Avery Johnson was fired Thursday as coach of the
Brooklyn Nets, who have struggled recently in their
season of new surroundings and elevated expectations.
After a strong start to their first season in Brooklyn, the
Nets have lost 10 of 13 games to fall well behind the first-
place New York Knicks, the team they so badly want to
compete with in their new home.
"We don't have the same fire now than we did when we
were 11-4," general manager Billy King said at a news
conference in East Rutherford, New Jersey. "I tried to talk
to Avery about it and we just can't figure it out. The
same pattern kept on happening."
Assistant P.J. Carlesimo will coach the Nets on an interim
basis, starting Friday night with a home game against
Charlotte. King said the Nets might reach out to other
candidates, but for now the job was Carlesimo's. The GM
wouldn't comment on a report that the team planned to
get in touch with former Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
King said the decision to dismiss Johnson was made by
ownership after a phone discussion Thursday morning.
Owner Mikhail Prokhorov had expressed faith in Johnson
before the season.
"With the direction we were going we felt we had to make
a change," King said.
Johnson was in the final year of a three-year, $12 million
contract.
"It's a really disappointing day for me and my family. It's
my wife's birthday. It's not a great birthday gift," Johnson
said. "I didn't see this coming. But this is ownership's
decision. It's part of the business. Fair or unfair, it's time
for a new voice and hopefully they'll get back on track."
After beating the Knicks in their first meeting Nov. 26,
probably the high point of Johnson's tenure, the Nets
went 5-10 and frustrations have been mounting.
"Our goal is to get to the conference finals," King said.
"We started out good and then we stumbled. We have to
get back to playing winning basketball. It's the entire
team. It's not like golf,....
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