Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving said that he is “not going to stand down on anything I believe in” after he was condemned by the owner of his NBA team for tweeting a link to a documentary deemed to be antisemitic.
The star guard tweeted a link Thursday to the 2018 movie “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which is based on Ronald Dalton’s book of the same name. Rolling Stone described the book and movie as “stuffed with antisemitic tropes.”
In a fraught post-game press conference after the Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, Irving defended his decision to post a link to the documentary.
“In terms of the backlash, we’re in 2022, history is not supposed to be hidden from anybody and I’m not a divisive person when it comes to religion, I embrace all walks of life,” he said.
“So the claims of antisemitism and who are the original chosen people of God and we go into these religious conversations and it’s a big no, no, I don’t live my life that way.”
Several organizations have condemned Irving’s tweet, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the NBA, the Brooklyn Nets, and Nets’ owner Joe Tsai.
“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation,” Nets owner Joe Tsai tweeted Friday night.
“I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion.”
Tsai added, “This is bigger than basketball.”
Irving said in the press conference that he “respects what Joe [Tsai] said,” but claimed that he had not tweeted something harmful.
“Did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody, did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people?”
“It’s on Amazon, a public platform, whether you want to go watch it or not, is up to you,” Irving said. “There’s things being posted every day. I’m no different than the next human being, so don’t treat me any different.”
CNN has asked Amazon for comment but, at the time of publication, had not received a response.
At the same time, Irving acknowledged his “unique position” to influence his community, but said “what I post does not mean that I support everything that’s being said or everything that’s being done or I’m campaigning for anything.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, in a tweet on Friday called Irving’s social media post “troubling.”
“The book and film he promotes trade in deeply #antisemitic themes, including those promoted by dangerous sects of the Black Hebrew Israelites movement. Irving should clarify now.”
The Nets also spoke out against the star guard’s tweet.
“The Brooklyn Nets strongly condemn and have no tolerance for the promotion of any form of hate speech,” the team said in a statement to CNN.
“We believe that in these situations, our first action must be open, honest dialogue. We thank those, including the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), who have been supportive during this time.”
The NBA issued a statement saying, “Hate speech of any kind is unacceptable and runs counter to the NBA’s values of equality, inclusion and respect.
“We believe we all have a role to play in ensuring such words or ideas, including antisemitic ones, are challenged and refuted and we will continue working with all members of the NBA community to ensure that everyone understands the impact of their words and actions.”
Rolling Stone, meanwhile, said the movie and book include ideas in line with some “extreme factions” within the Black Hebrew Israelite movement that have expressed antisemitic and other discriminatory sentiments.
During the press conference, Irving was also asked about his decision to share a video created by far-right talk show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was recently ordered to pay nearly $1 billion in damages to Sandy Hook families for his lies about the massacre.
Irving clarified that he did not agree with Jones’ false claims that the Sandy Hook shooting was staged but stood by sharing Jones’ post in September “about secret societies in America of occults,” that Irving believed to be “true.”
Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving on Saturday tweeted that he “meant no disrespect to anyone’s religious beliefs” after the owner of his NBA team condemned him for tweeting a link to a documentary deemed antisemitic.
“I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion.”
Tsai added, “This is bigger than basketball.”
Irving wrote in a tweet on Saturday: “I am an OMNIST and I meant no disrespect to anyone’s religious beliefs. The ‘Anti-Semitic’ label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or truth I live in everyday. I embrace and want to learn from all walks of life and religions.”
An omnist is someone who believes in all religions.
The star guard tweeted a link Thursday to the 2018 movie “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which is based on Ronald Dalton’s book of the same name. Rolling Stone described the book and movie as “stuffed with antisemitic tropes.”
Irving has made controversial statements and decisions in the past, including his absence from most of his team’s games last season because he refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“The book and film he promotes trade in deeply #antisemitic themes, including those promoted by dangerous sects of the Black Hebrew Israelites movement. Irving should clarify now.”
The Nets also spoke out against the star guard’s tweet.
