The Brooklyn Nets have fired head coach Avery Johnson, as first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Per Wojnarowski, P.J. Carlesimo has been named the interim head coach.
According to Ken Berger of CBS Sports, the firing of Johnson caught some in the organization off guard. But Wojnarowski tweeted that general manager Billy King made the decision to fire him.
"For some reason, he just wasn't reaching them anymore," King said, via Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated.
The Nets got off to a good start to the 2012-13 season going 11-4 in November. Johnson was even named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for October and November.
But December looked drastically different as the Nets went 3-10 and are now back at .500.
Johnson was 60-116 in three seasons as Brooklyn's head coach.
More from the Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Avery Johnson has been fired as coach of the Brooklyn Nets, who have lost 10 of 13 games to drop to .500.
General manager Billy King announced the move Thursday without saying who will be interim coach. The Nets next play at home Friday against Charlotte.
Brooklyn started the season 11-4, winning five in a row to end November. But the team has been in a spiral since and is now 14-14. The Nets lost to Milwaukee 108-93 on Wednesday night. They also have dropped two games to the crosstown Knicks.
Johnson has been the Nets' coach for a little more than two seasons. He went 60-116 with the Nets, who moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn to start the 2012-13 season. Johnson coached the Dallas Mavericks to an appearance in the NBA Finals in 2006.