The Brooklyn Nets officially hired former Dallas Mavericks’ assistant coach Igor Kokoskov while promoting Adam Caporn and Trevor Hendry as assistant coaches.
It was reported last month that Kokoskov is expected to help coach Steve Nash’s pursuit of a championship for Brooklyn before the Kyrie Irving fallout and Kevin Durant’s trade request.
Kokosov is expected to fill an important role in Nash’s staff after the departure of Steve Clifford, who accepted an offer to return to coach the Charlotte Hornets.
Nash and Kokoskov have a long history together during their time in Phoenix when the former was their franchise point guard and the latter was an assistant coach.
Kokoskov, a Serbian coach who became a naturalized American citizen in 2010, also coached the Suns for one season in 2018-19. He has an extensive resume as an assistant coach, winning an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. His previous stops also include the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings. He also coached Slovenia, led by Luka Doncic and former Net Goran Dragic, to the Eurobasket gold in 2017. The 50-year-old Kokoskov also served as head coach of Fenerbahçe Beko of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the EuroLeague in 2020 before returning to the NBA via the Mavericks last year.
Meanwhile, Caporn joins Nash’s staff after serving as head coach of the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s NBA G League affiliate, last season. More than leading the team to its second playoff berth in franchise history with an 18-15 overall record, Caporn was highly praised by Nash throughout last season for the development of their rookies. Caporn earned NBA G League Coach of the Month honors in February after Long Island went 8-2 for the month.
Hendry was elevated to assistant coach after serving as Brooklyn’s head video coordinator over the last four seasons. He climbed the ranks after serving in various capacities in the Nets’ basketball operations starting in 2014.
Caporn and Hendry will fill the vacuum left by Adam Harrington, who was close to Durant, David Vanterpool and Amar’e Stoudemire in Nash’s staff. This is the third straight season that the Nets have experienced a high turnover in their coaching staff. Last offseason, the Nets lost Mike D’Antoni and Ime Udoka, who coached the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals last season.
This time, the Nets are hoping for stability with the internal promotions of Caporn and Hendry and the longstanding relationship of Nash and Kokoskov.
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