Getty Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.
The Brooklyn Nets entered this season with a lot of optimism about what they could accomplish this year. There were no vaccine mandates, most of their players were healthy, and they added an elite defender to their roster in three-time All-Star Ben Simmons. But the Nets have not had much to cheer about since the season began. They have struggled out of the gate with a record of 1-4.
As if there wasn’t enough friction in Brooklyn’s locker room, Nets owner Joe Tsai added fuel to that fire on Friday night. Tsai publicly called out Irving for tweeting the link to the 2018 film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which is filled with anti-Semitic tropes, according to an article written by Rolling Stone.
“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-Semitic disinformation,” Tsai tweeted. “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.”
The latest Nets news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Nets newsletter here!
Fans Call For Kyrie and Durant To Be Traded
With Irving scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, getting publicly called out by the owner won’t increase his chances of re-signing with the Nets. And if Irving skips town, there is also a possibility that Kevin Durant could re-open his trade request that he rescinded in August.
After a 1-4 start to the season, and things getting seemingly worse, some fans are imploring Tsai and general manager Sean Marks to rip the band-aid now and trade both stars.
Trade Kyrie and Kd the owner is a 🍆 head
Nets are 1-4. The roster is shit. KD and Kyrie don’t want to be there. Just trade those two. Enough is enough.
Just trade Kyrie man , enough is enough lol that FO and him just don’t get along. Trade KD while you at it
Hell trade russ/AD for KD/Kyrie😂
Steve Clifford Comes to Steve Nash’s Defense
Steve Nash has been gifted a lot of the blame when it comes to the Nets’ shortcomings. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he has received the bulk of the fault for the Nets’ failures. Nash accepted the Nets’ job without having any coaching experience. And taking on a team with championship expectations like the Nets have the past few seasons has been no easy task for the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
Steve Clifford, who was a consultant on Nash’s staff last year, says the reason they fell short last season, was that their two main guys missed a significant number of games.
“This is where coaches take heat for things that are not their fault. The number one problem last year in Brooklyn was games missed. That’s it,” Clifford said to reporters per NetsDaily.
“I believe last year, look at the record when Kevin played. I believe in the games Kevin played last year we were fourth in offense and 12th in defense. Kyrie didn’t play for different reasons. If Kevin never gets hurt, we’re like second or third, [we have] home-court [advantage], we’re not playing Boston in the first round and it’s a totally different season. You can always get into all these other things. The number one thing by far, games missed, that’s it.”
Things may look dark for the Nets now, but the important thing to remember is that it is still extremely early in the season. They will have a chance to get back on track in their next game against the Indiana Pacers.