Brooklyn Nets Fire Avery Johnson

The Nets realized the team was not going in the right direction; let’s face with a 3-13 record in the last 16 games it’s easy to look for someone to blame, in this case the coach.  Brooklyn fired coach Avery Johnson after looking extremely pathetic on Christmas day.

“I just got a sense, as I told Avery this morning that he just wasn’t reaching them anymore,” general manager Billy King said at a news conference Thursday afternoon, adding that ownership had the final say in the decision.

“The Nets’ ownership would like to express thanks to Avery for his efforts and to wish him every success in the future,” principal owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in a statement.

“You never think when you’re a .500 team and then you’re going into two more home games at home that something like this would happen,” Johnson, who was in the final year of a three-year, $12 million contract said at the news conference. “But this is ownership’s decision, and this is what we sign up for. This is part of our business. Fair or unfair, it doesn’t matter. But again, it’s time for a new voice, and hopefully they’ll get back on track.”

The Nets will keep P.J. Carlisemo as interim coach, but some named has surfaced the news, with Phil Jackson as the primary candidate, but it could be a long shot before Jackson shows he’s interested.

The other name is Jerry Sloan, but considering Sloan left his long life job with Jazz because of Deron Williams, it’s unlikely the coach will get into this mess again.