The Brooklyn Nets are hiring Juwan Howard as an assistant coach, ESPN reported Friday.
The Nets recently hired Jordi Fernandez as their new head coach, and Howard will bring NBA experience to Fernandez’s staff. Howard spent 2013-19 as an assistant for the Miami Heat before taking over his alma mater, Michigan.
Howard, 51, took the Wolverines to an Elite Eight and a Sweet 16 during his five-year stint, but he was also suspended for five games in February 2022 for striking a Wisconsin assistant coach in the face amid a postgame altercation.
Howard was also involved in an incident with the team’s strength coach, Jon Sanderson, this past season that led to Sanderson resigning. Sanderson claimed that Howard “aggressively” pursued a fight with Sanderson after Sanderson was reprimanding Howard’s son for being disrespectful to a trainer.
Michigan cleared Howard of wrongdoing in a review. After an 8-24 season in 2023-24, by far the worst of his tenure, Howard was fired.
Howard went 87-72 as Michigan’s coach.
Fernandez, 41, hails from Spain and was most recently the associate head coach of the Sacramento Kings.