“The Brooklyn Nets strongly condemn and have no tolerance for the promotion of any form of hate speech,” the team said in a statement to CNN.
“We believe that in these situations, our first action must be open, honest dialogue. We thank those, including the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), who have been supportive during this time.”
Prior to the team’s game Saturday night, Nets head coach Steve Nash said he was aware of statements made on the issue by Irving and the team.
“The organization has spoken to Kyrie about it, Nash said. “Clearly, I think we all represent values of inclusiveness, and equality, and condemn hate speech.”
The NBA issued a statement saying, “Hate speech of any kind is unacceptable and runs counter to the NBA’s values of equality, inclusion and respect. We believe we all have a role to play in ensuring such words or ideas, including antisemitic ones, are challenged and refuted and we will continue working with all members of the NBA community to ensure that everyone understands the impact of their words and actions.”
Rolling Stone said the movie and book include ideas in line with some “extreme factions” within the Black Hebrew Israelite movement that have expressed anti-Semitic and other discriminatory sentiments.
“Black Negro people of ‘Bantu’ descent in the Diaspora and in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot be labeled ‘Anti-Semitic’ because we are the True Ethnic Bloodline Israelites of the Bible,” the author Dalton said in an emailed statement to CNN. “If Kyrie Irving or any Black Celebrity needs ‘back up’ to prove that we are the True Israelites … i am available to assist them on or off the camera so that the world can finally see and receive the TRUTH.”
“A step up for Ben,” Nash said after seeing Simmons score six points, grab 10 rebounds, dish out eight assists and block two shots in 32 minutes. “From the jump he was more aggressive. He got in the paint, every time he gets in the paint he causes problems. … He’s starting to show the player he can be, and I still think he’s got a ways to go, so really proud of him. He shook off the first night, and I thought he was much more aggressive in an important game for us.”
Simmons struggled in Wednesday’s loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, scoring just four points to go with five assists and five rebounds and fouling out in 23 minutes. Simmons says he has been getting a consistent message from Nash for a while now.
“Just attack,” Simmons said. “Just be me. It’s easy to say, but to go and do it, it’s tough. But that’s on me. Keep pushing myself.”
Simmons’ teammates have repeatedly stood up for him publicly as he continues to find his rhythm after missing almost a year and a half from the NBA after waiting on a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers last season and then dealing with offseason back surgery. The Nets know they can be a completely different team when Simmons plays at a high level and is aggressive on the floor.
“He just got downhill — he just played free,” Durant said of Simmons. “He didn’t think too much. I think we’re all a little anxious to start playing, start the season last game, so we had a better start to the game. … He impacted the game as much as he could tonight. … We need that from everybody, but I think we’re all a little [more] relaxed, even the coaches.”
Simmons noted that his performance was “a little better” and said he remains confident his game will come back around over time.
“I didn’t get fouled out, which is good,” Simmons said. “Less turnovers, so just keep building.”
Kevin Durant has joined the list of superstar athletes to own a pickleball team.
Durant was announced Thursday as an owner of a Major League Pickleball expansion team, along with manager Rich Kleiman and their joint Thirty Five Ventures.
“35V is committed to investing in the future of sports and emerging opportunities, and Major League Pickleball is a league we are incredibly excited about,” Kleiman said in a news release. “We can’t wait to build this team from the ground up as well as work to elevate the sport and the league to unprecedented heights. As an avid pickleball player and fan, the interest in the sport was a natural fit.”
Thirty Five Ventures will be involved with the expansion team “as a full-time venture,” according to the release, and will manage all aspects, including marketing and player relations.
Durant said he “never thought” he would get into pickleball in a video on Boardroom, which 35V owns, but the Brooklyn Nets‘ star forward said the sport became a “small passion” after Kleiman got him onto the court to play for himself.
“Kevin Durant, Rich Kleiman, and 35V are going to be game-changing partners for Major League Pickleball,” Steve Kuhn, the MLP CEO and founder, said in the release. “They not only bring passion for the game, but also unrivaled expertise to help us to continue to grow. We’re especially excited about their plans to bring pickleball to underserved communities — something they have done with basketball for years.”
