Brooklyn Nets Part Ways with Vaughn Signals Continued Rebuild
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 05: Head coach of the Brooklyn Nets Jacque Vaughn during their game against the Golden State Warriors at Barclays Center on February 05, 2024 in New York City.
The Brooklyn Nets ongoing rebuild took another turn Monday when Head Coach Jacque Vaughn was dismissed as head coach. His club was 21-33 this season. In a corresponding move, the Nets named former UConn Head Coach Kevin Ollie as Vaughn’s interim replacement.
The move is ironic considering that Vaughn was hired as the Nets interim Head Coach a little over a year ago, in November of 2022 to replace Kenny Atkinson when the KD-Kyrie experiment started taking on water. Some 15 months later, and almost a year to the day that he signed an extension to become Brooklyn’s full time head coach, Vaughn is out the door.
To many the move might signal some form of instability.
But to the Nets, it was painfully obvious that they felt Vaughn wasn’t getting the most out of the young club.
Perhaps the most telling were comments by Spencer Dinwiddie who endorsed Kevin Ollie becoming the interim head coach.
“Sometimes you need that other voice, that stern voice,” Dinwiddie said. “Sometimes you tune out your pops and your uncle steps in and keeps you on track. It’s kinda that vibe.”
While Vaughn had a winning record in his two stints at Brooklyn (71-68), he was 0-8 in the postseason, and this year’s club had lost five of its last six, including getting blown out by 50 points by the Boston Celtics before the All-Star Break.
Kevin Ollie
Ollie is no stranger to pressure situations. He was a successful head coach at the University of Connecticut, taking on the tall order of replacing a legend in Jim Calhoun, and by his second season, captured a National Championship in 2014.
However, his tenure at UCONN ended almost as quickly as it started when he was at the center of recruiting violations.
At the time, The New York Times wrote back in 2018:
“N.C.A.A. investigators also charged Ollie with lying to or misleading them.
Ollie was hit with a three-year show-cause penalty, which required any school that wanted to hire him during that time to explain to the N.C.A.A. every six months how Ollie was complying with its rules. Ollie, once considered a future N.B.A. coach, is now coaching for Overtime Elite, a league for high school- and college-aged players who aspire to play professionally.”
Can Ollie put his past firmly behind him, and push the Nets back on the right path? We’ll see how this duel redemption journey takes off.
5 NBA Players We'd Love To See In the Slam Dunk Contest
This weekend the NBA will take over Indianapolis for All-Star weekend. On Saturday night, the Slam Dunk contest will serve as the grand finale of the day two events at Lucas Oil Stadium. That got us thinking about NBA stars we’d love to see in Slam Dunk contest.
Before we crack into the list, let’s take a look at the modern landscape of the NBA dunk contest. The biggest complaint about the event is that the biggest names in basketball rarely participate. Why is that? Well, last year at this time, Front Office Sports dove into this exact subject. “The last time a player from that season’s All-Star Game actually participated in the Dunk Contest was in 2017, when the Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan competed,” they said.
Front Office Sports went on to list a lack of creative options, scoring, and top players not participating in the dunk contest as reasons why the competition had declined. “I think they’re maybe afraid to lose,” NBA Hall of Famer, and slam dunk legend, Dominique Wilkins said via Front Office Sports. Of course, potential injury could also be considered.
Though there has been a lack of star power in the Slam Dunk contest, there have been a few shining moments as of late. Last season, there was much confusion as to why the NBA was allowing a G League (minor league) player to participate in Mac McClung. Now with the Orlando Magic franchise, McClung was called up by his then-team, the 76ers, a few days before the contest. He would go on to win and thrilling fashion. Furthermore, McClung is just six-foot-two.
This Year’s Slam Dunk Contest
The NBA Slam Dunk contest will often be associated with the likes of Wilkins and Michael Jordan. In the late ’80s, these legends made our jaws drop dunking the ball during all-star weekend. Sure, we have had Vince Carter and the late great Kobe Bryant go in it and win it. However, you can’t help but think about what might have been, if these stars had won. Some of them came close, while others opted out.
Nonetheless, we do have some surprising and well-received news when it comes to the 2024 contest. Jaylen Brown, one of the biggest stars in the game, is participating. He will compete against last year’s winner in McClung. In addition, Jacob Toppin from the Knicks and Jamie Jaquez. Jr of the Heat are in. Perhaps with Brown participating, we will begin to see the trend of more all-stars opting into this fan-favorite event in the future.
Here are five players we’d love to see do their thing in the NBA Slam Dunk contest.
Michael Cohen is the News and Sports Director at Fox Sports Radio New Jersey and Magic 98.3 FM, as well as a radio production assistant with Fox and Magic in New Jersey. He started his career in Somerset in 2018 initially as a news fill-in at WCTC 1450 AM, and soon moved up to higher responsibilities in the ensuing years, assuming News & Sports Director title in 2021Prior to his time with Fox Sports New Jersey, Michael was play-by-play voice for New Jersey Jackals baseball, and as well as play-by-play and color for the College of Staten Island basketball (men and women), softball and baseball. Michael began his career as a news and sportswriter with the Jersey Journal of Hudson County.
