Joseph Tsai discussed his ownership of the Nets during an interview with the CEO of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund earlier this month and its release seemed to put some fans of the tortured franchise over the edge.
Granted, Nets fans have ample reasons to be in an agitated state given the team’s dismal record this season. Should Brooklyn drop Sunday’s finale in Philadelphia, a likely probability given the tightness within the Eastern Conference standings and the Nets’ lengthy injury list, it will hit the 50-loss mark for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.
It’s only been a little more than one year since the Nets boasted a pair of superstars in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving who brought people out of their seats on a nightly basis. For a variety of reasons, the Big 3 era, including James Harden’s short-lived Brooklyn tenure, didn’t deliver as promised. When they each begged out, it put fans through the standard grief stages. Many are stuck on “Anger” from having to watch a talent-deficient squad that can’t compete.
For Brooklyn’s 111-107 defeat at New York on Friday night, the team counted about $100 million of payroll sitting on the sidelines with injuries. If you add in Mikal Bridges’ pre-planned fourth quarter load management, that inactive payroll number increased to approximately $122 million. You might beat some late-season tankers with that lineup, but not a hungry team like the Knicks.
So I get why Nets fans recoiled when they saw Tsai talk about the financial benefits of NBA ownership and how he “had no idea what it’s like” to own a team when he first invested in 2017 (Mikhail Prokhorov sold the controlling interest in 2019, just after Durant and Irving agreed to come to Brooklyn in free agency). Those responses provided little comfort to fans making their own investments—in time and money—in support of a team that reverted to irrelevancy this season.
Except this wasn’t a basketball podcast. The entire Nets section of the interview lasted about three minutes during the tail end of a 36-minute interview. The Norwegian host probably doesn’t know about the Nets’ revolving head coaching door or the negative effects of taking on Ben Simmons in the Harden deal.
Besides, there are only two things fans should want from an owner:
1) Will he spend to win? I think Tsai passed that test when he doled out about $323 million in luxury taxes after purchasing the team, according to NetsDaily.com. That he won’t pay them now makes basketball sense as much as financial, as the Nets need every avenue open in order to improve the team going forward. Breaching the tax line this season—or in 2024-25—would limit the exceptions the Nets would have at their disposal to boost the roster. There is no reason to believe that, when the time is right to go for it again, Tsai will suddenly put budgetary restrictions on management.
2) Does he put the right basketball people in charge? Again, if you recall where the Nets stood in 2019, General Manager Sean Marks was being lauded on every media platform for the job he did in resurrecting the team so quickly from what had been described as the worst situation in NBA history following the disastrous Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce debacle. Marks’ hit rate in trades and on low Draft picks were graded excellent. That it helped open KD and Kyrie’s eyes to Brooklyn, never before a desired destination for marquee free agents, was proof of Marks’ success in changing the narrative. What would fans have thought if Tsai at that juncture suddenly put his own stamp on things by bringing in his own guy?
Now, Marks’ record since that point hasn’t been bulletproof. I mentioned my two biggest peeves above (and in so many of the archived posts in this forum), but there were other missteps. However, Tsai has been in lock step with Marks throughout the downturn, especially when dealing with the entire Irving saga (COVID-19 vaccine refusal, antisemitic promotion, etc.) and the team’s subsequent demolition.
That’s why, as the New York Post’s Brian Lewis reported on Friday, Marks will be back next season (and probably longer). Considering the Nets are in a similar spot as when Marks first came aboard in 2016, one can make a logical argument that he’s the right man to at least attempt to rebuild again.
All the other Tsai complaints—mainly that he’s been an absentee owner this season—pale in comparison to all the fools that own pro teams just in this area. You don’t want a meddler like James Dolan used to be; now that he has learned to concern himself with petty grievances instead of team operations, Knicks fans are in heaven. It’s probably preferable that he never speaks to the media.
The meddlers think that because they excelled in their business, they know everything about basketball too. That’s when franchises really get in trouble. Let’s see what happens to the Suns after new owner Mat Ishbia’s all-in moves, usually a classic rookie mistake like Prokhorov with KG/Pierce. Of course, Nets fans are rooting for an epic fail because Brooklyn owns four of Phoenix’s unprotected first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap from last year’s Durant trade.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t made Nets fans feel any better about their team and Tsai in the moment. Patience is a four-letter word for diehards of losing teams.
As such, it’s absolutely fair to criticize Tsai in a “The Buck Stops Here” way for the Nets’ predicament, including his commitment to Marks. But don’t use that interview as a wedge.
Steve, thanks for another great article and perspective on the Nets. If I'm not mistaken, the Nets won more playoff games (10 wins) under Billy King's "disastrous" 5 year run as GM than during Sean Marks' 8 year tenure (8 playoff wins). I am not posting this comment to defend Billy King's tenure. But I am posting this comment to express frustration over Marks' continuing leadership of the Nets. Eight years as a GM is a long time in sports (Obama was still the President of the USA when Marks was hired). I don't believe Marks has earned a ninth season. If Tsai isn't going to sell the team, then he should find a new GM to run the Nets.