In an in-depth report for ESPN, Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski go into more detail on Wojnarowski’s earlier assertion that Nets owner Joe Tsai faced pressure from the NBA and from Nets management to take a more punitive approach following Kyrie Irving‘s promotion of an antisemitic film and initial refusal to apologize.
As ESPN’s duo outlines, Tsai hoped the incident could become a teachable moment for Irving, but ultimately gave up and decided to suspend Irving following his media session on Thursday. Irving’s refusal during that session to apologize or outright deny that he held antisemitic views convinced the Nets owner that Kyrie’s joint statement with the team and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) had been insincere.
Another source of frustration for Tsai, according to ESPN’s report, was that he wasn’t able to communicate directly with Irving, with communication being channeled “completely” through Kyrie’s stepmother and agent Shetellia Riley Irving.
When Tsai and the Nets ultimately decided to suspend the star guard for at least five games, the team sent an email to Irving’s agent describing the steps he needed to take to be reinstated, including taking training sessions on the dangers of hate speech, per Shelburne and Wojnarowski.
Although it has been Irving’s off-court behavior that dominated headlines in the last week, the situation seemed to affect him on the court as well. According to Shelburne and Woj, teammates and opponents privately described Irving as “disengaged and seemingly ‘in another world'” on Tuesday when he went scoreless for three quarters vs. Chicago.
Among the other recent developments in the Irving saga? Nike has suspended its relationship with the seven-time All-Star, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN; the Nets and the ADL sent a letter to Jeff Bezos and Amazon leaders asking the website to either remove the book and movie that Irving promoted from its platform or add more details about the misinformation it contains (Twitter link via Shams Charania of The Athletic); and Irving’s former teammate LeBron James said he doesn’t condone Kyrie’s comments, telling reporters that they “caused some harm to a lot of people” (link via Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times).
Here’s more on the Nets:
- Brooklyn continues to work through the final stages of vetting the potential hiring of Ime Udoka as head coach, sources tell Shelburne and Wojnarowski.
- An MRI on Ben Simmons‘ troublesome left knee came back clean, the Nets said on Friday, per Friedell at ESPN.com. While that MRI didn’t show any serious damage, Simmons has experienced some swelling and had the knee drained this week. He has been ruled out at least through Saturday’s game.
- Wojnarowski said on Friday during an appearance on NBA Today that he believes Simmons has been a “source of frustration” for Kevin Durant and others on the Nets (video link via Clutch Points). “He has been unable – now he’s unable – to stay on the floor with a knee injury, but prior to that, he has shown that he is a long way away from being back to being an impactful player,” Wojnarowski said. “I think it’s a big part of the reason why the Nets are at the very bottom of the league defensively.”
- If the instability in Brooklyn continues, the Nets will have to be concerned about the possibility that Durant revives the trade request that he dropped in August, Wojnarowski said in another TV appearance on Friday (video link). In the latest episode of his Lowe Post podcast (video link), ESPN’s Zach Lowe suggests that other teams will be hoping for that outcome: “The vultures are going to circle on Durant. Those vultures expect the Nets to put on a strong face for a while. To not rush it, to posture – probably honestly – that, ‘No, he has four years left on his contract. … We control the situation, we’re trying to win, we don’t want to do this.'”
- While neither Wojnarowski nor Lowe expects Durant to request a trade again in the near future, Howard Beck of SI.com argues that the Nets should blow things up anyway and move on entirely from the Durant-Irving era in Brooklyn.
- Seth Curry, who has played just once this season as he returns from left ankle surgery, is expected to be available on Saturday vs. Charlotte, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
Kyrie out of lineup, Nets destroy Wiz by 42; Hmm! It’s only one game, but if teammates feel he’s disengaged, getting him out of the locker room may be addition by subtraction.
The Nets could release Kyrie, tell Simmons to take another year off, and trade Durant to Boston for Brown and (3) firsts, and they would:
1) Still be a play-in team
2) Reduce controversy by 94%
3) Have 3 more first round picks than they currently do
To me, I’d rather do that
@ bhs69
That would require the Celtics to agree to trading Brown for an injury prone 34 year old player on a 4 year max deal.
I doubt they would agree.
Brown and three firsts for Durant would never happen in a million years.
Maybe not.
For the record though Durant is averaging 32/6/5 on 52/34/90 w/ a 27 PER this year. Not bad for a 34 year old.
