Where are the Nets' Seven Head Coches Sean Marks was Appointed as GM

Former NBA veteran Sean Marks became the GM of the Brooklyn Nets in 2016 and since then there has been a total of seven head coaches. Where are they now?

On February 18, 2016 the Brooklyn Nets appointed former San Antonio Spurs assistant coach, Sean Marks, as general manager. That was only a month after former Nets head coach Lionel Hollins was relieved of his coaching duties on the Nets after going 48-71.

Tony Brown was the head coach for Brooklyn by the time Marks arrived as the GM of the franchise. Brown fell short in 45 games going 11-34 as the head coach before Marks decided to go a different direction for the head coaching job. Since then, Brown became an assistant coach on the Washington Wizards before transitioning to an associate head coach in 2019. It was there where he would help Washington make the playoffs in three seasons during his tenure. Brown was last seen in 2021 with the Wizards, today we do not know about his whereabouts because he is no longer with Washington or any other NBA team's front office.

The next head coach after Brown for the Nets was Kenny Atkinson, a coach who is known for his player development skills, especially on the Atlanta Hawks. Atkinson would go on to win 118 games, but losing 190. However, he is remembered in Brooklyn as the coach who brought back the grit, tenacity and blue-collar mentality that this borough and city embodies. Minutes were hard to come by for any player regardless of previous feats. This rotational system gave some extra motivation for all the players on the Nets, knowing that on any given night, whoever was playing the best was going to get the most minutes, especially in the fourth quarter.

Atkinson encouraged D'Angelo Russell enough to help him become a first-time All-Star. Spencer Dinwiddie became a borderline All-Star with Atkinson as the head coach. This was the culture that lured in players like Kevin Durant in free agency if we disregard Kyrie Irving's influence on his decision. Exceeding expectations is an understatement to describe Atkinson's tenure with the Nets as head coach before Marks decided it was time for a change in 2020. His impact helped Brooklyn make the playoffs in the 2018-19 season as an underdog playing the Philadelphia 76ers team with Jimmy Butler in the first round. It was not surprising that the Nets lost that series in five. Today, Atkinson is an assistant coach on the Golden State Warriors after joining that front office in 2021. He notably helped lead the franchise to a championship in 2022.

When Atkinson was relieved of his head coaching duties in 2020, assistant coach Jacque Vaughn became the interim head coach for 10 games with the Nets undermanned until Marks hired his long-time buddy Steve Nash during the offseason, which was one of the most controversial head coaching hirings ever for an NBA team. Nevertheless, one of the best point guards this game has ever seen managed to go 94-67 overall and 7-9 in the postseason. Nash's best chance at bringing the Nets the glory they have been coveting for years notably came in the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals. If it weren't for injuries to Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyrie Irving and James Harden the Brooklyn Nets could have put up a better fight versus the 2021 NBA champions in a series that went to seven games.

Following a horrifying start to the 2022-23 campaign, Nash was relieved of his head coaching duties. The Canadian has since then taking a break from coaching and was even seen attending a Phoenix Suns game this season.

Vaughn would once again takeover the interim head coaching role before becoming Nets GM Marks' first choice to be the long term head coach moving forward. Vaughn was descent in his second stint, going 64-65, and making the playoffs once in the 2022-23 season just to get swept by the Philadelphia 76ers. It was because of a not-so-impressive 2023-24 campaign that pressured Marks to relieve Vaughn from his head coaching duties and former Nets assistant coach Kevin Ollie became the interim head coach to finish off a disappointing 2023-24 season for Brooklyn. As for Vaughn, he has not made a decision yet on what he will do next in his coaching career.

Ollie served as the head coach for a total of 27 games. By season's end, the Nets GM was not convinced enough to go forward with Ollie as the long term head coach when he stepped in for Vaughn. Today, we still do not know what Ollie will do next in his coaching career after being relieved of his head coaching duties.

However, we do know that Jordi Fernandez was announced as the new head coach for the Brooklyn Nets instead and only time can tell what his tenure has in store.

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