The MLP, which was founded in 2021, will expand from its current 12 teams to 16 in 2023 and will double its annual events to six. The league said prize money is expected to surpass $2 million next season.
In the Boardroom video, Durant said their next steps would be to figure out a city for the team to play in and represent, and to find the right players for their vision.
“We really, really want to leave our mark from day one on how hard our team is going to play and how successful we’re going to be as a group,” the 12-time NBA All-Star said.
Here we go: The top 10 in our 2022-2023 League Pass Rankings! We revealed Nos. 30-11 on Tuesday, and you can read about the rankings formula there.
10. DALLAS MAVERICKS (35)
Look at this soul-snatcher:
That is the smile of someone who knows he has you. The Mavs’ offense is one-dimensional — Luka Doncic walks ball up, runs two-man game — but that dimension contains multitudes. The typical spread pick-and-roll pairs ball handler and rim-runner; Doncic can do that with any of Dallas’ bigs. He can make all the passes blindfolded.
Doncic’s size and comfort in the middle of the paint — the dead zone for some ball handlers — open up endless possibilities. He’s at his most predatory dragging smaller defenders into pick-and-rolls. Switch, and he mashes them in the post with smirking cruelty. (He took sadistic pleasure brutalizing Patrick Beverley in the 2021 playoffs.) Send help, and he picks you apart.
Even against like-sized defenders and traditional coverages, Doncic is a three-steps-ahead genius burrowing inside. His high-arching step-back is borderline unblockable, and he has hit 50% from floater range over the past two seasons — and a LeBron James-esque 73% at the rim last season.
The threat of those shots unlocks Doncic’s generational passing. He understands how every up-fake, pivot, and half-spin freaks help defenders into thinking they should swarm — and which passes any slight rotation might expose. Last season, he even started throwing straight backward overhead passes to pick-and-pop bigs. Maxi Kleber and Christian Wood must be ready at all times.
This is my favorite piece of Mavs art in ages:
The navy sings against the new white-washed floor.
The Lakers ranked No. 2 last season, but the idea of them — How will Russell Westbrook fit? — turned out to be way more interesting than the experience.
The Lakers played fast, but they were boring — unorganized, dispirited, lacking any cohesive identity. LeBron James remains the ultimate chessmaster, but there’s little reason to suspect the overall product will be much different. (Darvin Ham said this week he’s considering starting Anthony Davis at center, and leaning there would boost L.A.’s watchability. You can’t play Westbrook, LeBron, Anthony Davis, and a traditional center — even one with decent range like Thomas Bryant or Damian Jones. Don’t sleep on Jones’ passing!)
They scored this high only because of their art — including the league’s prettiest court — and the comedy category. Are Beverley and Westbrook really friends? Like, really? Or will latent tension boil over? Comedy can become pathos, and we reached that point with Westbrook last season when the Sacramento Kings’ blared “Cold as Ice!” on every bonked jumper and layup.
Will James engage pout mode once he breaks the scoring record if the Lakers are toast? James achieved peak eye-rolling sulkiness ahead of the 2018 trade deadline, when he realized the Cavs were dead barring a roster shake-up. It was bizarrely enthralling.
Thumbs up to these white throwbacks — replicas of the jerseys the team wore in their first-ever game, per league officials. They even have faux belt loops! Powder blue is always welcome.
The Wolves ranked first in pace and second in scoring efficiency after Jan. 1 last season. They have one blockbuster young star in Anthony Edwards, fast becoming a three-level scorer as his confidence soars on pull-ups and step-backs.
Edwards wants to dunk people into oblivion — the bigger, the better. He flies at the rim as if he thinks he can dunk through humans — that they will disintegrate beneath him.
One of the league’s keenest offensive tinkerers — Chris Finch — must figure out how to mesh Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert in an unusual double-center look that has to work given the Wolves traded everything short of the old Metrodome baggie for Gobert.
