EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — When it came time for Rod Thorn to make a decision on the next coach for the NBA’s worst team, the New Jersey Nets president and general manager went with his gut.
Call it an impulse.
Former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson had wowed him in a recent interview, and there was no way Thorn was going to let him slip away with so many NBA coaching positions still open.
“Thinking long and hard about it, I just felt that Avery was a good fit for us,” Thorn said in a conference call on Thursday. “I felt if we were going to go down the path to try to sign Avery, we better get moving because there were other teams with interest and my feeling was I didn’t want to lose him if he were really interested in doing it, and I decided to act.”
The Nets announced on Thursday that they had reached an agreement in principle with Johnson, with the notice coming less than 24 hours after Johnson text messaged The Associated Press that he was going to become the team’s coach.
Thorn refused to disclose details on the multiyear contract, but he said it should be signed in “a reasonable period of time.”
A current ESPN analyst who coached Dallas for three-plus seasons, Johnson had a 194-70 regular-season coaching record and a 23-24 mark in the playoffs. He guided the Mavericks to the NBA finals in 2006, and was fired after a first-round playoff series loss to New Orleans in 2008.
Thorn was impressed with Johnson from the start, noting that he has been successful both as a player and head coach, and possessed all of the characteristics needed to turn the Nets around — knowledge, passion and leadership.
New Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov called the hiring the first step toward turning the team that posted the worst record (12-70) in franchise history last season.
“His leadership qualities, knowledge of the game and ability to motivate are all talents we will be calling upon as we move forward,” Prokhorov said. “This is the beginning of what I hope will be many more exciting announcements to come before the start of the season.”
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