Brian Lewis: Kevin Ollie's Presence Won't Attract Star Talent to Nets
After an 8-23 stretch, the Brooklyn Nets let go of their two-year head coach, Jacque Vaugh. The firing came as no surprise.
After a relatively successful 2023 season, all things considered, the Nets have still been able to string together some wins. Losing a coach in the middle of the season is never great, but the team has responded well enough.
Nets general manager Sean Marks promoted assistant coach Kevin Ollie as interim head coach to attempt to bring the team out of the basement of the NBA. Ollie is in his first year with the Nets and has been handed the mantle well, for now.
It's uncertain whether he will stick around for the job full-time or not, but that doesn't matter to New York Post's Brian Lewis. In the latest Bleav in Nets episode, Lewis says Ollie or any other head coach on the market will be able to attract stars to the Nets.
" I don't expect Kevin Ollie to be a magnet to stars. I don't expect too many coaches, frankly, to be a magnet. I would say a coach might deter a star, you know. If a star has no respect for somebody, they don't want to play for. I think that is much more likely than a star picking a destination because of a coach. Let's be fair; a star can have a little impact on who's coaching."
-Brian Lewis, via Bleav in Nets
Ollie was coaching Overtime Elite a season before joining the Nets at the start of the season. He's a very successful college coach, leading his alma mater, UConn Huskies, to a title in 2014.
Ollie has been able to win everywhere he's gone, but this is the NBA. It's a star-driven league, and Lewis has a point on guys not lining up to play for a certain head coach.
Co-host Erik Slater chimed in and said the Brooklyn Nets are no strangers to having star players pick who they want their head coach to be. That's the type of league this is now. Nonetheless, head coaching matters, and whether the Nets stick with Ollie or find a new guy, they better make sure it's the right hire.
