To understand why Jacque Vaughn was fired as the Brooklyn Nets’ head coach Monday morning, start by recalling how and why Vaughn rose to the first chair on Brooklyn’s bench back in November 2022.
Barring strokes of fortune, in a business that offers little luck to precious few, Vaughn’s path always seemed to represent a stop-gap solution for Brooklyn’s front office. After dismissing Steve Nash two weeks into last season with Kevin Durant’s summer trade request still echoing off the Barclays Center rafters, the Nets ultimately pivoted to Vaughn instead of their prioritized candidate, then-embattled Ime Udoka, as Nash’s replacement — all while the franchise managed Kyrie Irving’s prolonged controversy stemming from his promotion of an antisemitic film.