Jacque Vaughn's beard a symbol of his journey to become Nets' head coach
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, in Washington. Credit: AP/Nick Wass
Nets coach Jacque Vaughn knows his beard is a little crazy-looking. How could he not? It sprouts from his face in a mysterious black-and-white pattern that looks like a human Rorschach test. It grows faster in some places, slower in others. And it has become so bushy that he could stow a dry erase marker in it if he had to.
“I’m not going to cut it!” Vaughn insisted in a recent interview with Newsday. “I rarely trim it. Let’s just see what happens, if it ever stops growing.”
Vaughn, who hasn’t shaved in a year, sees his beard as more than just a facial-hair fashion statement. Rather, it is a symbol of where he is, where he has been and the lessons he has learned.
The beard exudes a rare kind of confidence that comes with age, experience and the acceptance of the unpredictability of life. It has become the calling card of the man who has done all he can to save the Nets’ season.
Not too long ago, the team was the laughingstock of the NBA. Now it is 18-12 overall and 16-7 since Vaughn took over for a fired Steve Nash.
With their 119-116 victory at the buzzer over the host Raptors on Friday night, the Nets have won five in a row, eight of their last nine and 12 of their last 15. Since Nov. 1, they have risen from a tie for 13th place in the Eastern Conference to fourth.
The Nets currently rank in the top 10 in both offense and defense, a stunning turnaround considering they were the third-worst defensive team in the league when they parted ways with Nash.
The biggest change, however, is the dramatic shift in the team’s overall vibe.
When Vaughn took over, the Nets seemed shellshocked by everything that had happened to them — a bad end to last season, a difficult start to this one, slow-healing injuries and an eight-game suspension of Kyrie Irving. In contrast, today’s Nets are playing like a team that believes they can win every time they step on the court.
“You got to give a lot of credit to JV, honestly. He’s done a phenomenal job changing our mentality,” center Nic Claxton said. “His energy is definitely contagious. His swag. It’s been really good. We definitely feel that energy when he’s coaching on the sidelines. Every single play, he’s yelling my name ‘protect the rim, protect the rim.’ So I’m enjoying everything.”
So is the 47-year-old Vaughn, especially considering he didn’t know if he would ever have a chance like this again.
Vaughn was the youngest head coach in the league when he took over the Orlando Magic in 2012 at the age of 37. It was the toughest of assignments, considering the Magic squad he took over was young, not very talented and had no star. Vaughn coached the Magic from 2012-15, compiling a 58-158 record before being fired at the tail end of his third season.
After working a year as a scout with the Spurs, Vaughn was hired as Kenny Atkinson’s lead assistant on the Nets in 2016. In the intervening years, he interviewed for a few head- coaching jobs — including Atkinson’s after he was let go — but the team eventually hired Nash.
Vaughn said he came to accept the idea that he might never be a head coach again.
“I was very honest with myself . . . I was OK if it didn’t happen,” he said. “I was in a peaceful place with my family, with the NBA. I was going to be the best assistant that I possibly could be, and that’s how I approached every day. If it came around, it was going to be meant to come around.”
Vaughn initially was named interim coach when the Nets and Nash parted ways on Nov. 1, and it looked as if he would get passed over again for a bigger name. Despite multiple reports that said the Nets were going to hire suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka, the Nets officially gave the job to Vaughn on Nov. 9, signing him to a contract that goes through the 2023-24 season.
At the news conference announcing his full-time status, Vaughn joked that he was the “write-in” candidate, adding: “I said to my wife that I might not have been her first choice and we’ve been together 20 years.”
The Nets, a championship contender on paper, are dramatically different from the young team Vaughn had in Orlando. He also is dramatically different from the coach he was there.
He’s now a bearded bundle of energy racing up and down the sideline screaming and clapping, and Vaughn’s frenetic style today stands in stark contrast with the image he tried to present in his first go-round as a head coach.
Vaughn said he was too worried back then about what other people might think of him and was too concerned about doing the right thing.
“Right now, I’m so into it. To me, that is the difference,” he said. “Back then, it was like, What do I look like to the organization? Was I looking like a head coach on the sideline? Now I don’t care what I look like. I’m emotional on the sideline. I’m going to pull for my team. I’m going to fight for my team. It’s just where I am and I’m OK with that, OK with being myself and being vulnerable. I wasn’t back then.”
Vaughn also is OK at trying new things, experimenting a little without caring what others might think.
On the bench, his frenetic manner stands in stark contrast with Nash’s measured, arms-across-the-chest demeanor. And so does his quick decision-making.
While Nash, a first-time head coach, had an infuriating tendency to not call timeouts and let his players work thing out on the court, Vaughn is quick to call a timeout when he sees something going south. He’ll pull out his iPad, show the team what happened and talk about making adjustments.
“Jacque is doing a great job of making adjustments throughout a game,” Kevin Durant said. “I’ve liked the brand of basketball we’ve played on both ends of the floor. Regardless of who is on the court, we’ve still played our system.”
Vaughn also has found ways to give his players extra rest. He has almost eliminated team shootarounds (practices held in the morning before games) and has held off-day practices on a limited basis. He also made the controversial decision to rest his top eight players in a game in Indiana, a move that got the Nets fined by the NBA but was appreciated by his players (and the Nets won anyway).
By doing this, Vaughn has been able to get the Nets through one of the most physically demanding stretches of the season. Despite being only a third of the way through the season, they already have played seven of their 15 back-to-backs.
Vaughn’s film sessions lean more toward the Socratic method than the usual straight- up lecture. He likes to put his players on the spot, asking them their opinion and what they might do differently. He wants to hear from everyone on the team, whether it be superstar Durant or second-year center Day’Ron Sharpe.
“A lot of times, I believe guys want to be heard, and as coaches, we do all the talking,” Vaughn said. “We’ve been trained to do all the talking. I don’t think that’s the way it should be. They are the guys that are playing. They have an opinion.”
Right now, the overall opinion on Vaughn is that if he can keep the Nets playing in the same inspired fashion, he could be a candidate for coach of the year.
Of course, Vaughn’s beard could be veering into Dumbledore territory by then, which would be just fine with him.
Said Vaughn: “I’ve gotten past worrying about what people think.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
