Reserving Judgement Towards the Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are every media outlet’s dream come true. After emerging as a playoff team two seasons ago, led by Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, and Caris Levert, the franchise looked like it was trending in the right direction. Further, when the Nets managed to land both KD and Kyrie in the summer of 2019 the expectations transformed from humbled to emboldened. The combined superstar prowess would have to wait a year though; in what was an odd 2019-2020 season, Durant remained seated while continuing his Achilles rehab and while rumors swirled he might make an audacious comeback, it never came to fruition. Likewise, Kyrie Irving saw his first act in Brooklyn derailed by a right shoulder impairment which would eventually result in March surgery.
The Nets were able to absorb the unique circumstances without their two inbound stars, employing the likes of their young emerging talent with some of the other pieces which had gotten them to the playoffs just a season before. With Durant and Kyrie’s returns set for the following season, the Nets shocked the basketball world by parting ways with head coach Kenny Atkinson just days before the suspension of the NBA season. The move was peculiar, after all he had contributed towards their rebuild. Then the pandemic began and the team took even further hits to their talent pools. They were able to qualify for the bubble where they had most players of any roster in the league choose not to enter the Orlando wonderland. The players included Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan, Nicolas Claxton, Wilson Chandler, Spencer Dinwiddie, Taurean Prince and Michael Beasley, and the reasons they did not enter ranged from injury status, virus concerns and other undisclosed reasoning. As a result the Nets had to scramble and run out this lineup against playoff level NBA teams….
- Jarrett Allen
- Justin Anderson
- Chris Chiozza
- Jamal Crawford
- Donta Hall
- Joe Harris
- Tyler Johnson
- Rodions Kurucs
- Caris LeVert
- Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
- Jeremiah Martin
- Dzanan Musa
- Garrett Temple
- Lance Thomas
2020-2021 was finally the season we were going to see Kyrie and KD team up and take the league by storm. Yet, with Atkinson gone, who was going to lead this talent leadened team, with egos that could make for a circus if not managed correctly? In steps Steve Nash. The HOF point guard, 2x MVP winner, and Canadian legend, had worked as a consultant for the Warriors during their successful dynasty, where he finally got his hands on the championship ring that had so frustratingly eluded him in his playing days. The transition to Nash as coach, was clearly to invoke someone who commanded respect as both a legendary player, but also as someone who was nationally recognized for having one of the best basketball IQ’s of any player to ever play the game. The move was audacious, yet calculated, but that didn’t mean it would go as smoothly as the Nets had hoped. Following the Nash news, Kyrie appeared on Kevin Durant’s podcast and claimed “I don’t really see us having a head coach,” and that it would be a “collaborative effort”. The media circus began, with every talk show host ready to spew hot takes and pivot from this quote to discuss their lowly expectations for the Brooklyn Nets.
Then the season began. And in their first two games against the Warriors and Celtics the Nets looked lethal, rolling 125-99 and 123-95 respectively…every bit resembling the juggernaut they could be at their ceiling. However, following the holiday, a tight loss to the Hornets slowed things down a bit. This was followed by a night in which the two stars sat against the Grizzlies and the Nets fell in overtime. Since then, they have been a seesaw, with a few impressive wins and equally noteworthy losses. This past week Kevin Durant was forced to enter the COVID contact tracing protocol and has missed the teams last few games. Just last night, Kyrie Irving called Steve Nash pregame and said he would not be playing for personal reasons. The team’s JV squad managed to trounce the first place Sixers, in a game in which Joe Harris and Caris Levert did it all.
The reality is at 5-4, 9 games into the season, you would hope to say you could frame some sort of analysis around this team. Point out strengths and weaknesses and project where this team might go. Oddly enough, the most frustrating part is that even the most pious NBA fan has learned squat about the Brooklyn Nets. The absence of their two stars already from several games, the external factors of COVID-19 that have directly impacted the team, and even Spencer Dinwiddie’s season ending ACL tear, are reasons that aggressive criticism must be halted. I know the public is eager to jump aboard either side of this polarizing Nets team. Those who love what they built are keen to sing their praises and yell “I told you so”, while those who despise KD and Kyrie, are waiting in the wings ready to pounce when they even begin to appear vulnerable. As NBA fans, all we can hope is that the show will be on the road soon and that we might soon be able to get a true picture of what this Nets team can be, but for now there’s no warrant for impulsive and definitive judgement.
