Kyrie Irving is already making his presence felt as the leader of the Nets, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Irving has helped lead informal team workouts that includes the likes of DeAndre Jordan, Taurean Prince, Caris LeVert, Theo Pinson, David Nwaba and free agent Carmelo Anthony in Los Angeles over the past few weeks, with training camp set to start in less than two months.
“It was basically player-driven,” Pinson said of the workouts, as relayed by Lewis. “Kyrie was out there, and we wanted to get with him, so we just all went out there and just worked out together.”
Brooklyn revamped its roster this offseason, bringing in several new players and moving on from star guard D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade with the Warriors for Kevin Durant. The team’s sudden roster overhaul makes it imperative that players get acclimated to each other before camp begins, with Irving helping lead the way for the franchise this month.
“It’s good. It gives us a little head start going into camp. Just getting not just on the court and [basketball-wise], but off the court also: playing ‘[NBA] 2K’, going to dinner and stuff like that. It’s been fun,” Pinson said.
There’s more out of Brooklyn today:
- Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated examines the complicated legacy left behind by Mikhail Prokhorov, who’s set to officially offload the rest of his ownership in the team to Joe Tsai at the end of August. Prokhorov acquired the Nets for $223 million in 2009, selling the team for $2.35 billion this summer.
- Like Prokhorov, Tsai is confident his purchase in the Nets will prove to be a profitable decision down the road, Josh Kosman and Brian Lewis write for the New York Post. Tsai is banking on the NBA’s international growth — particularly in China — along with the superstar additions of Irving and Durant to help lead the way.
- Former Turner Sports executive David Levy is a serious candidate to replace Brett Yormark as CEO of the franchise, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Yormark recently announced his departure after spending 14 years with the team, leaving alongside Prokhorov.
Did you get the names of Levy
and Yormark switched up JD?
I believe you are correct. It should be Yormark leaving alongside Prokhorov.
Even when Kevin Durant comes back in 2020, the Nets will still be irrelevant. So who really cares?
Nets just need to be the New York team and the knicks will sink in value and then maybe they’ll finally be sold to a good owner.
Kitty (whoops…Kylie) and leadership in same sentence is hysterical. He’s never been a leader. Just a whiny baby girl.