Expected at the turn following last year’s messy season and the equally chaotic summer that followed, the Nets are perhaps the most intriguing team of the upcoming NBA campaign. For some, it can play the title. For others, it’s only a matter of time before it explodes. One of the faces of the Kyrie Irving team is in any case trying to lay a good foundation, even if it was not seen at all during the first regular game yesterday.
Today is October 8, 2022. It is a Saturday evening. There are ten days left before the start of the season and the entire Nets workforce meets at the Flat Earth Restaurant to share a dinner in team building mode. All the players are present, and some leaders even show up for coffee. The man behind this initiative? Kyrie Irving. Indeed, if we are to believe Shams Charania of The Athletic, Uncle Drew took on the role of organizer to try to unite the New York group in view of the upcoming campaign and especially following the many turbulences of recent months. This sentence must come as a surprise to many, given that “leadership” and Kyrie have really not gone well together since Irving’s arrival in Brooklyn (and even before), but yet it is very real. The evening thus brings positive vibes to Steve Nash’s group for the first game of the 2022-23 regular season once morest the Pelicans at Barclays Center.
Result of this first test last night? Defeat 130-108. No doubt, the dinner had its effect.
Yes we are teasing in these first days of NBA recovery, but how not to be with these Nets who want us to believe that everything is going to roll while on the ground it is already unnamed sadness. Of course, it was just one game. Of course, this Kyrie Irving-Kevin Durant-Ben Simmons version of Brooklyn is not expected to play at its best on October 19th. But what we saw last night once morest the Pelicans was not really reassuring.
To show you that we are still in good faith and that we are not here just to hit Kyrie and the Nets, we still want to highlight the initiative of Uncle Drew (really huh, it’s no joke). Because even if he got through well once morest the Pels (15 points at 6/19 in shooting, including 0/6 from the parking lot), it’s still a step in the right direction, especially when you know the many doubts that surround Irving concerning its investment following the various episodes of the last seasons. Doubts that Kyrie is now trying to erase, he who we remember is in the last year of his current contract. The NBA’s most fearsome ankle breaker therefore has things to prove, as well as a bleak image to change. According to the rumors from the hallway from Brooklyn, Irving would have shown exemplary behavior during the preparation, and his commitment during certain pre-season games is there to illustrate all that. But can it really last?
“Kyrie has been amazing. His performances on both sides of the pitch were exceptional. Not just during matches, but also during training. I think his leadership and his way of coaching young people has been superb. In this pre-season, he was great from start to finish. »
– Steve Nash, and you do what you want with this statement
Kyrie Irving seems determined to do what it takes to allow the Nets to meet their great ambitions. But we are now waiting for that to translate into the regular season, because the first outing once morest the Pelicans was pretty hardcore. See you Friday night for the second game once morest the Raptors, another opponent who will not give a gift to Brooklyn.
Source texte : The Athletic, ocregister.com
“I’m told on Oct. 8, Kyrie Irving set up a team dinner for the entire Nets roster.”
NBA Insider @ShamsCharania reports on Irving setting up a team bonding event following a rocky offseason for the Nets organization. pic.twitter.com/zVMm7Bz66A
— The Rally (@TheRally) October 19, 2022