Report: Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson a candidate for Nets job

Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson is reportedly a candidate for the Brooklyn Nets job. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Houston Rockets assistant coach Kelvin Sampson is a significant candidate for the open Brooklyn Nets job, reports Yahoo! Sports. 

The Nets fired coach Avery Johnson on Thursday after the team lost 10 of their last 13 games this month and named assistant P.J. Carlesimo the interim coach.

Sampson had a 488-269 record as a college coach with Washington State, Oklahoma and Indiana. Sampson then joined the Milwaukee Bucks in 2008 and then moved onto Houston with coach Kevin McHale last season. Sampson was also a candidate for the Detroit Pistons job last year says he has not been contacted by the Nets.

Nets general manager Billy King is intrigued with Sampson, among other candidates, and is expected to eventually speak with him, sources said. Sampson has elevated his stature as a head-coaching candidate as the top assistant for Kevin McHale in Houston. When McHale left the team early this season to tend to his ailing daughter, Sampson led the Rockets to a 7-6 record that triggered a spurt that has Houston at 16-12 and in sixth place in the Western Conference.