Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn had a tough task to achieve during the 2022-23 season. After starting the season as the assistant coach to Steve Nash, Vaughn became the interim head coach of the team after Brooklyn began the campaign with a 2-5 start under Nash.
After Nash was let go, Vaughn became the leader of a team that was led by superstars in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. However, Vaughn had to lead the team through Irving being suspended by the organization for tweeting a link to a film containing antisemitic material as well as Durant missing 14 games due to a knee injury suffered on Jan. 8 against the Miami Heat.
Worst of all, Vaughn had to keep the Nets on track after Irving and Durant requested trades for various reasons. After the superstars were traded to the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns, respectively, Vaughn had to keep the team focused enough to make the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Brooklyn was swept in the playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers and that result gave Vaughn one of the worst playoff records among head coaches in the past decade, according to Bleacher Report. The last time that Vaughn was the head coach of a playoff team before this season was during the 2019-20 season when he took over for Kenny Atkinson after he was fired shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic happened.
As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski back in February, Vaughn’s contract extension keeps him under contract through the 2026-27 season. Could Brooklyn be back in the playoffs in the next three seasons? It’s certainly possible. Will they win a game in the playoffs? It depends on how the organization wants to move forward this summer.
Related
2022-23 Brooklyn Nets player grades: Ben Simmons
B/R: toughest offseason decision for the Brooklyn Nets is franchise direction
Story originally appeared on Nets Wire