Mike D’Antoni watched brooklyn network‘loss at the end of the season for Boston Celtics on Monday night from his living room in Austin, Texas, a world away from the drama his patron, Nets coach Steve Nash, just experienced.
A year ago, D’Antoni was on the Nets bench alongside Nash as the two-time MVP coached what would go down as one of the greatest teams ever. in one shoe size of the Eastern Conference finals.
Nine years ago, D’Antoni joined Los Angeles Lakers‘bench for a famous season with many other stars, as Nash, Kobe Bryant, Paul Gasol and Dwight Howard fail before the first scan.
But this year, this Nets season, is like nothing D’Antoni has ever seen.
“The situation is strange,” he said. “When you throw all the stuff that’s happened to them this year… and then have to fight for their lives for a month just to get in the play-in… I don’t think it’s real. weird when they’re struggling.”
After it was all Monday night in BrooklynNash and the Nets superstars took turns standing on the podium, making allusions similar to the off-court drama that has overwhelmed the Nets this season and exhausted them on every level by its end.
Kyrie Irving called it “the polarization of the noisy media” and “noise.”
Kevin Durant refers to the lack of “continuity.”
Nash spoke candidly about “all of those things off the floor” and how they affect the team on the field.
“Our boys were disappointed,” Nash said. “They’re tired.”
The final minutes of Monday’s game brought it all to the fore.
With 2:45 left and Boston 109-103 ahead, Brooklyn caught a big break when referee Sean Wright called the sixth foul on the Celtics star Jayson Tatum.
In the next play, a rise Blake Griffin Muscle Recovery Critical Attack on Boston Al Horford, resulting in a 3-point pointer by Irving that cut the gap to a three-point lead. When Durant stole the ball from Jaylen Brown and hit a 14-foot floater to take the lead with 1:28 to go, it seems the momentum has turned toward Brooklyn.
But rather than save, the Nets find themselves more exasperated in a season it defines.
1:16
Kevin Durant reacts to how the Nets’ season ended and whether Steve Nash is the right coach for the team going through.
Durant missed 3 turns and a vital free throw, Irving was unable to beat Horford on a counter-attack and counterattacked after Griffin had held Smart Marcus from switching a quick breakout scheme, and all that’s left to do at the end of the game is shake hands and credit the superior team in a series of sweeps.
Durant was then asked if he had any regrets about the season, series, or game.
“No regrets,” he shrugged. “S — happens. We’ve been through a lot this year. Everyone in the organization knows what we’ve been through.”
Durant began listing the things that had happened to the Nets this season, but he quickly lost interest in the summary: Irving’s battles with New York City for its vaccination mission, James Harden trade, uncertainty over Ben Simmons‘His back injury as well as his mental health, the COVID-19 outbreak, trauma, inconsistencies and most obviously close friendships proved impossible to develop.
“I wish we were a healthier group,” says Durant. “I wish we had more continuity as a group. But that’s just the league. Every team goes through that.”
He seems tired of talking about the movie and not interested in making excuses. Aside from his injury, Durant is also the Nets’ most consistent player.
Only he knows how much physical and mental damage it has suffered. Monday night, he wasn’t in the mood to admit any fatigue or use the hard work as an excuse.
Nash, however, was blunt.
“Throughout the season,” Nash said. “There is too much [things]”In many ways, the basketball world has conducted a season-long autopsy of what happened to the Nets.
But the premise of those analyzes is flawed.
It’s not what happened to the Nets, or what happened arrive surname. It’s about decisions that allow team and culture issues to exist in the first place.
Whether it was Harden giving up on the team and asking to be traded mid-season, Irving was unable to play in the New York City and Toronto games due to his vaccination status, or even Simmons’ decision forced to trade from Philadelphia after last season and pulled out a “boost” process to replay, which never materialized.
The Nets leadership and ownership went out of their way to support their stars throughout the season. In general, superstar players appreciate that respect. But aside from Durant, the Nets superstars haven’t made the difference they’ve shown, and that’s a problem for a team built like a star system.
Just think how much time and energy the Nets wasted on off-court problems that should have been spent on basketball. How many hours have been spent discussing Irving’s vaccination status? How much energy was spent pondering what to do with Harden? How many hours were spent deciding if Simmons would play in Game 4, rather than how the Nets would adjust to accommodate the crowded Celtics defense?
1:07
Kyrie Irving admits his condition has been a distraction for the Nets this season and remains adamant that he will return to Brooklyn in the fall.
Irving alluded to the amount of money and his responsibility in it after the game.
“This season has been really heavy on emotions,” he said. “I feel like I let the team down at a time when I couldn’t play.
“I never wanted that to involve me, but I feel like it’s become a distraction.” Irving then reasserted the authority he and Durant had been given in the organization.
“When I say I’m here with Kev, it requires us to manage this franchise together – with Joe and Sean,” said Irving, who was referring to Nets owners Joe Tsai and CEO Sean Marks.
“We need to be really intentional about what we’re building.”
Irving spoke about his motivation to build a better team and culture next season, and not just rely on individual performance as the Nets often have to do this year. But he’s clearly speaking like a star who has been fully empowered by his franchise, which is nice when things go well but uncomfortable when they end badly like the season. of the Nets did.
If that sounds familiar, it is.
The Nets’ West Coast version – the Lakers – was similarly successful this season.
It is ironic for a coach such as Nash who has made a name for himself as a player in a democratic system like D’Antoni’s “Seven Seconds or Less”. Phoenix Sunsand a general manager like Marks, who was raised in San Antonio Spurs‘culture hive, to build a team like this.
Like everyone else, each person will think about what they could and should have done differently. They will then try it all again next season, hopefully the lessons from this season will matter.
“The hard part is we’ve all grown so much, we just can’t benefit from it this year,” Nash said after the game. “To go through all that we’ve been through this year, saying goodbye is hard. Because we fought so hard to be together.”
Nash is right. Nets fought. They don’t always fight opponents in the ring.
For his part, D’Antoni still believes in Brooklyn’s all-star lineup.
“You haven’t seen anything in terms of what they can do,” D’Antoni said. “It takes a chance. But that’s New York, and New York is ‘What did you do for me yesterday?’
“Hopefully they’ll be able to get that.”