Finch will get creative on defense, too. On some nights, the Wolves might flip-flop matchups — slotting Towns onto centers, and stashing Gobert elsewhere so he can act as roving shot-blocker. We might see glimpses of last season’s blitzing defense as a surprise adjustment.
Kyle Anderson weaponizes his slowness; defenders stumble ahead of his elongated moves, allowing Slow-Mo to saunter through creases. He snatches some of the league’s cleanest live-dribble steals. Jaden McDaniels still seems like a blank canvas, and looms as Minnesota’s swing factor. Jaylen Nowell jacks and struts with a gunslinger’s bravado. How will D’Angelo Russell — on an expiring contract — respond if Finch yanks him for Jordan McLaughlin in crunch time again?
The Wolves relegated their gaudy neon green to the trimmings on this pristine new jersey:
Standing ovation for the fangs extending down off the “M” and “V.”
PSST: Towns’ averages in 11 postseason games: 19 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3.5 turnovers (gag!), and many, many silly fouls. He has three single-digit scoring games, plus a dud in last season’s play-in. It’s time.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is one-of-one. He evolves each season — more floaters, more screening in the pick-and-roll, snappier passing. He supplies highlights both preposterous and of the most visceral basketball violence. Antetokounmpo rising from underneath the rim, off two feet, and cramming on someone’s head is perhaps the rudest act in the sport.
I loved his recent speech about the importance of will over skill. It was once fashionable to compare Antetokounmpo and Ben Simmons — enormous, turbocharged ball handlers with rickety strokes. What might Simmons accomplish if the Philadelphia 76ers surrounded him with shooters — as the Bucks have done for Antetokounmpo?
Even five years ago, before Antetokounmpo cracked the top five in MVP voting, the comparison failed the smell test. Antetokounmpo was bigger, faster, longer — better. Most of all, he was tougher. While Simmons’ struggles at the line turned into something of a phobia, Antetokounmpo kept coming — kept drawing contact, kept risking failure, kept improving. That’s will.
The Bucks are a fast-break machine — Four Steps or Less — but their half-court offense finished dead last in points per possession in the playoffs. Even with Khris Middleton out, that raised alarms internally. I suspect the Bucks will spend the regular season honing anti-switch devices on offense and experimenting with new looks on defense — including snuffing 3s after spending years living with above-the-break triples.
Who emerges as trustworthy playoff guys among George Hill, Jevon Carter, Joe Ingles, Jordan Nwora, and Serge Ibaka? If the answer is “no one,” the Bucks could face critical depth issues. How much Antetokounmpo at center will we see?
Once every few games, an opposing player annoys Jrue Holiday — and draws out Holiday’s playoff-level defense as punishment. What a nightmare.
Marques Johnson was a five-time All-Star, nailed a supporting role in “White Men Can’t Jump,” and is now one of the best analysts in any sport. Not fair.
Boston’s stars offer different stylistic ingredients, but they don’t always synthesize on offense. The defense … holy hell. They are huge, mean, smart — a switching forcefield. (Marcus Smart and Blake Griffin have to wager on who takes the most charges, right?)
They are also strategically quirky. The Celtics clicked into place when they shifted their center — Robert Williams III — onto nonthreatening wings, unleashing him as a free safety.
Time Lord didn’t just reject shots. He obliterated them. He spiked some before they even left shooters’ hands — before they really became shots at all. Others, he smashed against the backboard with such force you almost expected them to become impaled in the glass. From mid-January on, Boston allowed 105.4 points per 100 possessions — four points stingier than the league’s No. 2 defense.
The Celtics became one of the greatest defenses of all time, even as smart opponents began exploring counters to Boston’s scheme — running Williams around off-ball screens, using more false actions. Expect more of that cat-and-mouse game now that opponents have had an offseason to study.
Boston found its flow on offense too. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Smart cooperated in more two-man actions — forcing switches Tatum and Brown could exploit. Tatum’s liquid grace and Brown’s straight-line power make for a perfect contrast. Derrick White added Spursian quick decision-making. (Update: He should be part of the Griffin-Smart charge-taking wager too!)
