Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn has been very open with the media during his tenure with the team. Vaughn told the media on February 14th that he was having trouble figuring out the proper role for Ben Simmons.

“It’s going to be some work that we have to do,” Vaughn said. “Because you just take a look at what the lineups could potentially look like. You put another big next to Ben, then you got to figure out what the spacing is around him. Then if you put a playmaker next to him, then you got to figure out what Ben looks like without the basketball. Then if you go small with Ben, then you have to figure out can you rebound enough with him.

Although the media will applaud Jacque Vaughn’s honesty because it makes their job easier, his honesty has opened the door for him to lose the locker room quickly. Vaughn has developed a habit of not uplifting his players when he is candid with the media.

Jacque Vaughn throwing his players under the bus

For example, Jacque Vaughn was asked after a game against the Milwaukee Bucks on March 9th why Seth Curry started over Cam Thomas. Jacque Vaughn stated that he didn’t want Thomas to match up with Jrue Holiday or Khris Middleton.

“It just puts Cam in a position if he were to start where he’s gonna guard a starter. Whether that’s Middleton, whether that’s Holiday, it just makes it tough. I love the fact that when he comes in as a second-year player that he’s hopefully playing against backups. And then at the same time, he can take advantage of some matchups playing against backups. So that’s kind of how my thought process is.”

Vaughn could have expressed those comments differently to avoid the perception that Cam Thomas isn’t good enough to start against good to elite talent. He could have said the three-pointer is the easiest shot to get against Milwaukee’s defense.

Consequently, I thought putting Seth into the starting lineup would give us the best opportunity to get off to a hot start, as he has a career shooting percentage of 43.5% from behind the arc.

The hypothetical quote from Vaughn would have been accurate as Milwaukee has given up 37.4 threes per game since 2018, most in the league. Furthermore, the hypothetical quote takes away the perception that Cam Thomas would have difficulty competing against good to elite talent.

Vaughn has continued to show a lack of support for his players. He alluded that Spencer Dinwiddie’s combativeness with referees was the catalyst behind the team’s loss to the Sacramento Kings on March 16th.

“I think [Spencer Dinwiddie] is cognizant of the impact that he has on our team. We need every point, so whether he gets a technical or not, we still need every point. I’ll say that to him, which I have before,”

The potential consequences of Vaughn’s honesty

Jacque Vaughn could have once again phased these comments in a better way to express public support for his players. He should have said I admire Spencer’s desire to win every game even though he received a technical in the process. If Jacque Vaughn continues down this path, his players will resent him because he is not supporting them publicly.

Vaughn would be better off supporting them publicly and delivering criticism behind the scenes, allowing him to keep players engaged and maintain their trust long-term. Vaughn should only criticize players publicly when they don’t listen to his feedback over an extended period.

Unfortunately, the current Brooklyn Nets roster has only been together for 5 weeks. It is too early to criticize this group publicly.