Steve Nash has entered the NBA's health and safety protocol list right before his Brooklyn Nets were set to take the court against the Toronto Raptors on Monday. Without Nash on the sidelines, the Nets got drilled by the Raptors, 133-97.
Assistant coach Jacque Vaughn was calling the shots in Nash's place and will continue in that role until Nash returns. After the game, Vaughn said Nash's absence was shocking to the team and they really missed his presecene.
“It was pretty sudden for the group. Really happened as our preparation going into the locker room,” Vaughn said. “Tried to get the guys to focus on the game. Missed our head coach out there, but the thing is, we’ll get a chance to play again [Tuesday].”
According to reports, the Nets were not notified of Nash's condition until roughly 30 minutes before tip-off. He had already finished up his pregame press conference and the team was already on the court warming up when the news broke.
“We found out right when there was 30 [minutes] on the clock,” Bruce Brown said. “It was tough when you lose your head coach, but this is the world we live in: You’ve gotta deal with these situations.”
This is not the first time the Nets have been affected by COVID. Two months prior, Brooklyn was hit hard with 13 players going into the league's protocol list, with 10 missing at one time. That forced the franchise to sign a number of 10-day hardship contracts to fill in the missing players.
As for the man that will be taking over for Nash during his hiatus, Vaughn served as the interim coach when the organization parted ways with Kenny Atkinson two seasons ago. Vaughn led the Nets to the NBA bubble and the playoffs and was retained as the lead assistant and defensive coordinator once Nash was hired.
Brooklyn will get another crack at the Raptors Tuesday night, this time in Toronto. With Kevin Durant still expected to miss Tuesday's game with a knee injury, newly acquired star Ben Simmons has yet to be cleared by the organization to practice.
"He's just doing some light shooting and just physical therapy," Nash said. "Just making sure that he gets that back 100%, just that little flare-up, and while he does shooting and his reconditioning stuff that he's able to do while that thing settles down."
Follow Jasper Jones on Twitter: @jonesj2342
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