The report that Lawrence Frank would be fired shortly — touched on earlier by Tom Ziller — stated that Frank’s tenure might extend to the end of the team’s West Coast road trip, and at the very least, through tonight’s game against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Turns out, the Nets’ administration was apparently a little uneasy about everyone knowing that before the game, and have decided to fire Frank Sunday afternoon instead, replacing him in the short term with assistant Tom Barrise; no permanent replacement has been chosen at this time.

“Lawrence always approached every day with a passion for his craft that was infectious, and his dedication to the game as well as his work ethic are to be both admired and appreciated,” Nets president Rod Thorn said in a statement. “I wish he and his family only the best of good fortune in the future.”

Frank’s tenure in New Jersey was pretty darn successful, all things considered, with the Nets making the playoffs in his first four seasons as a head coach.

Of course, when your team starts the season 0-16, despite the fact that ownership and injury managed to deplete the roster of most meaningful contributors, there is a good chance that any coach might be fired.

For Frank, the long-term repercussions of the firing are not horrible; as TZ noted, no one will really stare down this season as a reason not to hire him, and with ownership changes remaining potentially imminent, it might have been in Frank’s best interest to get out of Dodge before the effects of this season become too lasting.