The Celtics’ green uniforms are maybe the best in sports, and they improved their historic court by removing the chunky white circle from underneath the leprechaun:
The tribute to Bill Russell is understated and noble.
Grant Williams never shuts up. Mike Gorman and Brian Scalabrine are tremendous. Boston is under championship pressure, with a coach — Joe Mazzulla — thrust into the spotlight under bad circumstances. What is Mazzulla about? How do the players respond?
5. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (37)
You have to be good and watchable to rise here; the algorithm sees 50-win upside.
I don’t care if these guys shoot a single 3-pointer. I just want to see Zion Williamson pinballing to the rim, bodies flying everywhere after making even glancing contact with this linebacker phenom. He gets from arc to rim faster than a camera flash, out of every action: pick-and-rolls as screener or ball handler; post-ups in which he plows through victims like shorter Shaquille O’Neal, or spins around them like wider James Worthy; end-to-end rampages you almost feel through your screen. (The Pelicans with Williamson have played at ludicrous speed.)
The roster isn’t really built for it, but please, Willie Green, give us some Williamson at center!
Forget second jumps. Williamson has the league’s quickest third and fourth jumps. Pity the fools who box out Williamson and Jonas Valanciunas. Reserve them extra time in the cold tub, maybe the hospital.
CJ McCollum might put a defender on his butt at any moment. He connects complex dribbles — hesitation, crossover, pull-back — with unusual fluidity, and cans all variety of floaters with either hand. Brandon Ingram’s midrange arsenal is simpler, but almost as effective.
Larry Nance Jr. is all flare screens and twirling handoffs, and he’ll play tons of crunch-time center. Herbert Jones’ arms actually typed this column from New Orleans; instead of shooting 3s, should he just reach all the way from the arc and plop the ball in?
Jose Alvarado’s crouching, hide-and-seek backcourt steals are incredible theater. He’ll have ball handlers looking over their shoulders even when he’s not in the game. He is Keyser Soze.
The Pelicans are due some fresh art. The bench overflows with interesting players. Here’s hoping Dyson Daniels earns run.
4. DENVER NUGGETS (38)
Nikola Jokic might be the most inventive passer in basketball history, and is for sure No. 1 all time among bigs. He dares passes everyone else is scared to try — slips to cutters where the passing window is no bigger than the basketball itself.
Jokic imagines passes no one else sees — and then makes them. As he’s gotten in better shape, he’s added occasional dunks and tornado baseline spins.
The regular season is about finding the right balance of defensive schemes for Jokic. This is perhaps the biggest season in Nuggets history; they need everything in place for the playoffs.
Jokic has his pick-and-roll mind-meld partner back in Jamal Murray. Murray’s role in their two-man devastation has long been underrated. He’s an ace pull-up shooter with a knack for slick pocket passes that lead Jokic into open space.
They have the league’s prettiest and most varied give-and-go partnership. We see the classic — Murray bolting away from handoffs, and Jokic lofting him buttery goodness:
But they also turn routine pick-and-rolls into give-and-gos within that tricky midpaint area:
That is a mini masterpiece. In terms of both shot selection and process, Denver is a nice antidote to 3s-and-dunks spread-pick-and-roll hegemony. Murray’s Blue Arrow celebration is cool.
Michael Porter Jr. is perhaps the X factor of the season. Will he accept third-banana status? Kentavious Caldwell-Pope locks the starting five into place. Bruce Brown does the same for the bench, and gives Denver crunch-time lineup flexibility. Once every 10 games and out of absolutely nowhere, Jeff Green posterizes someone.
Are you worried about Denver’s bench offense? Bones Hyland isn’t.
3. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (39)
Ja Morant is the new League Pass superstar. He is a hellacious rim-attacker, cocking it back and hammering pain onto larger humans; he jumped over and through Malik Beasley for the highlight of last season.
Morant’s sneering swagger set the tone for the team from day one. There is nothing fake about the Grizzlies’ puffed-chest arrogance. They do not conceive of themselves as the little guy challenging Goliaths. Trash-talking LeBron James is not, for them, unearned pluck. They believe they are Goliath, now.
