Nets name Kevin Ollie interim head coach

Nets name Kevin Ollie interim head coach

The Brooklyn Nets are expected to name assistant Kevin Ollie as their interim head coach, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski first reported Monday. Head coach Jacque Vaughn was fired Monday morning.

According to Wojnarowski, Ollie is expected to run Tuesday’s practice and is expected to be the head coach for Thursday’s road game against the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn’s first game exiting the All-Star break. 

The move has not been made official by the organization at the time of this publishing.

Vaughn was fired after a 21-33 start, where the Nets ranked in the bottom-half in adjusted NET Rating, offensive rating and defensive rating with two-way star Mikal Bridges heading the snake. 

Ollie, 51, was in the midst of his first season as an NBA assistant. He was Overtime Elite’s head coach for two seasons after coaching UConn for six seasons. Though an NCAA investigation found that he and his staff committed recruiting violations with his wins from 2016-17 and 2017-18 being vacated; Ollie eventually won a settlement that granted him $11.2 million. 

He played 13 NBA seasons (1998-2010) with 11 different teams. He averaged just 3.8 points and 2.3 assists in 662 career games, including 100 starts. His best season came in 2002-03 with the Milwaukee Bucks and Seattle Supersonics, averaging 6.5 points and 3.5 assists.

It remains to be seen if the Nets, who are 2.5 games out of a play-in spot, can squeak back in ahead of the Atlanta Hawks or Chicago Bulls. At least Ollie will have some time to presumably get acclimated during the All-Star break before entering the season’s final stretch. The Nets have the league’s second-easiest remaining strength of schedule, per Tankathon.

Is this a good move by Brooklyn? Let us know in the comments!

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