Jacque Vaughn coaches the Nets against the Knicks on Wednesday.Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostVaughn was a Spurs assistant when Marks arrived in San Antonio in 2011 as a basketball operations assistant. Vaughn took the Orlando head-coaching job the next year, and when he returned to San Antonio as a pro scout in 2015, Marks had risen to assistant GM.
The Nets also know all about Vaughn, who had been an assistant in Brooklyn since 2016. He went 7-3 as interim coach after Kenny Atkinson was fired in 2020, but didn’t get the job, which went to Nash.
“He did an unbelievable job in the interim,” Joe Harris said. “But even prior to that, he coached us in the interim when Kenny was let go. So this is technically his first win … but he’s got a lot under his belt since he’s been here.”
After going 2-2 in the first four games of his interim encore, Vaughn finally has the head job. And he showed it off in style before a sellout crowd of 18,156.
“I guess I was the write-in candidate in the minds of the elections right now,” Vaughn said. “But I’m OK with that. I said to my wife: I might not have been her first choice and we’ve been together 20 years, so it can all work out.”
Ime Udoka coaching the Celtics during 2022 NBA playoffs.APWorking out is relative. Only two coaches in NBA history — Tim Floyd and Sidney Lowe — who have coached as many games as Vaughn have a worse winning percentage. But in his last head-coaching stint, a decade ago in Orlando, he was green and his team was talent-poor. His gray beard and Durant’s presence show neither is the case now.
He took over a team that was 2-5 thanks to being next-to-last in defensive rating. In his first four games as interim coach, they were third-best. They hope his head-coaching stint is more of the same.
“He’s inspiring. He’s got me excited,” Nic Claxton told The Post. “He’s gonna do a great job leading us.”
If he does, it’ll show the Nets did the right thing.
