Nick Friedell talks about the Nets up and down season. (3:00) Nets coach Steve Nash was in Austin, Texas, watching the Nets lose to the Celtics, while Mike D'Antoni was in his living room in Austin. A year ago, D&Antoni and Nash were on the Nets bench, and the team was one of the greatest ever, but never made it to the Eastern Conference finals. Nine years ago, D'Antoni was on the Los Angeles Lakers bench, where Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Paul Gasol and Dwight Howard flopped their way to a first-round sweep. This year, the Nets season was unlike anything D&Antoni had seen before. He said that the situation was strange because of all the things that happened to them this year. I don't think it's odd that they struggled. Nash and the Nets superstars took their turn at the lectern, making allusions to the off-the-court drama that overwhelmed the Nets this season and left them exhausted on every level by the end of it. The media scrum and noise are what Kyrie Irving called it. A lack of continuity was referenced by Kevin Durant. Nash spoke directly about all the things off the floor and how they affected the team. Nash said that their guys wore down. All of it was brought to the fore in the final minutes of the game. Brooklyn got a huge break when Sean Wright called a sixth foul on Celtics star Jayson Tatum with 2:45 to go in the game. On the next play, a rejuvenatedBlakeGriffin muscled a key offensive rebound over Boston's Al Horford, leading to an Irving 3-pointer that cut the lead to three points. It looked like the Nets were going to get the lead back to one when Durant stole the ball from Jaylen Brown and hit a 14-foot floater. In a season defined by it, the Nets found more exasperation. The Nets season ended, and whether or not Steve Nash is the right coach for the team going forward, was discussed by Kevin Durant. All that was left to do at the game's end was for Irving to box out Horford on an offensive rebound and for Durant to miss two 3-pointers in a row. After the game, he was asked if he had any regrets about the season. He shrugged and said there were no regrets. We have been through a lot this year. Everyone in the organization knows what we have been through. The things that have happened to the Nets this season, but he quickly lost interest in the recap, were Irving's battles with the city of New York over its vaccine mandate, the James Harden trade, and the uncertainty over Ben Simmons. I wish we had more continuity as a group. That is just the league. Every team goes through that. He was tired of talking about the drama and was not interested in making excuses. The Nets had the most consistent player, aside from his injuries. The NBA playoffs run through June, when the league will crown a champion for its 75th season. A star guard has arrived in Dallas.
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He doesn't know how much of a physical and mental toll it took on him. He was not in the mood to admit to any fatigue or use that heavy load as an excuse.
Nash was blunt.
Nash said that there were too many things that went wrong for the Nets.
The premise of those analyses is flawed.
It is not what happened to the Nets or what happened to them. It is about the decisions that allowed these problems to exist in the first place.
Whether it be Harden quitting on the team and asking to be traded, Irving being unable to play in games in New York City and Toronto due to his vaccination status, or even Simmons forcing a trade from Philadelphia after last season and drawing out a ramp- up, it is possible that it is
The management and ownership of the Nets tried to support their stars. Most superstars appreciate that kind of respect. The Nets superstars did not make good on the respect they were shown, which is a problem for a team built as a star system.
The Nets wasted a lot of time and energy on off-the-court issues. How much time was spent discussing Irving's vaccine status? How much time was spent thinking about what to do with Harden? How much time was spent on whether Simmons would play in Game 4, or how the Nets would adjust to the Celtics?
Irving admits his status was a distraction to the Nets this season, but he is adamant that he will return to Brooklyn in the fall.
After the game, Irving said he was responsible for the toll.
He felt like he was letting the team down when he wasn't able to play.
I don't want it to be about me, but I feel like it became a distraction at times.
Irving said that he and Kevin would manage the franchise together along with Joe and Sean Marks.
We need to be intentional about what we are building.
Irving spoke of his motivation to build a better team and culture next season, not just relying on individual performance as the Nets did this year. He was clearly speaking as a star who has full control of his franchise, which is great when things work out but uncomfortable when they end badly like the Nets did.
That sounds familiar.
The Nets and Lakers both failed in the same way this season.
It is ironic for a coach such as Nash, who made a name for himself as a player in a system as democratic as D'Antoni's, and a general manager like Marks.
They will reflect on what they could have done differently. They hope the lessons from this season will matter next season.
The tough part is that we all grew a lot, but we weren't able to benefit from it this year. We fought hard to stay together.
Nash is correct. The Nets fought. They were not always fighting on the floor.
D'Antoni still has faith in Brooklyn's superstars.
It needs to have a chance. What have you done for me in New York?
Hopefully they will be able to get that.
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