The Milwaukee Bucks are no longer the only team to have fired their head coach midseason this year. The Brooklyn Nets fired head coach Jacque Vaughn on Monday morning. Brooklyn is a woeful 21-22, 2.5 games out of the final play-in spot for the NBA Playoffs.
Brooklyn’s decision to move on from Vaughn is the end of a rollercoaster relationship between the two parties. Vaughn was originally hired by the Nets to be head coach Kenny Atkinson’s top assistant in the 2016-17 season. He remained in that role until 2020 when Atkinson stepped down as head coach in the middle of the season. Vaughn served as interim head coach for the rest of the season.
A month before the 2020-21 season began, Steve Nash was hired as the Nets’ next head coach and Vaughn returned to his role as lead assistant. In November 2022, Nash parted ways with the Nets and Vaughn was named interim head coach once again. This time, instead of searching for a new candidate, Brooklyn gave him the full time job in February of 2023.
It was a partnership that was not to last, however, and Vaughn was fired nearly one year to the day after he signed his extension with the Nets. Now, Brooklyn is looking to replace him with his own lead assistant coach, former Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Ollie.
Former Milwaukee Bucks Guard Kevin Ollie Expected to Be Named Interim Head Coach of the Brooklyn Nets
With Vaughn being dismissed, the Nets are not looking far for their interim head coach. Just as when the Bucks fired Adrian Griffin and had Joe Prunty fill in as the interim head coach before Doc Rivers was hired, the Nets are looking to their top assistant: Kevin Ollie.
ESPN Sources: The Nets are talking with assistant Kevin Ollie on the interim head coaching job and are expected to talk more today. Ollie — who had a 13-year NBA playing career — won the 2014 NCAA title as UConn’s coach and joined Nets this season after two years running Overtime…
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 19, 2024
Ollie was the head coach of the 2014 UCONN Huskies, who won the NCAA Tournament. Ollie served as head coach at UCONN from 2012-2018 when he was fired for several NCAA infractions. In 2022, a court of law ruled that Ollie had been improperly terminated and UCONN had to pay him millions of dollars in backpay.
From 2021-23, Ollie was the head coach of Overtime Elite. Before this season began, he was hired as an assistant coach on Vaughn’s staff. This job will be his first NBA head coaching experience.
Kevin Ollie Played for 12 NBA Teams, Including the Milwaukee Bucks
Ollie played in the NBA for 13 seasons, playing for 12 teams during that time. He spent part of the 2002-03 with the Bucks, averaging 5.7 points and 3.4 assists in 53 games. He also played for the Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, Seattle Supersonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Oklahoma City Thunder.
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