Goodbye, Brooklyn: Nets fire head coach Avery Johnson

And some extra bonus special extra context:

Here are some things that Prokhorov considered doing, but decided against:

Brooklyn jettisoned Avery Johnson earlier this week when the team dropped to 14-14 on the season, and since that time wild rumors have emerged about who will be the next man to take over the head coaching position for one of the most prominent franchises in the NBA. P.J. Carlesimo was installed as the interim coach after the team severed ties with Johnson, but it’s clear the Nets are searching for a long-term answer right now.

Brooklyn native and former NBA head coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. attempted to toss his name into the mix on Friday, calling the position a dream job during a radio interview, but nothing much has developed beyond that statement.

Despite reports of Jackson’s agent telling NBA reporter David Aldridge that his client is not interested in coaching Brooklyn, the Nets still seem intent of making a serious run for his services.

Jackson, 67, last coached on May 8, 2011 before retiring for a second time from the Lakers. In 20 seasons of coaching, Jackson has won 11 NBA championships and has amassed a regular-season record of 1,155-485.

Johnson leaves the Nets after two full seasons as the head coach. He posted just a 60-116 record in New Jersey and Brooklyn. The first two years weren’t surprising, as the Nets were building young talent for their move across state lines. The problem for Johnson was this year, after the Nets front office committed plenty of money to improve the team. That has led to just a 14-14 record, including just three wins in the month of November.

Brooklyn relieved Avery Johnson of his head coaching duties on Thursday. The team currently sits in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 14-14 record, which team owner Mikhail Prokhorov is displeased with.

The decision to fire Johnson reportedly came directly from Prokhorov and was something that he had been considering throughout December.

Here is the news that explains the headline.

Citing sources, Nets Daily reports that the idea of firing Johnson had been discussed amongst the team’s Russian ownership group throughout December and that the group had been unhappy with the team’s play since the start of the season. Another source stated that Prokhorov was disappointed with what he saw when he viewed three of the team’s games earlier this month (the Nets lost all three games.)

According to the report, Prokhorov consulted with his No. 2 Dmitry Razumov in making the decision. Prokhorov then informed general manager Billy King of the decision and King was the one who directly told Johnson he had been fired.

However, according to a report from Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel, Van Gundy isn’t interested:

While all such reports need to be taken with a huge grain of salt, Schmitz is presumably well connected with Van Gundy’s camp from his time covering the Magic.

Here’s one thing that is clear, though: Johnson’s son is not happy. Here’s a series of tweets he sent out after the news broke.

Avery Johnson Jr’s account is not verified, but there are pictures from inside the Nets’ facility on it, so it’s clearly him. At least one of Johnson’s players also seemed shocked by the firing.