Over the weekend, the Brooklyn Nets shockingly fired their head coach, Kenny Atkinson. It has been reported that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving had no interest in playing for Atkinson and that they felt like he wasn't the right guy to lead them to an NBA championship. Now, the Nets are playing with an interim head coach and this summer, they will be looking to hire someone for the full-time gig.
Early reports suggest Irving wants Ty Lue to be the head coach although it remains to be seen if that comes to fruition. During a recent episode of ESPN's First Take, Stephen A. Smith spoke about the Nets head coach situation and had an interesting suggestion in terms of who should take the lead. Of course, Smith mentioned Lue but he also mentioned Mark Jackson who now works as a color commentator. Perhaps the most shocking suggestion was legendary head coach Gregg Popovich.
Popovich has been coaching the San Antonio Spurs for over 20 years now and has led them to five championships. Smith makes the case that Coach Pop has plenty of proteges in San Antonio and that if the Spurs miss the playoffs, he may want to hand the team off to someone else. In this case, Popovich could be a great candidate for the Brooklyn job.
Of course, Coach Pop is a very unlikely hire and the rest of the First Take crew made sure to mention this. Regardless, Smith definitely opened a can of worms with this one.
Kyrie Irving’s Preferred Head Coach Revealed
New details emerge regarding the Brooklyn Nets' coaching change, including how Kyrie Irving "soured" on Kenny Atkinson and who he wants to be the team's next coach.
The Brooklyn Nets unexpectedly cut ties with head coach Kenny Atkinson over the weekend and almost immediately fans began pointing the blame at point guard Kyrie Irving. In the days after the Nets and Atkinson "mutual parted ways," new details have emerged suggesting that Irving "soured" on Atkinson - meaning, yes, he certainly played a role in the decision to move on.
As it stands, assistant coach Jacque Vaughn will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season, but the team is expected to hire a more permanent option this off-season. Which begs the question: Who does Kyrie Irving want to be Brooklyn's next head coach?
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According to Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill, Irving is hoping that his former coach Ty Lue will take the job.
Irving soured on Atkinson early, league sources told Yahoo Sports, and currently prefers Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue to be the team's next head coach. Lue was the head coach in Cleveland when Irving hit the winning shot in the 2016 NBA Finals and was in talks to take the Lakers job before discussions broke down.
Goodwill also notes that sources claim Atkinson "wasn’t fond of coaching Durant and Irving based on what he saw this season." The Nets (29-34) are currently slotted in the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, just a half game up on the eighth seed Orlando Magic. Up next for the team is a four-game West Coast trip including matchups against the Lakers, Warriors, Clippers and Kings.