Morant could chase points, dominate the ball, hunt the spectacular. Instead, he brings teammates with him — empowers them, uses the attention he draws to create shots for them. Morant is a whip-smart cutter, willing to cut as a decoy (or to catch lobs above the square). He slows down in transition, knowing trailers come open in his wake.
Memphis defends with ferocity — Dillon Brooks going chest to chest with all comers, everyone swiping at the ball. The Grizz forced heaps of turnovers, and blazed at the league’s second-fastest pace. Do not look away from the Memphis alley-oop machine.
Desmond Bane has borderline Ray Allen-level precision in his jumper. Remember when Steven Adams carried Tony Bradley — 6-10, 250 pounds — away from an altercation as if he were about to take Bradley to Suplex City? What a legend.
The young guys will get chances filling in for Jaren Jackson Jr. and departed veterans. I give it two games before an opposing announcer expresses shock at John Konchar’s leaping ability
Can you spot the subtle upgrade from last season’s court …
… to their new one?
They eliminated that silver-blue racing stripe along the baseline that always confused me.
2. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (40)
The Warriors came so close to reclaiming their No. 1 perch, with Draymond Green providing a new, unfortunate reason to tune in to Golden State’s basketball symphony.
Green’s punch might have been one hot-tempered man going through personal issues losing control, and slugging his trash-talking foil. It became more because we saw it, yes, but also because of the deeply human and almost literary arcs one could project onto it.
Green, in the final year of his contract, might be aging out of the dynasty he helped build. Jordan Poole, on the verge of his first massive deal, is a keystone in extending that dynasty beyond Green’s NBA lifespan. A decade ago, when this all started, Green was the low draft pick who roared — trash-talking his elders, challenging them, refusing to show deference. That is how Poole relates to Green now.
To win a title, there can be no fissures. There will be lingering tension over what happened last week. How will it manifest? How long will it last?
The potential basketball tragedy of all this — of contract realities and personality conflicts intruding upon this Bay Area basketball idyll — is that Green, Klay Thompson, and Stephen Curry should finish their careers together as Warriors. That is how it’s supposed to be. What they share is why we follow sports — an understanding of one another’s tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses so deep, they barely have to talk on the court. Every simple action between them contains a dozen counters, and they choose them in the moment, in sync, in step, always connected.
It is a bond of winks and nods that cannot form unless you share tens of thousands of reps at the highest level. And it is, still, beautiful to watch.
Andre Iguodala is part of their fabric too, and he gets another chance at a proper swan song. The army of lottery picks is in position to seize roles. Whether they are ready will go a long way to determining Golden State’s repeat chances. Jonathan Kuminga is at eye level with the rim before you even realize what’s happening.
Golden State is a top-five art team. Curry, Green, and Thompson will wear captain “Cs” on throwback jerseys — rare in the NBA.
These new alternates are nice:
The Warriors deal in bright yellow and blue. This clean navy look is a pleasing change, even it is eerily similar to the University of California, Berkeley color scheme. I like how the shorts echo the team’s bridge-wiring motif.
1. BROOKLYN NETS (41)
I considered invoking the Ian Eagle Corollary, which dates to the Joe Johnson “It’s not that bad here!” era and allows me to reduce the Nets score if the light-hearted categories — art, comedy — lift them higher than they deserve. I opted against it, and so the Nets three-peat as League Pass champions — which has really worked out for them in the Kevin Durant–Kyrie Irving era.
This team could be gone in 30 games — boring, bad, an entire era demolished. Irving could find new reasons to be the basketball player who doesn’t play basketball. Ben Simmons could melt — flinching at the threat of contact, wilting under Hack-a-Ben, holding a prolonged missed free throw contest with Nic Claxton. (Claxton is 6-of-25 from the line in the postseason.) All that could push Kevin Durant to renew his allegedly dormant trade request, at which point the Barclays Center may as well collapse into a sinkhole.
