NBA

Nets fire head coach Avery Johnson

Less than a month after earning the NBA’s Eastern Conference Coach of the Month award, the Nets announced Thursday afternoon that they have fired coach Avery Johnson.

Team owner Mikhail Prokhorov confirmed the firing Thursday afternoon.

“The Nets ownership would like to express thanks to Avery for his efforts and to wish him every success in the future,” Nets principal owner Mikhail Prokhorov in a statement.

Johnson, who has coached the team since the 2010-11 season, led the team to a 14-14 record this year and is 60-116 in his two plus seasons with the team.

Andray Blatche tweeted a thank you to his now-former coach.

“Thanx [sic[ coach Avery for everything,” Blatche tweeted.

According to Yahoo! Sports, P.J. Carlesimo will assume the head coaching duties. Carlesimo’s last head coaching stint came with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008-09. The Nets hired Carlesimo as an assistant in December 2011.

The move, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports, completes a stunning fall for both Johnson and the Nets, who, after going 11-4 in November, have gone 3-10 in December, culminating in Wednesday’s 108-93 loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee.

Johnson’s son, Avery Johnson Jr., took to Twitter to express his outrage with the Nets’ decision to fire his father.

“This is a f—–g Outrage. My dad is a great coach, he just got coach of the month and they Fire him. #Smh. Completely new team he had,” Johnson Jr. tweeted.