Well, this is a little awkward. The Nets have surprised everyone by winning three of their last four games and looked good doing it…even though Kyrie Irving has not played a single minute.
It seems like Kyrie Irving has hurt himself with that post even more than anyone could have realized. Prior to getting suspended by the Nets and blacklisted by Nike, Kyrie Irving and the Nets were on a downwards spiral to the bottom of the league as they were just failing miserably to close out winnable games.
Despite the brilliance of Kevin Durant and Irving himself, the Nets would actively lose games that they should have won, even though they had substantial leads.
Those two games against the lowly Pacers, the Grizzlies, the Raptors, and even the Mavericks should have ended in ‘W’s’ for Brooklyn if not for their innate ability to blow leads. In fact, the Nets should actually be 10-2 and in 2nd place just behind the Bucks, rather than currently standing in 11th place with a 5-7 record.
But you can’t change the past, and nor should you lament about its possibilities. Thus, despite the noise and controversy surrounding Irving and the Nets possible signing Ime Udoka, this roster and management core did the only thing they could possibly do to turn their season around: they hunkered down and focused on basketball.
Lead by the greatness of KD and his 27.5 PPG in this latest four game stretch, the Nets have won key games by playing smart, efficient basketball as they condensed the court and closed off the permitter shooting lanes on defense, while giving Durant the keys to leading the offense.
Plus, GM Sean Marks and Owner Joe Tsai made the right decision by giving the interim coaching job to Jacque Vaughn, a former assistant to Steve Nash, and avoiding all of the drama that would have come with Udoka.
Nevertheless, this leaves everyone’s beloved Kyrie Irving in a very tricky spot. Along with having to comply with a list of demands by the Nets for his comments and post, Irving’s place in the starting lineup really isn’t guaranteed anymore. Now, don’t get me wrong: I still think he will start when he comes back…but that doesn’t mean he will continue starting for the rest of the season.
If things start going south again, then I don’t see how Vaughn wouldn’t bench Irving for Joe Harris, Seth Curry, Ben Simmons, or Edmond Sumner. Curry exploded with 23 points last night, Sunmer has had a few bright moments, Ben Simmons is Ben Simmons (so no one knows what to expect out of him), while Joe Harris has been a solid 6th man/fringe starter throughout his time in Brooklyn thus far.
Sure, none of these guys have even a 1/10th of the talent or skill level of Kyrie Irving, but they all have something that is far more valuable than all of Irving’s skills and abilities: availability and reliability.
Well, aside from Ben Simmons for completely different reasons, the Nets can always rely on Joe Harris, Edmond Sumner, and Seth Curry to stay in the lineup without causing controversy and media storms on a weekly basis. There’s nothing more damaging to the structure of a winning team than a media-absorbing distraction, which Kyrie Irving has unfortunately turned into.
Whether he likes it or not, Irving will have this antisemitism cloud hanging over his head for the rest of the season. Of course, I expect Irving to overcome this and put in great performances night after night, but can the rest of the Nets team?
So far, that’s been a huge NO!
We’ll see if Irving can come back and stay out of the news, but I doubt it. Kyrie’s unending war against the media is as reliable as the sun shining day after day.
In other words, he’s bound to get into another spat with reporters at some point or another…which very well may end up being his last dust up.
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