Nets Insider Videos


NBA Basketball Gods Smite Down Super teams, leaving Bucks, Suns as last two standing

It might be sacrilegious to say it, but the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns may not be the best teams in their respective conferences, they've simply survived the walking minefield otherwise known as the 2021 NBA playoffs. Not a single player on either team has ever won a ring and that trend was likely to continue before a rash of unforseen injuries sent the Nets, Lakers, Jazz, Nuggets, Clippers and Sixers home early with due to injuries to star players.
The NBA is a star-driven league and with perennial All-Stars James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, and Jamal Murray unable to play for either stretches or the entirety of the playoffs. The 2021 NBA Finals has intrigued with 16-year veteran Chris Paul chasing his first ever Larry O'Brien trophy, or Giannis Antetokounmpo trying


  to solidify his status as an all-time great by putting a trophy in his case. Injuries are part of the game, and this is no slight to either the Suns or the Bucks, but they did not face fully healthy opponents on their way to the championship round.

Kevin Love is a perfect fit in Brooklyn if bought out by Cavs

A lot is being made of Kevin Durant and Kevin Love rooming up in Team USA's quest for the Gold in this summer's Tokyo Olympics. The veteran power forward is a likely buyout candidate in Cleveland and rumors are linking him to the Nets as a viable target for GM Sean Marks.
The soon to be 33 year old won the 2016 NBA championship with Kyrie Irving on the Cavs, b and bringing him into the fold in Brooklyn could be the missing piece. Love is a career 37 percent 3-point shooter while averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds per contest. The 13-year veteran's ability to spread the floor with perimeter shooting and help on the boards will offset his pedestrian defensive play.


  The Nets will need all the shooting they can get around Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden, while defense and rebounding have long been the group's weak spot. Love's days in Cleveland area numbered, so a change of scenery and pursuit of a championship in Brooklyn would bring even more dynamism and excitement to the Nets.

With Bucks in NBA Finals, Nets can't help but play the 'what if' game

If you asked the oddsmakers what team to put your money on entering the NBA playoffs, the answer was unequivocally the Brooklyn Nets.
With the most efficient offense in NBA history, and three legitimate MVP caliber players, the stars looked aligned for Brooklyn to win it all. A clean bill of health kept the Nets from climbing the NBA mountaintop as a


  sidelined Kyrie Irving and hobbled James Harden proved to much for even a heroic Kevin Durant to knockout Milwaukee. The Nets gave the Bucks all they could handle as Durant was a mere inch away from sending Milwaukee home in Game 7. Alas, Brooklyn's superteam fell short of lofty expectations and while injuries are a part of the game, the Nets and their fans are left wondering if the best team truly emerged out of the Eastern Conference.

Spencer Dinwiddie proclaims to be top PG in loaded free agent class, but is he?

 In a class that includes Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Dennis Schroder, and Goran Dragic, according to his Instagram post, Spencer Dinwiddie is adamant that he's the best of the bunch.




Outside of Dinwiddie and Conley, all the players listed have either been to an NBA finals or won the title as their team's starting floor general.

Dinwiddie, when healthy, was an electrifying scorer for the Nets, but was designated as the team's sixth man backing up DeAngelo Russell when he was in Brooklyn and Kyrie Irving the last two years.<

The reality is Dinwiddie wants a top of the market point guard contract, that he very well may get, but not in Brooklyn. Sean Marks has already indicated that the Nets will do what's best for the player, and coincidentally a sign and trade scenario will benefit both parties.

Based on the money the Nets have tied up in star players, who are all eligible for extensions this summer, and Dinwiddie's deservedly hefty contract demands, Brooklyn's sixth man extraordinaire will likely be playing elsewhere next season.



Brook Lopez, Nets franchise leading scorer, leads Bucks to brink of NBA Finals Berth

 By all accounts, Brook Lopez is the most talented true center to ever play for the Nets franchise.

The former first round pick out of Stanford in the 2008 NBA draft is still atop the Nets history books in the scoring department.




Giannis Antetokounmpo missed Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals with a knee injury and Lopez brought his game to another level by dropping 33 points and 7 rebounds, while Bobby Portis added 22 points and 8 rebounds to lead Milwaukee to the win.

After nine seasons that spanned the Nets move from New Jersey to Brooklyn, Lopez was an unheralded cornerstone piece who braved some subpar years with the team.

Now just one win shy of reaching his first NBA Finals, Nets fans might be conflicted watching a former team fan favorite make a deep playoff push with a heated Eastern Conference rival.


Nets Insider Podcast: Season Recap, No Sleep in Brooklyn




About

Join Randy Zellea of Back Sports Page and Rick Laughland of Nets Insider as they cover every era of Nets basketball from Teaneck, New Jersey to Brooklyn, New York.

Zellea worked within the Nets pubic relations department during the Nets back to back NBA finals run with Jason Kidd leading the charge, while Laughland covered the team during it's transition to Brooklyn including the shortlived KG, Paul Pierce era.

With stories going back over twenty seasons covering the team professionally and as fans of the franchise, the Nets Insider podcast is a can't miss show for Nets fans ages 2-102.






 Join Nets Insider's Rick Laughland and Randy Zellea of Back Sports Page as they recap the Brooklyn Nets 2020-2021 season and playoff run that fell short of title aspirations. 


With Mavs on verge of hiring Jason Kidd, Nets fans left wondering what went wrong for him in Brooklyn




If the Dallas Mavericks do indeed hire Jason Kidd to succeed Rick Carlisle as the team's head coach, the former Nets legend and head coach will be taking over the franchise that originally drafted him. Kidd coached Brooklyn during it's failed Big three era of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry during the 2013-2014 campaign that ironically also ended in a second round exit. 

Following the Nets' playoff ousting, Kidd met with the team's front office to essentially demand more personnel control with general manager Billy King making some questionable roster moves. 

Brooklyn did not allow Kidd to expand his role to include roster decisions, but allowed him to interview with other clubs, including Milwaukee. Kidd had an outstanding relationship with Marc Lasry, the co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and formerly with the Nets. 

Brooklyn ultimately traded Kidd that off-season with the franchise legend abruptly concluding his brief one year stint as Brooklyn's head coach. Kidd spent four years in Milwaukee, qualifying for the playoffs twice but failing to get out of the first round. 

After his firing with the Bucks, Kidd spent the last two years as a Lakers assistant coach, but his name emerged both this offseason and last year as a top coaching candidate for various openings across the league. While Kidd's perceived attempt to undermine King rubbed some people the wrong way, in retrospect, Nets fans can't help but think how much different things would have turned out had the team given Kidd more control and demoted King as he was eventually reassigned within the organization anyway.

 Brooklyn can play the what if game regarding this year's playoffs impacted by injuries to the team, or Kidd's ultimate decision to leave the organization, but now with his third stop as a head coach, perhaps inheriting a team led by Luka Doncic will be just what he needs to enjoy playoff success.
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