Deron Williams wasn't aware that his coach Avery Johnson was about to get the boot and one of his immediate thoughts were: "Here we go again."
Similar to how things were for him two years ago with the Utah Jazz when Jerry Sloan retired; following rift with his point guard, Williams was blamed for the departure of Johnson, who was abruptly fired Thursday by Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, according to the N.Y. Daily News.
"I was surprised," Williams said. "I never had any conversation with (GM) Billy King about not liking Coach, nothing about Coach Johnson. Avery was a big reason I came back, because of him and Billy. So I was surprised.
"We've never had an argument; we've never had a fight, any disagreements, anything. So, I think it was more kind of what happened in Utah, people still saying I got Coach Sloan fired even though he resigned and that's going to stick with me for a while."
It would appear that a terrible month was the downfall of Johnson, who was named NBA Coach of the Month in the previous month. The Nets (14-14) are 3-10 in December, with particularly ugly losses to the Boston Celtics on Christmas and to the New York Knicks at the Garden.
As the Nets continue their search for a new head coach, assistant P.J. Carlesimo takes over as interim coach starting Friday against the Charlotte Bobcats.
"We want (Carlesimo) to coach like he's going to coach the team for the next 10 years," the GM said,
adding, "Will we look other places? We may."
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