That’s the severe downside. The more likely downside is the Nets are run-of-the-mill good — a playoff team, but not strong enough to lift the stench of self-inflicted misery.
The journey to either of those bad places is disaster-movie riveting. Simmons hasn’t played a real game in 16 months; there is justified interest in every move he makes. Even that functional downside scenario features plenty of Irving and Durant, two flashbulb attractions.
Whatever your feelings about Irving, he is a show — a Maravichian dribbling magician with a bottomless bag of soft floaters and twisting layups. His lefty runner takes your breath away. Two seasons ago, when the Nets were quasi-functional, Irving was the one who got them running in transition.
Durant is one of the dozen greatest players ever, and perhaps the most well-rounded offensive force the game has ever seen. He is elite at literally every subsection of offense. He can assume any role, at any time. Even when Durant is raining pull-up fire, it might not be the classical beauty of his gangly game that draws you in. What really hits you in the gut — what mesmerizes — is the sheer invincibility of it, the way Durant exercises total dominion over everything from every place on the floor.
And that’s the upside. The soul-sapping melodrama can make you forget: This might work. They might be happy. They could be redeemed. They might be unstoppable on offense, Simmons tapping into his inner Draymond Green with endless shooting around him. They will take risks and innovate to survive on defense, and there is night-to-night joy in watching a team sink its teeth into that challenge.
The broadcast is as good as it gets, and the art is solid — including this alternate court, first revealed here, that matches the ABA-era stars-and-stripes uniforms the Nets are bringing back:
The differently colored painted areas — one blue, one red — are a gamble, but they work here.
The Brooklyn Nets gave the NBA offseason extended life. Every move the organization made — and didn’t — was examined; every whisper, every tweet broken down to the syllable as the league watched the turmoil unfold throughout the summer.
Kevin Durant, who on June 30 requested a trade, then requested for general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash to be fired, now appears ready to start the season with the Nets.
The roller coaster continued, as guard Kyrie Irving dealt with questions about his own future in Brooklyn. While speculation about a potential reunion with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers took up the first week of free agency, no deal materialized.
Irving, who played just 29 games last season because of his vaccination status and New York City’s mandate, could not come to terms with the Nets on an extension, announcing June 27 his decision to opt in to final year in his contract, a player option worth $36.5 million.
Meanwhile, Ben Simmons, who was acquired just before February’s trade deadline from the Philadelphia 76ers, hasn’t played in over 16 months. After arriving in Brooklyn, Simmons missed the rest of the year while dealing with mental health concerns and a back injury that ultimately forced him to have surgery over the summer.
As the Nets head into their preseason opener Monday against the 76ers, they appear to be on the same page for the first time in years.
Here are the five biggest questions surrounding the Nets heading into the 2022-23 season:
1. How will Durant respond to the Nets’ summer of discontent?
Durant made clear after getting swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round last season that he had “no regrets” about the way the year unfolded. “No time to feel regret or be too pissed off. It’s about how we can find solutions to get better, proactive as an organization to get better,” he said in April.
What a difference a few months can make.
As Durant vented frustration about last season and the way he believed some players weren’t being held accountable, he outlined exactly what he wanted to see moving forward after internal conversations within the organization.
“It’s just a matter of team building,” Durant said. “… I just felt like that’s what great teams do. I feel like we don’t have any respect out there on the court, and that’s what I want for us. Respect amongst the NBA community as a team on how we play on both ends of the floor from GM [Marks] all the way down to the equipment manager.
“I want that respect. I think you [get that] by how you work every single day and we skipped some steps in how we worked throughout that year last year because of the circumstances — vaccine mandates, people disgruntled, injuries. I felt like we could have just kept pressing forward, and that’s what I try to do as a player. I’m not preaching something that I don’t practice. I come in here, every rep matters to me, so I want everybody to feel the same way.”
Since he signed with Brooklyn over three years ago, the organization has put Durant at the center of everything it does. That likely won’t change now, either — but how he approaches each day, with a team that mere weeks ago he appeared to not want to be on anymore, will set the tone for everything else that happens this season.