I love Jaylen Brown as much as anyone, here are some stats on Durant:
24th all-time in win shares for this career, 9th all-time PER, 10th all-time in BPM, 5th all-time in OBPM, 12th all-time in TS %…
I could go on but you get the point. Brown is a great player. Durant is an all-time great still in his prime. Pairing him with Tatum and keeping all the surrounding piece (Williams, Horford, Smart, Brogdon, etc) would make Boston the frontrunner by a mile for the next 2-3 years.
Not arguing the fit or how good Durant is. But there is no way Brown and three firsts would be the deal.
If it was it would have happened a few months back.
Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a more dramatic fall for a player that was as good as Simmons in such a short period of time, at such a young age, without a major ACL-level physical injury being involved
This guy was an All-NBA, max player, who was viewed as a centerpiece to get James Harden when Harden was still an MVP level player, and now, at 26, I actually wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out of the league after this contract expires
Lacob should see if the Nets would do Wiggins for KD straight up lmao
Absurd. The last thing GSW would do is increase their payroll.
34 yo Durant is making ~$43 mil, increasing to ~$53.3 mil at age 38.
27 yo Wiggins is at $33.6 mil DECREASING to $24.3 mil next season and just $30.2 mil at age 31.
It also sounds like there maybe so other problems going on between Durant and GSW they should’ve taken the C’s offer if it was legit personally I don’t think it was tho
For contractual purposes, I think you’d have to throw in Steph. LOL
Russell Westbrook is somehow more valuable and more tradeable in today’s NBA that Kyrie Irving is…
If they (Nets) regroup, retool, and reset, why hire Udoka?
Because Vaughn is a terrible coach.
He did a good job in the truncated season in the bubble. He was supposed to be responsible for the defense, so I understand the desire to move on, but, as good of a coach Udoka has shown to be, do the Nets really want to move from bigotry to sexual harassment? Who knows? JV could do an imitation of Thomson with the Phillies post-Girardi.
@nbaok
Soooooo… it’s either JV or Udoka… nobody else available in-season or after it. Got it!
I’m saying, if you keep Durant and Simmons (and can’t get rid of Kyrie), yes, get Udoka. But, if it’s a whole new team, I don’t think Udoka HAS to be the guy.
Of course, he most certainly WANTS the job – any hc job, really.
It would be great if we could go a few days he’ll a few hrs without talking about that racist pos Kyrie
Clicks rule the world.
“Wojnarowski said he believes Simmons has been a source of frustration for Durant” Oh really? Based on what? Its believable that Durant would never allow another player the rehab & ramp up process, since he’s never had any of his own injury hardships before!
Brooklyn Brooklyn Brooklyn….
You made the super trade for KG and PP giving up your entire future. Which set the team back over a decade. You then started rebuilding well with coach Kenny Atkinson, DAngelo Russell Caris LeVert Jarrett Allen and those guys. Only to again jump the gun and go for the big names again. You landed Kevin and got Kyrie, then added James Harden. Only to be swept in the first round.
Kyrie caused Harden to leave, KD requested a trade but ultimately stayed, you got in Ben Simmons and all his baggage, Kyrie has caused more issues off the court, you sack your coach in the first 10 games and you are now trying to employ the coach that was suspended by his team for a year.
It’s a franchise which try’s its hardest to be good but always ultimately fails. Loves drama and always in the headlines and never for winning games.
Udoka looks like a great coach but again it’s another headline for the wrong reason. I think you need to make some PR moves in the right direction after you sign him and start focusing on basketball. For me, keep KD happy and have Kyrie stay. So that means trading Ben Simmons.
Have Kyrie suspended and sit out for a while, Ben moved away and ride the wave of hiring Udoka. Hopefully win a few more games then have Kyrie come back but focus on just winning games.
Ben Simmons and Seth Curry for Buddy Heild and Myles Turner.
When everyone is fit and healthy line up
Kyrie Buddy KD ONeale Turner
Kyrie one of the best ball handlers, Buddy one of the best shooters, Turner one of the best defenders in the game and KD one of the best players in the game full stop. ONeale is the glue guy who offers versatility on defence and floor spacing on offence. Off the bench Patty Joe Harris TJ Warren Markieff Morris and Nic Claxton.
With injuries and suspensions, Patty comes in as a starter, Sumner/Duke, Thomas and Watanabe come in to the rotation.
hear hear