Nets name Ollie as interim coach

NEW YORK CITY: Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks hasn’t given up on his team making the playoffs this season, and now Kevin Ollie will be tasked with leading it there.

Ollie was named Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) as Brooklyn’s interim coach, replacing Jacque Vaughn, who was fired a day earlier.

The Nets are 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, two-and-a-half games behind Atlanta for the final play-in spot with 28 games remaining. Marks said the decision to replace Vaughn with Ollie during the All-Star break was based on “the direction of the team and where it’s potentially trending.”

Marks spoke with reporters for almost 20 minutes prior to the team’s practice Tuesday night, its first under Ollie, who joined the Nets’ staff as an assistant ahead of this season.

Nets name Ollie as interim coach

“He’s always carried a great voice in there. He’s very direct with the players. He does hold them accountable,” Marks said. “I think what makes a good coach is to be able to put yourself in those players’ shoes, be able to tell great stories and be brutally honest with guys, and I think those are attributes that Kevin absolutely has.”

The 51-year-old Ollie played 13 NBA seasons and led UConn to an NCAA title a decade ago. Ollie coached UConn from 2012-2018. The Los Angeles native then spent two years (2021-2023) as head of coaching and basketball development for Overtime Elite, a developmental league for young players, before joining the Nets.

“I played 15 years professionally, 13 years in this league,” Ollie said. “Never once did [a] coach call a play for me. I had to get it with grit, I had to get it with determination, I had to get it with a mindset that we’re gonna get better each and every day. That’s how I coach, that’s what I’m going to demand.”

Vaughn went 71-68 in two stints with the Nets, including a brief stretch as interim coach at the end of the 2009-2010 season, and led Brooklyn to the playoffs twice. He was seen as a stabilizing force after replacing Steve Nash seven games into last season.

This season, the Nets are 21-33 and have dropped five of six, including a 50-point loss to Boston in their last game before the All-Star break.

Marks was asked whether that ugly defeat factored into his decision.