Getty Kyrie Irving and James Harden slap hands during a game against the Cavs.
The Brooklyn Nets are in a major funk right now. After losing to the Sacramento Kings, a team that came in having lost seven straight games, the Nets dropped to 29-22. They have lost six games in a row are now in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Some Nets fans and pundits believe a players-only meeting needs to take place for the club to turn things around. However, neither James Harden nor Kyrie Irving agrees with that take.
Harden, Irving Don’t Think Players-Only Meeting Would Solve Much
Harden and Irving are the leaders of the Nets currently since Kevin Durant is out. The two All-Stars, who combined to shoot 7-of-26 against the Kings, don’t think a players-only meeting would solve what has been ailing the Nets recently.
“I think we’ve done too much talking,” Harden said, via Nick Friedell of ESPN. “It’s just, we got to go out there and do it, and do it consistently. We have times when we’re great, and we have times when we’re really bad. We just got to find some consistency throughout the course of games more times than not.”
Added Irving: “I’ve been in quite a few players-only meetings, and if we do have a players-only meeting I know not to tell y’all because it turns out to be something bigger. And there’s a guess of what’s happening and what’s being said in the locker room. But no pow wows as of yet. Maybe, who knows?”
Even though Harden and Irving don’t believe a players-only meeting is necessary, they do think sticking together as a team is important. Tension can arise in locker rooms during losing streaks sometimes and relationships can get sour, which is why Harden, Irving and Nets head coach Steve Nash want to push forward as a group and remain aligned amid the losing streak.
Harden, Irving, Nash Preach Togetherness
Harden told reporters after the Kings loss that he has made his voice heard over the last few weeks as the losses have piled up, per Friedell. The one-time MVP remains confident that the Nets can win at a high level once Durant is back from his knee injury.
Irving and Nash are also convinced that the Nets will eventually get back to playing winning basketball. Irving, a one-time champion, said the team can’t get fragile when adversity hits and must “get closer as a group.”
“I’ve been through so many experiences in this league, playing on different teams,” Irving said. “Having the opportunity to play with some great players, some great role players as well, and I think the sentiment that I have is just instead of continuing to hammer on, ‘We need to do this, we need to do that.’ We just got to get closer as a group a little bit. This is a time where we can’t be fragile, and we use this period of time that we’re going through as a lesson of growth in this NBA game.”
The Nets are back in action on February 4 when they take on the Utah Jazz, who are in fourth place in the Western Conference standings.