Former New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn has aired some of his dirty laundry when it comes to why he left the organization.
According to a report, one of the reasons then-team president Rod Thorn resigned from the Nets in July was due to his relationship with CEO Brett Yormark.
The report said Yormark undermined Thorn, who is now the president of the Philadelphia 76ers. The report also quoted Thorn as saying he doesn’t like Yormark and if Yormark had more "clout" he would have brought back John Calipari to coach and run the Nets. Yormark didn’t hold back any punches in responding to Thorn before the Nets’ 108-70 win over Maccabi Haifa at Prudential Center
"For the last couple of months I’ve been clearly focused on working with [general manager Billy King] and Avery on getting this franchise back to a best-in-class status," Yormark said Sunday evening. "Obviously there’s a lot of work to be done after Rod’s 12-70 season, both on and off the court."
Yormark has a close friendship with Calipari, the former Nets’ coach. But Yormark said it wasn’t his call on who would be in charge of the basketball department.
Thorn picked Johnson as coach, and before resigning in July named King general manager. Thorn became the 76ers president in August.
The architect of the Nets’ two NBA finalists last decade, Thorn is known as a straight shooter. But what he said — including "I don’t deny my dislike for the guy" – surprised people who worked for him. Not because Thorn felt that way, but that he said it publicly after all this time has passed and after repeatedly saying when he chose to leave the Nets that "it’s time to move on."
It has to be surprising that Thorn went public with this. Great for bloggers, though, I have to admit that much.