Nets Can Use Boulders On Their Shoulders To Spur A Successful Season, Or It Can Crush Them

My biggest takeaway from Nets Media Day on Monday was that the organization doesn’t just have a chip on its shoulder—it’s a freaking boulder.

Now, this can go two ways during the 2022-23 season that will kick off in one week with a preseason contest versus visiting Philadelphia. If only I had a crystal ball to announce to you the final destination.

On one hand, many a champion has had to survive adversity before learning how to get over the hump. And boy, have the Nets faced a ton of adversity over the last few years.

Just since the conclusion of last season after the four-game sweep at the hands of Boston in the first round of the NBA playoffs, a series that superstar guard Kyrie Irving called one of the only times in his career where he felt embarrassed to leave the court, Brooklyn’s offseason plans were waylaid by a trade request from superstar Kevin Durant.

The much-hyped culture was attacked as insufficient by one of the game’s best players, who also called on ownership to fire General Manager Sean Marks and Head Coach Steve Nash (which Marks didn’t deny during his time with the media). For his part, Irving felt disrespected because the team used his anti-vaccination status as a reason why he wasn’t offered a fully-guaranteed max contract extension like the one KD signed last year, forcing him to opt into the final year of the 4-year contract from the 2019 “Clean Sweep.”

Then there’s Ben Simmons, the supposed third member of Brooklyn’s “Big Three” (he is, after all, a three-time All-Star in his four active NBA seasons), the poster child for adversity. I’ve written enough about Simmons’ struggles with his shooting and his health, both mental and physical, and how it has affected the teams he has played on. He hasn’t played an NBA game since facing the Hawks in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, a game that he doesn’t want to define his legacy. After getting traded to Brooklyn in the James Harden blockbuster in February, Simmons suffered a back injury that required microdiscectomy surgery.  

In total, five Nets players are coming off offseason surgeries. Like Simmons, Joe Harris and Edmond Sumner are cleared for full participation at Tuesday’s first practice; Seth Curry and T.J. Warren each said they were close, but not cleared.

The Nets haven’t even played a game yet and there are already multiple reasons for concern. That all parties in the KD/Kyrie/Marks “clusterf*#k”, as Irving called it, kissed and made up in time for training camp doesn’t mean that all wounds have been healed. Or that players like Simmons and Warren can get their games back to the levels they were before their severe injuries.

In theory, so many Nets players should come out of this season’s gate breathing fire to prove their doubters wrong.

In theory.

Unfortunately, professional sports aren’t played out on ethereal planes. Or on paper, where Brooklyn is fairly close in talent to competing with all he heavyweights in the Eastern Conference. Marks said he’ll see what he’s got in his two young centers Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe before addressing the biggest potential roster flaw, but otherwise he did well in adding “3-and-D” wings who can actually shoot 3s and toughness in forward Markieff Morris.

But no, the games are played by human beings, who don’t always learn, grow, and/or respond well from past disappointments. Sometimes, they are who they are. The boulders can weigh them down and crush them.   

It’s not like the Nets franchise has a rich history of success to which they can refer. They have won a total of two playoff series since moving to Brooklyn ten years ago. As well as they have done to rebound from the abyss created by the disastrous Kevin Garnett/Paul trade in 2013, they have never established any continuity to move forward—it’s like they’re constantly starting over. Though the main core is back this season, there’s still quite a bit that will be new, from how they integrate Simmons into the mix to how all the guards/wings will fit in Nash’s rotation. In that regard, look for Nash to use “newness” as an excuse if the Nets get off to a slow start, like he always has.

I’m not a believer in curses like the “Same Old Jets” crowd, but I am aware how difficult it is to build a sustainable championship program. It’s one thing to face adversity and survive; it’s quite another to rise above it to reach previously unattained glorious heights.