2. Will Irving be a fully committed member of the team?
Irving’s decision not to get vaccinated last season hung over everything.
During the 2020-21 season, he took a leave of absence for personal reasons and was away from the team for two weeks. The hope within the organization, team sources said, is that without a vaccination requirement this season, and with the motivation of a potential contract extension hanging in the balance, Irving will rebound.
“That first year he played more games than me and James [Harden],” Durant said at Nets media day on Monday. “So you can say he was more reliable than us that first year. And last year if it wasn’t for the vaccine he would have played. There’s not a vaccine mandate this year. The year I played with him before he was very reliable, so once the mandate was gone I figured he’s going to be here every day. And he loves to play. I shouldn’t even have to say that. We all know that.”
When Irving is on the floor, he has shown he can still play at a high level, as evidenced by the 27.4 points he averaged over 29 regular-season games last year. but he has also shown, at times, that he can’t be counted on. “He understands that in order for him to be a free agent and get what he rightfully wants,” Marks said, “he’s going to have to show commitment out there.”
3. Is Ben Simmons ready to play?
While the Durant and Irving storylines drove most of the headlines the past few months, Simmons’ reemergence is arguably the team’s most critical variable if the Nets want to contend in the East.
Simmons hasn’t played one minute of professional basketball since the Philadelphia 76ers’ Game 7 loss against the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals in which the point guard took a heap of criticism from the public and his own teammates for his passive play.
Simmons was traded to the Nets the following season and after offseason back surgery and missing time last season to address his mental health, he must show he is still capable of playing at an All-Star level — and has to learn to play with a new team. For his part, Simmons said he is confident that both his body and mind will hold up all season.
“I’m glad I got it done,” Simmons said of the back surgery. “It was much needed. I don’t think people really realize where I was at. That day I was supposed to play Game 4 [of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals], I woke up on the floor, I couldn’t move. I could barely walk. So I’m glad to be in this position, this situation. Rehabbed myself and got myself into a place where I can compete. So I’m excited.”
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Stephen A. Smith takes issue with Kyrie Irving’s lack of commitment to the teams he plays for.
How he fits alongside Durant and Irving is one of the most intriguing questions in the league. How he handles adversity is just as important. Simmons was quick with a response when asked what it has been like practicing with both players over the past week.
“Incredible,” he said.
4. How does Nash respond?
In the midst of a season-long 11-game losing streak in February, Steve Nash came into a training room after a shootaround in Salt Lake City and started to describe how the team would break it. He referenced how he’d carved out a career by finding a way through whatever obstacles appeared in his path — notably as an undersized guard out of Santa Clara University, far off the NBA map. “I love this s—,” Nash said with a smile.
Nash has spent his professional life inside the NBA. He understands the scrutiny that can boil when losses mount and things go haywire — but he also earned a Hall of Fame induction and two MVP awards during 18 seasons in the league.
“That’s pro sports, right?” Marks said, when asked about Durant’s offseason request that he and Nash both be fired. “I’m sure there are plenty of things that go on behind the scenes. [Nash and I] both lived on both sides of that locker room as well, so we know what happens inside the locker room, and that’s completely fair …
“I totally understand [Durant’s] frustration. I don’t know if there was anybody more frustrated than the two of us. We’re all in on this. We all know what’s at stake here, what our ultimate goal is.”
5. What are the Nets going to do at center?
Nic Claxton is the only center currently on the roster who played rotational minutes (18.7 per game) last season. One much-talked-about option would be to use Simmons at the 5, where he played just 8% of the time in his four seasons in Philadelphia, per NBA Advanced Stats. Nash acknowledged this week that Simmons at center will happen.
“If he’s the quote, unquote ‘lone big,’ that’s a role we would definitely play him at,” Nash said. “But he’s also our playmaker and point guard.”
Nash said the 13-year veteran “is a 5 for us.” While discussing his role a few minutes later, Morris said he was open to helping the team in whichever way he can but added:
“I wouldn’t call myself a center. But if you want to put me there, Steve wants to call me a center, I’m a center.”
