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Avery Johnson, back when he was generally considered a good coach, about six weeks ago.

This is how it goes when you coach in a billion-dollar arena for an ownership team that includes a billionaire Russian plutocrat and a superstar rap mogul, in what would be the fourth-largest city in the United States were it detached from the rest of New York. The expectations for your success will always be sky-high, regardless of whether you began your tenure with the highest regular-season winning percentage in NBA history or whether the first two seasons were mostly spent twiddling your thumbs while the roster was blown up en route to said billion-dollar rebranding. Avery Johnson, whom the Brooklyn Nets fired Thursday morning, could certainly act surprised that he was dismissed within one month of being named the best coach in the Eastern Conference. But after an 11-4 start to the season, the Nets plummeted to find themselves at 14-14 prior to his firing, lowlighted by a 15-point blowout by the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday evening. (To say nothing of a nearly unwatchable Christmas disappointment against the Boston Celtics.) Read More »