Nets Jacque Vaughn: ‘To still be a part of this organization means a lot to me’

It would have been somewhat understandable if the thought crossed Nets coach Jacque Vaughn’s mind that his shot to lead the organization. First Vaughn was passed over three years ago and after he did get it this year the thought that maybe the Nets had their on somebody else was out there.

That wouldn’t have been Vaughn’s style though and the contract extension he got on Tuesday from the Nets was a sign enough that his continued belief was well placed in his coaching abilities.

“To still be a part of this organization means a lot to me,” Vaugh said during a Wednesday Zoom press conference. “That means the way I carry myself on a daily basis, people appreciate it. And so there’s something to that, but at the end of the day, I just kept doing my job and showing up every single day and ready to rumble every single day.”

The team announced they had inked him to a multi-year contract extension, which will reportedly keep him on the job through the 2026-27 season, during the NBA All-Star break. Vaughn said that he was aware of some behind-the-scenes chatter about it, but wasn’t focusing too much on it.

Vaughn called the extension a reward for just doing his job.

With job security one less thing to worry about, the Nets and Vaughn now turn their attention to the stretch run of the season. The Nets made it through the break unscathed as they prepare for to return to the floor on Friday against the Chicago Bulls.

It will mark just the third game that all four of the Nets’ trade deadline additions will be on the floor together and continuing to acclimate them into the existing system will be Vaughn’s biggest challenge over the final 24 games of the regular season.

Part of that is getting the terminology down, something that Vaughn called a “slow drip” to get down and was something he continued to work on with the team. “If we can merge some of the terminology, scrap some of the terminology we used before we got our four new guys I’m ok with that,” Vaughn said in regard to getting the team to play more instinctively.

The short window won’t give the Nets much time to work on things, but Vaughn has a vision for what he’d like to see out of his Nets team for the rest of the season. He’s hoping to see Brooklyn create an identity on defense, forcing more turnovers, play with pace on offense and creating more from the transition and outside the arc.

“Just overall, we have to be the hardest-playing team in the league,” Vaughn said. “And so when you look at us on film, when you look at us live, when you look at the first possession of the game, are the Brooklyn Nets the hardest-playing team in the NBA? And so those are our three areas that we’re really going to lean into in these last 24 games.”

Little by little Vaughn has been putting his stamp on the team and now with the knowledge that he’ll be here for the next several years, the Nets head coach can really sink his teeth in.

“Just for the staff for the comfort of the players knowing my voice and direction going forward,” Vaughn said. “I think being able to really lean into loving this grind and the challenge that’s ahead. Never feared or not walked through those doors before; and so to get rewarded for it is it’s pretty cool.”