JAYFORCE

ESPN has confirmed that Avery Johnson, named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for November, was fired by the Brooklyn Nets. Assistant P.J. Carlisemo was named interim head coach, and he will keep the rest of Johnson’s staff. A search for a new head coach will begin immediately.

Now eighth place in their Conference, the Nets started hot, winning 11 of their first 15 games; but only three of the last 13 in December. Simply put, the sizzle fizzled. So, Brooklyn’s management and ownership decided to fire Johnson.

“I just got a sense, as I told Avery this morning, that he just wasn’t reaching [the team] anymore.”

– Billy King, General Manager, Brooklyn Nets

Johnson’s reaction was captured in the clip above and in the clipped transcript below:

“…a really disappointing day… if I was owning the team, I wouldn’t have gotten fired today… it’s about the blame game… for the most part, in this business, the coach always gets blamed.”

– Avery Johnson, Former Coach, Brooklyn Nets

Wow… just… wow. Way to ride out the tough times with your coach, Nets! I wonder if the decision was unanimous… Somebody get Jigga on the phone… 1/15 of one percent of the money talks. Okay, okay…that was uncalled for…but funny though.

Would-be replacements for Johnson, a list of noteworthy available coaches includes Phil Jackson (good luck!), Jerry Sloan, Stan Van Gundy, Nate McMillan, Mike Dunleavy, Mike Brown, and ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy and Flip Saunders.

See? This sh!t right here? This sh!t right here, ninja… is part of why why I feel it just ain’t the same game.

– @ojones1