With Steve Nash’s surprising departure from the Nets on Tuesday, lead assistant coach Jacque Vaughn will temporarily take over the reigns as the interim head coach.
Vaughn, who is in his eighth season with the Nets, will begin his second stint as an interim head coach on Tuesday night when the Nets face the Bulls at the Barclays Center. He previously served as the interim head coach in 2019-20 after taking over for Kenny Atkinson.
While he may not hold the job for long — multiple reports have indicated that the Nets are expected to hire suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka — it’s worth taking a look back at Vaughn’s career and how he landed in Brooklyn.
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Jacque Vaughn playing history
Vaughn had a 12-year career as a role player in the NBA, suiting up for the Jazz, Hawks, Magic, Nets and Spurs. He won a ring as a part of the 2006-07 Spurs championship team.
Vaughn had modest averages of 4.5 points and 2.5 assists per game, serving as a reliable game manager at backup point guard. He retired after the 2008-09 season.
Jacque Vaughn coaching history
Vaughn is in his 13th season as an NBA coach, spending time with the Spurs and Nets as an assistant. He compiled a 58-158 record as head coach of the Magic for parts of three seasons before being fired midway through the 2014-15 season.
Vaughn has been with the Nets since the 2016-17 season. In his previous interim stint to close the 2019-20 season, he guided the Nets to a 7-3 record, the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round exit against the Raptors.
Vaughn was in consideration for the head coaching job after that season, earning praise for the job that he did. But the Nets eventually went with Nash and promoted Vaughn to assistant head coach.
Vaughn has been a head coaching candidate as recently as last summer, when the Pelicans asked permission to interview him for their head coaching job before going with Willie Green.
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Jacque Vaughn’s relationships with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving
Vaughn has been known to establish good bonds with players on his rosters. During the 2020 season, he commented on his relationships with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Jacque Vaughn says his relationship with KD and Kyrie is good and growing.
— NetsDaily (@NetsDaily) July 4, 2020
Durant even suggested that Vaughn could take over head coaching duties capably after Nash was originally hired.
A month after Nash was hired, Kyrie Irving proclaimed: “I don’t really see us having a head coach. You know what I mean? KD could be a head coach. I could be a head coach.”
Durant then added: “Jacque Vaughn could do it one day. It’s a collaborative effort, I think, on our part.”
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) November 1, 2022
