January 15, 2021
The last time - the only time in fact - that the
Brooklyn Nets won a championship, it was three team names and two
leagues ago.
In 1975-76, the American Basketball Association bid adieu with its
farewell season. Four teams - the New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs,
Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers - were absorbed into the NBA. The
other ABA squads - the Kentucky Colonels, Virginia Squires and the
Spirits of St. Louis - faded into oblivion, never to be heard from
again. That spring, as America celebrated its Bicentennial, the Nets
won the ABA championship, defeating the Nuggets in a six-game final
series. It remains the only title won by the franchise.
They became the New Jersey Nets in 1977 and the Brooklyn Nets in 2012,
but what they never seemed to achieve was relevance - until now. With
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving leading a deep squad, the Nets are being
looked upon as legitimate contenders in
Las Vegas NBA finals odds.
Brooklyn is currently listing at a betting line of +550. That makes the
Nets the favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference and reach the
NBA Finals.
"New Jersey
Nets vs. San Antonio Spurs" by Wikimedia is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
2.0
A Matching Pair
People seemed ready for the Durant-Irving duo to be somewhat less than
dynamic. For two guys who both liked to score the basketball, would
there be enough chances with the rock during a game to keep each of
them happy?
So far, so good. In fact, when together the pairing
appears to be working quite well. Durant, who sat out all last season
recovering from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals
when he was with the Golden State Warriors, looks to have healed just
fine. And Durant at 100 percent gives the Nets one of the elite of the
NBA’s upper echelon among their starting five.
“It’s always been my goal to be among the best,” Durant told the YES
Network. Most would argue he’s already achieved that objective. Durant
is a two-time NBA champion with Golden State, (2017, 2018). He was
voted NBA Finals MVP both years. In 2013-14, Durant was named MVP while
playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. That same season, the six-time
All-NBA First Team selection led the league in scoring, averaging 32
points per game.
As for Irving, being the secondary piece looks to be a better fit for
his personality. He won an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in
2016, willingly letting the spotlight shine on LeBron James.
Irving has averaged 22.4 points per game as an NBA player. He lit it up
at 27.4 ppg last season, his first with the Nets, albeit a campaign in
which he was limited to just 20 games by injury.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Irving told Sports Illustrated of his
teaming with Durant in Brooklyn. “And I’m grateful that we could let
our games do the talking. But I’m also grateful that we can have
relationships here that matter off the court, that help us on the
court.”
"New Jersey
Nets vs. New York Knicks" by Wikimedia is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Nets Have Depth
Any discussion of the Nets must include their unique
hire at head coach, former NBA MVP Steve Nash. He seems to be the one
person willing to temper the early enthusiasm. “I just don’t want to
necessarily expect that every night is gonna be amazing,” Nash said.
A reason to expect
that the Nets are legit
is that this is a team from top to bottom. Yes, they have the two
superstars - a necessity for long-term NBA success - but they also have
a squad with great depth, a history of overachieving and arguably the
deepest bench in the league. Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie are
borderline all-stars.
For sure, there are reasons why it could all go off the rails. Both
Durant and Irving have histories of serious injury. Nash is a
first-year coach. Yet there’s already a sense that this is a team on a
mission.
“We’ve just gone through some challenging times,” Irving said, “And
we’re able to put on this uniform as a team together, while
understanding that the more we stay collective as a group, the better
off we'll be in the long run.
“We don’t want to let anything disrupt what we’ve got going on here or
what our goals are. It’s simple - it’s a championship. So we gotta
enjoy this regular season, but we’re just gonna enjoy every step of the
journey, as well.”
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