Peter Vecsey: Former Nets GM Thorn blames tension with Yormark for departure

So, why did Nets General Manager Rod Thorn "retire" and then immediately un-retire to work for the Philadelphia 76ers? The New York Post's Peter Vecsey, in a column headlined Rod had rocky relationship with Nets CEO, blames it on Nets CEO Brett Yormark.

Vecsey writes:

From what I had told, Yormark had gotten down on Thorn down the stretch, feeling he'd gotten lazy and done a poor job. Though unable to talk Bruce Ratner into firing him (the master plan was to rehire friend John Calipari and re-position him on the sidelines with complete power regarding personnel), Brett had no problem undermining Rod.

There was persistent friction between the two executives.

"Yormark was Ratner's go-to guy for everything," said someone in the know. "They'd speak 30 times a day. Whenever Thorn wanted to do something of substance he'd reach out to Ratner who'd immediately run it by Yormark."

According to past and present team employees, regardless whether or not Yormark endorsed Thorn's idea, a proposed trade, signing, whatever, was soon in the newspapers and/or on the air.

"Brett is the Nets' chief leak," maintains one and all.

"I don't deny my dislike for the guy," Thorn admitted last Friday when asked by phone about their contentious relationship. "But he's not the reason I left."

I'll take his word for it.

Still, when Mikhail Prokhorov purchased the majority share of the Nets and retained Yormark it appeared the Russian left Thorn no choice but to bail.

"No, that's not true," Thorn responded. "I'd decided to retire long before the sale. Personal things happened over the last two years that made me realize it was time to go."

Thorn playfully brushed off a request for specifics while conceding "had Yormark owned enough clout he positively would've brought back [John] Calipari to run the show."