"They are probably the most unlikable team, maybe in all sports, you could say in the history of the NBA" - Jay Williams highlights Brooklyn Nets' ugly situation
The Brooklyn Nets have been a collective mess over the last four years. Brooklyn has been the poster child for an unstable franchise since they signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in 2019.
The chaos that has defined the Nets since KD and Irving arrived has sent basketball experts scrambling for words to describe the team. Former NBA player Jay Williams said (at the 5:18 mark):
“I’m from Jersey. I’m a Nets fan. I have courtside seats at all Brooklyn Nets games. The Nets are the black eye of the NBA. They are probably the most unlikable team, maybe in all sports, you could say in the history of the NBA.
"Everything with the “Bad Boys” (Pistons), that was on the court. This team has so much stuff happening off the court that deters away from their greatness on the court.”
What has happened to one of the NBA’s supposedly elite teams has both confused and appalled basketball fans. They have had a dizzying history of questionable decisions that have derailed their lofty aspirations as a team and put an unnecessary spotlight on them.
It all started when Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant pushed the Brooklyn Nets to mortgage the team's future for former NBA MVP James Harden in January 2020. “The Beard” eventually left in February last season due to the Nets' unbelievable dysfunction, particularly when it came to Irving.
The Nets got Ben Simmons partly for Harden, but the Australian sat out and is looking like a shadow of himself. Brooklyn is reportedly already looking to move him.
Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant wanted Kenny Atkinson out as coach to be replaced by Steve Nash, who KD would demand to be fired later. Jacque Vaughn was named interim head coach both times when Atkinson and Nash were booted out. Irving didn’t even want to support Vaughn during his time leading the Nets.
Irving and Durant, two of the most skilled NBA superstars, have also wanted out but couldn’t get what they wanted this offseason. Owner Joe Tsai could have pushed the reset button but wanted to give the duo one last hurrah at the championship.
Currently, the Nets appear to be hiring Ime Udoka to replace Steve Nash. Udoka has been suspended by the Boston Celtics for a season for his behavior within the organization. Boston didn’t even want compensation, which partly told fans about the severity of his transgressions.
“You’re adding a different dimension of a problem, optically, to a team that already has a dimension of problems," Williams said. "It’s embarrassing!”
Udoka’s imminent hiring may only force another team to thoroughly dig into the mess he will be leaving in Boston. Perhaps that will shift the light away from Irving’s promotion of a book and a movie with antisemitic tropes. It has been a head-splitting stream of one controversy after another.
Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks knows some of their own fans can’t even root for them
It has gotten so bad in Brooklyn that even diehard fans have been turned off by what they’re seeing from their own team.
"I'm completely empathetic to what's going on here," Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks said. "I'm certainly not proud of the situation we find ourselves in. I would like to turn the TV on and not find you talking about us in that manner."
"I'm completely empathetic to what's going on here. I'm certainly not proud of the situation we find ourselves in. I would like to turn the TV on & not find you talking about us in that manner"
Sean Marks speaks on the Nets handling issues, as well as the Kyrie Irving situation https://t.co/TKgXyMFV5G
Hiring Ime Udoka and failing to punish Kyrie Irving’s off-court issue will never let the Brooklyn Nets just return to basketball. They could be hounded by drama yet again.
Sean Marks’ tenure with the Nets started on a high note. He built a team from the ashes of the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett trade. Marks had a young core that even went to the playoffs. By giving in to the demands of two current NBA superstars, he’s allowed his team to be in an untenable situation.