New York Needs The Nets, Pronto
NBA training camps kick off next week, and it can’t come soon enough for New York sports fans.
The sub-.500 Mets are virtually out of postseason contention while the streaky Yankees might just squeeze into a Wild Card, but all signs point to a short stay in the tournament should they manage to clinch a berth.
As for our NFL teams, the Giants have started out 0-2 for a fifth consecutive season, inventing new ways to lose games along the way. Hey, I thought that was the Jets’ job. Instead, Gang Green, which hasn’t won a game in September since Sam Darnold’s debut in 2018, is mired in a dismal run of noncompetitive football. They have yet to possess the ball in the second half while within one score. Until their head coach/quarterback combination grows up—if they ever do at all—get used to more garbage time.
All three local hockey clubs have reasons to be excited about their respective upcoming seasons, particularly the on-the-cusp-of-glory Islanders in their new arena, and the Knicks are on the right track, but nothing compares to the enormous expectations surrounding the Brooklyn Nets.
General Manager Sean Marks and Head Coach Steve Nash spoke to the media on Tuesday and owned the storyline that it’s championship or bust for Brooklyn this season. Marks went all in this offseason to surround his Big Three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden with a well-balanced supporting cast capable of playing any style or pace. Barring a major healthcare crisis (not COVID-19, as Marks said that though not all players have been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, there won’t be any issues with the New York City mandates for indoor venues like Barclays Center by the start of the regular season), anything less than a title will be deemed a major disappointment.
So let us pray to the Injury gods. The City desperately needs the Nets to take care of unfinished business this season after injuries wrecked their chances to beat the Bucks in the seventh game of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals. February will mark the 10-year anniversary of New York’s last championship parade, in honor of the Giants capturing Super Bowl XLVI. The title drought is the area’s longest in 100 years.
I know there are many that continue to believe that “no one cares about the Nets” and that “this will always be a Knicks town,” but folks, evolution is a funny cat. It’s ingrained in nature and won’t be dismissed with a snarky line. Think the NBA believes that the Nets are still afterthoughts? Follow the money: The league will feature Brooklyn 38 times, just under half their games, on national networks this season if you include the 12 on NBA-TV. The Big 3 are all among the top 9 in terms of jersey sales on the NBA store.
You could also see the difference in the crowds at Barclays Center playoff games last season. Celtics fans who used to take over the arena were barely noticeable in their first-round meeting in Brooklyn. Similarly, in round two versus Milwaukee, the building was rocking with Nets fans, as electric as any other NBA venue. If the team and the City worked out an arrangement to use the Barclays Center plaza at Flatbush and Atlantic as more than an impromptu viewing area (likely motivated by COVID-19 social distancing conundrums), I’m sure the Nets could have drawn crowds akin to those at the Deer District in Milwaukee or Jurassic Park in Toronto, especially if they had advanced further.
I wish I could measure the anticipation for this season—it’s off the charts. Due to injuries/COVID-19-related absences, KD, Kyrie and Harden played just seven-plus regular season games together and then another six in the playoffs. We can only imagine what it will look like when they get in sync.
Be it individually or collectively, the basketball is as beautiful as it gets when any of them are on the court. New York City is about to be awed by the majesty of their games.
As for me, it will be bittersweet when the Nets host their Media Day on September 27 as it will be the first one I won’t be attending since 2012. But whether you folks will be in the building or watching the Nets on YES like me, for the next nine months or so, Brooklyn Nets games will be must-see events.