I never would of made that connection, but it grew on me. What does a team give up in identity and character when it moves out some very solid role players for a star? James Harden has left a wake of destruction in his moves of the last few years to his own teams more than his opponents. How does Ben Simmons fill the role of scrappy to skilled players with all that baggage that will be inflated for the rest of his career. How does a huge Steve Nash fan reconcile Steve "I don't shit on the floor from anybody" Nash the player with the company man who had to walk out with a neutral to happy face about his team? I'm looking forward to the next article already.
To paraphrase Paul Simon, the Nets are a loose affiliation of millionaires, and only slightly less ringers/mercenaries than the Lakers. The Nets are that team in pickup games where guys already playing hedge their bets by getting the guy who's got next to pick them if they lose. Kenny Atkinson's Brooklyn Nets used to be that group of guys that rolled up to the court with five guys on three bikes that always played together. But the NBA is a superstar league, the owners don't have the patience for organically grown cohesive teams. Most players today were raised on AAU ball, one-and-done college squads of all the hot Boyz on one dope squad.
KD used to be one of the fellas until OKC fans turned on him for one playoff failure. Even though it was temporary, Durant held that grudge like a Sicilian and never got close again. Kyrie is interested in Kyrie; his audacious skills are to be used for Kyrie. Harden wouldn't settle for third banana on OKC, he was never going to do it in Brooklyn without the possibility of an immediate championship. The Nets we're ripe for a sweep by Boston, Milwaukee or Miami. Teams that rode to the court on each other's handlebars.
I never would of made that connection, but it grew on me. What does a team give up in identity and character when it moves out some very solid role players for a star? James Harden has left a wake of destruction in his moves of the last few years to his own teams more than his opponents. How does Ben Simmons fill the role of scrappy to skilled players with all that baggage that will be inflated for the rest of his career. How does a huge Steve Nash fan reconcile Steve "I don't shit on the floor from anybody" Nash the player with the company man who had to walk out with a neutral to happy face about his team? I'm looking forward to the next article already.
To paraphrase Paul Simon, the Nets are a loose affiliation of millionaires, and only slightly less ringers/mercenaries than the Lakers. The Nets are that team in pickup games where guys already playing hedge their bets by getting the guy who's got next to pick them if they lose. Kenny Atkinson's Brooklyn Nets used to be that group of guys that rolled up to the court with five guys on three bikes that always played together. But the NBA is a superstar league, the owners don't have the patience for organically grown cohesive teams. Most players today were raised on AAU ball, one-and-done college squads of all the hot Boyz on one dope squad.
KD used to be one of the fellas until OKC fans turned on him for one playoff failure. Even though it was temporary, Durant held that grudge like a Sicilian and never got close again. Kyrie is interested in Kyrie; his audacious skills are to be used for Kyrie. Harden wouldn't settle for third banana on OKC, he was never going to do it in Brooklyn without the possibility of an immediate championship. The Nets we're ripe for a sweep by Boston, Milwaukee or Miami. Teams that rode to the court on each other's handlebars.