Casey Officially Nets Coach

June 25, 1999 / 7:17 PM EDT / AP

New Jersey Nets coach Don Casey is the complete opposite of his predecessor, John Calipari. And that suits his players just fine.

Â"I think he can make us play hard,Â" point guard Stephon Marbury said at a press conference Monday introducing Casey as the Nets coach. Â"His personality allows you to go on the court and give it everything you have. You're not dealing with a coach that's screaming and yelling.Â"

The Nets had a 3-17 record when Calipari, known for his temper, was fired in March. Casey, a veteran assistant with more of a laid-back approach, became the interim coach and led the team to a 13-17 record with most of the leading players on the injured list.

The Nets, impressed with the way he handled the team, gave him a reported $1.1 million multiyear contract last Friday. The deal would make Casey the second-lowest paid coach in the NBA. That fact, however, does not concern him.

Â"It's more money than I've ever made in my life,Â" Casey said. The 62-year-old earned $55,000 in his first job as an assistant coach and $34,000 when he coached Temple University.

Â"If you don't have six (championship) rings, you don't have a commanding presence,Â" Casey said, referring to Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls.

Keith Van Horn said that Casey may not be the best-known name in basketball, but said the team needed his experience and his controlled ego.

Â"Our coach doesn't need to be a celebrity in order to be an effective coach,Â" Van Horn said. Â"I think he has a great understanding of the game.Â"

Negotiations for Casey's contract officially began last Monday, although the season ended on May 5 and Jackson decided to coach the Lakers two weeks ago. Team president Michael Rowe said the Nets had to spend time flying members of Casey's staff back and forth for interviews and presenting the proposal to the Nets owners.

Â"Could it have been done any quicker? It could have been,Â" Rowe said. He said the team reached an understanding with Casey last Wednesday, but delayed a news conference until Monday out of respect for the neighboring New York Knicks, who were battling in the NBA Finals until Friday night. Â"We're big Knicks fans,Â" Rowe said.

Casey's wife, Dwynne, said while she and her husband waited, they returned to their California home to relax, then came back to New Jersey and passed the time with nightly dinners at their favorite restaurant in Hoboken.

Â"We understood totally looking at Jackson,Â" Mrs. Casey said. Â"I think that once that was resolved ... I think it could have been done a little bit quicker.

Â"We kept telling ourselves they're new owners. They've never done this before,Â" she said of an ownership group that includes businessmen Lewis Katz, Finn Wentworth and actor-philanthropist Bill Cosby.

The team's owners did not appear at the nws conference, although Marbury, Van Horn and Kendall Gill showed up. Casey took no offense.

Â"I'm here. That's all I care about,Â" he said.

He said next season his first as a head coach since he briefly coached the Los Angeles Clippers in 1989 depends largely on how well his leading players recover from the injuries that plagued them last season. Jayson Williams is walking gingerly on his broken leg and teammates Van Horn and Kerry Kittles were among half a dozen players who battled injuries all year.

Â"This is not going to be a journey without some speed bumps,Â" Casey said. But for the first time in a while, he was relaxed again.

Â"It'll be fun. It'll be exciting. We'll win.Â"