The Nets announced on Wednesday that they have hired Jacque Vaughn as their next head coach.
After parting ways with Steve Nash last week, Brooklyn promoted Vaughn as interim head coach, marking his second stint as interim head coach with the Nets.
Shortly after Nash's departure, there were reports that the Nets planned to hire Celtics suspended head coach Ime Udoka to fill the role, but Wednesday's news made it clear that Brooklyn elected to go in a different direction.
Vaughn went 2-2 through four games as interim head coach, and he will now take over the job on a full-time basis.
But why did the Nets choose Vaughn over Udoka?
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Why Nets hired Jacque Vaughn over Celtics' Ime Udoka as next head coach
In the team's release on Wednesday, Nets general manager Sean Marks made it clear that he believes Vaughn is the right person to lead Brooklyn.
"Jacque's basketball acumen, competitiveness and intimate knowledge of our team and organization make him the clear-cut best person to lead our group moving forward," Marks said. "He has a proven ability to get the best out of our players, hold them accountable and play a cohesive, team-first style of basketball."
Vaughn is in his seventh season as an assistant coach with the Nets, giving him plenty of familiarity with the organization. He also served as interim head coach back in 2019-20 after the team parted ways with Kenny Atkinson, leading Brooklyn to a 7-3 record in the final 10 games of the season before falling to the Raptors in the first round of the playoffs.
When Vaughn was asked about his promotion, he delivered a very funny, yet honest answer.
"I guess I was the write-in candidate in the minds of elections right now, but I’m ok with that," he said to the media, according to HoopsHype's Michael Scotto. "I said to my wife, I might not have been her first choice and we’ve been together 20 years, so it can all work out. So, off we go.”
Following the team's announcement, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Vaughn's promotion will come with a deal through the 2023-24 season.
Jacque Vaughn’s promotion to Brooklyn Nets coach comes with a deal through the 2023-2024 season, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 9, 2022
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Why didn't the Nets hire Ime Udoka?
Over the weekend, NBA insider Marc Stein reported that there were "strong voices urging Nets owner Joe Tsai to back off the Nets' intent to hire suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka as Steve Nash's successor given the considerable turmoil Brooklyn has already faced this season."
Following Vaughn's promotion, The Athletic's Shams Charania dove a little deeper into that report.
The Nets changed course from their initial plan to hire Udoka due to several factors, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the decision-making told The Athletic.
These factors include an investigation and due diligence process by the Nets into the suspended coach taking longer than initially expected, the outcry after word of their plan became known to people outside and inside the organization and the short- and long-term question marks around the team's ability to contend in the Eastern Conference as a result of the indefinite suspension of Irving.
Charania also reported that, once it became evident that the Nets would not hire Udoka, "The decision to hire Vaughn was made largely in part due to the buy-in from Nets players under Vaughn."
"Vaughn is said to have created positive energy inside a Nets locker room dealing with external stress," Charania wrote.
Udoka will remain with the Celtics for the time being as the team continues to operate under interim head coach Joe Mazzulla.
