The 2021-22 NBA season is quickly approaching and the league favorites for this year’s championship trophy can be found in Brooklyn.
As YES Network prepares to broadcast its 20th season of Nets basketball, the on-air team recently spoke with reporters about the excitement around Brooklyn after a promising but ultimately premature playoff exit last year, as well as this week’s news surrounding star point guard Kyrie Irving’s availability.
“Each year we’ve seen this buildup of interest,” said Nets play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle. “A generation of fans – kids that were five, six, seven years old that are now 15, 16, 17 and have basketball opinions – have formed a passion for this team, and I’ve seen it.”
After years of meticulous roster moves, savvy draft selections and fruitful player development, Nets general manager Sean Marks and his staff have assembled an organization that has attracted the likes of the game’s most popular and talented superstars such as Kevin Durant, James Harden and Irving.
Despite Irving not being in the picture due to his decision not to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, the Nets still have the pieces in place to chase down a title this year in Brooklyn.
“Without Kyrie, the Nets have enough to win a championship. They have depth, they have size, they have experience, they have two of the best players in the league,” said Nets analyst and 17-year NBA veteran Richard Jefferson. “Adding Kyrie makes them, in my opinion, a heavy favorite.”
The Nets issued a statement on Tuesday outlining the team’s position regarding Irving’s situation as it pertains to New York City vaccine mandates, stating that “Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant.”
“We will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability,” the statement reads. “It is imperative that we continue to build chemistry as a team and remain true to our long-established values of togetherness and sacrifice.”
Those organizational philosophies have helped elevate the Nets back to a position of prominence following several challenging years and minimal assets, and now as the team aims to reach the ultimate goal this season, the focus remains on doing whatever is needed to win a title.
“This is a team sport, and you have to determine what’s best for the entire team while respecting any individual’s rights and privacy,” said Eagle. “This situation affects everyone on the Nets, so it’s not a simple solution, but, in my opinion, they needed to address it. There’s no playbook for this at all, and this was the necessary step to move forward.”
Luckily for the Nets, two of the game’s most lethal and dynamic scorers are ready to lead the charge heading into next week’s season opener. So far Durant and Harden have combined for seven scoring titles, 20 All-Star appearances and 16 All-NBA selections and show no signs of slowing down. With Irving in limbo at the moment, other players down the roster and a few new arrivals may be called upon to step up to the moment when play gets underway.
“With this team, the big emphasis has been on their depth and their versatility,” said Nets analyst Sarah Kustok. “Obviously you are going to miss a talent like Kyrie Irving, but the pieces that they do have and the fact that you are starting things with Kevin Durant and James Harden, you will find ways to fill in those gaps.”
“Everybody’s going to get more opportunities,” said Jefferson. “Kyrie is a guy that plays 35 to 40 minutes a night, so that’s 35 or 40 minutes that now get spread out to very, very good role players. Bruce Brown will play a little more, Patty Mills, all those guys. It’s a next-man-up mentality, but the next men up are pretty damn good.”
The challenge now for Steve Nash, heading into his second year as the Nets head coach, will be to deploy his wealth of talent while keeping each of his players focused on the same unified goal. The Nets’ official statement on Irving marked a crucial step toward minimizing the potential distractions that may present themselves with so much at stake this year in Brooklyn.
“It’s very hard to get everybody on the same page, even when you have a guy of Kyrie’s stature,” said Michael Grady, Nets sideline courtside reporter. “From a distraction standpoint, the questions that will be asked of the coaching staff, the players, everything involved from a continuity standpoint, how the other guys feel about the whole situation, this seemed to be the best call to limit the distraction.”
“Ultimately Sean and the team came to a decision that, ‘If we’re going to push toward a championship, we need everybody pushing in the same direction,’” said Jefferson.
The Nets won’t have to wait long before meeting their first formidable challenge of the 2021-22 season as they gear up for a high-powered clash with the Bucks next Tuesday night in Milwaukee.
For the Nets on YES broadcast crew, this year will mark the return of traveling to road games during the regular season, a development that will only help to enhance the experience for all involved said Nets play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco.
“It’s night and day sitting there courtside. The observations you can make, the energy you feel, having your voice match the cadence of the crowd, it becomes this immersive experience with the energy of the crowd that you can only really be aware of if you’re in the arena,” said Ruocco. “Feeling the season and the experience, building relationships, that’s only possible if you’re around the team and if you’re at the arena. This not only is going to be a better experience for the viewer, but it makes all of our jobs more fun.”
This season in Brooklyn is already shaping up to be one of the most memorable in franchise history, and it will all kick off next Tuesday night.
