12/21/24
April 26, 2022
Star-Crossed Nets Bounced from Playoffs in Four Games: The post-mortems have begun on a Brooklyn Nets season that barely reached the playoffs and then exited as quickly as possible. In an interesting quote where Kyrie Irving refers to he and Kevin Durant "managing the franchise together" alongside owner Joe Tsai and GM Sean Marks, Irving says, "We need to really be intentional about what we're building."
posted by rcade to basketball at 09:32 AM - 7 comments
Refreshing to have a debacle that can't be blamed on a member of the Russian elite.
Or Jay-Z for that matter.
Kyrie "I never want it to be about me" Irving will need to recalibrate his earth philosophy from "Flat" to "Scorched".
posted by beaverboard at 10:33 AM on April 26, 2022
I'll admit to taking a bit of schadenfreude in the Nets' struggles (although less so since they traded Harden), but credit where it's due to Boston who played their asses off. I don't know what clicked for them two or so months ago, but they've been on an absolute tear since.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:22 AM on April 26, 2022
If a star player is throwing their weight around all the time I'd rather have them admit they are co-managing the franchise than to scapegoat the owner and GM when things go badly.
So kudos for that, at least.
I wonder how many stars will decide it's more fun to not manage their franchises.
posted by rcade at 11:24 AM on April 26, 2022
Here's another post-mortem with lots about Ben Simmons.
posted by rcade at 03:47 PM on April 26, 2022
Nets are hoping that their failure will be quickly forgotten if the Pelicans end up handling the Suns.
posted by beaverboard at 05:34 PM on April 26, 2022
I wonder how many stars will decide it's more fun to not manage their franchises
Those would be the stars who are happy making their $20Million plus per year and want to be part of a winning team. Stars who listen to their coach and make their teammates better players.
No decent coach wants to be associated with the current Nets or Lakers for traditional basketball reasons (money reasons only). Zero chance of having the least bit of impact on the team's performance and forced to play a roster consisting of a group of guys that don't pass, rebound, or defend.
posted by cixelsyd at 02:04 PM on April 27, 2022
The "managing this franchise" line really rubbed me the wrong way. Players play the game on the court, coaches play the game on the whiteboard, executives play the game in the draft war room and trade markets. Everyone plays to their strengths. The Nets were a really fun team pre-KD and Irving, a team going in the right direction, a team building a winning culture the hard way. Now, they have two famously esoteric stars (three if you want to count Harden or Simmons) who have been calling the shots and they've achieved... what, exactly? Certainly not success. How has courting NBA headliners and kowtowing to their personnel demands (DeAndre Jordan, Harden, Blake Griffin) made this team better?
I have not enjoyed the player empowerment era.