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Kyrie can do the funniest thing against Boston

 


Even mention the name Kyrie Irving in the city of Boston and you'll likely get a few disgusted glances if not worse. While Irving wore out his welcome in Brooklyn with management and ownership, there is still a contingent of the fans that doesn't blame him for how things ended up. 

Boston fans on the other hand, put the entire situation on Irving's shoulders. 

Now, Irving travels to TD Garden next Thursday night, June 6, with the Celtics standing between him and a second ring. 

It's an incredible storyline that even the NBA scriptwriters may not have come up with. 

Irving is locked in and Luka Doncic looks like a man on a mission.

Jason Kidd has an opportunity to win his first ring as a coach and join elite company as one of the few to win a ring as a player and coach. 

The emergence of rookie Dereck Lively and additions of Kyrie Irving at last year's deadline along with Daniel Gafford and Derrick Jones Jr. at this year's deadline may have been the exact moves that Nico Harrison needed to compete a championship puzzle. 

The 2024 NBA Finals will be a tightly contested series, but with the most formidable one-two punch in the game, Dallas might cause a world of hurt for fans in Brooklyn and Boston. 

Kidd blossoming into elite NBA coach

 


Jason Kidd took his lumps as a head coach with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. 

Even his first few seasons in Dallas were mired with disappointment. It now seems that everything is clicking for the former New Jersey Net.

While many Nets fans can't help but root against a Maverick squad with Kyrie Irving, Kidd's presence and leadership has as much to do with Dallas' championship chase as anything. 

Getting Irving focused on basketball and content is a Herculean task. Just ask all his former coaches including: Byron Scott, Mike Brown, Ty Lue, David Blatt, Brad Stevens, Steve Nash, and Jacque Vaughn. 

Irving has always had a contentious relationship with many coaches, but Kidd seems to be the magic elixir to get the most out of the talented guard. 

The kinship that both share during their separate playing careers with the Nets  inextricably links them. 

Irving and Luka Doncic are jiving like coffee and creamer right now. 

On the doorstep of an NBA finals appearance, Kidd Can officially cement himself as an all-time great coach to go alongside a legendary NBA playing career. 

Like Kidd, Irving escapes Nets to win a ring in Dallas

 


Jason Kidd and Kyrie Irving have quite a bit in common. Kidd is and was a Nets franchise legend, while Irving wore out his welcome with ownership and the fan base before he even came close to reaching that stature.

Kidd spearheaded a run to consecutive NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. His best chance came in 2003 facing the San Antonio Spurs. The Nets went back home to New Jersey with the series tied 1-1 and three straight games at the Meadowlands. 

The Nets were only able to win one out of three and went back to San Antonio for Game 6 with a thirteen point third quarter lead. 

That game slipped out of their grasp with San Antonio's bench, led by Speedy Claxton, pulling the Spurs to the finish line. 

Kidd tried to gut things out in the 2004 season despite requiring microfracture surgery. Kidd essentially played through the injury and push surgery off until the offseason. 

The Nets were dethroned as the two-time reigning Eastern Conference champions by the eventual champion Detroit Pistons. 

After that, ownership turns its attention to a potential move to Brooklyn and was unwilling to resign Kidd's critical running mate in Kenyon Martin. 

Former Executive of the Year Rod Thorn swung a blockbuster deal to replace the sign and traded Harden with a disgruntled superstar from Toronto and Vince Carter. 

The Nets had some success but ultimately could not break through in an Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat featuring Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal gatekeeping as well as LeBron James and the Cavaliers.

Eventually, Kidd grew disillusioned with the direction of the franchise and was ultimately traded to the Mavericks. 

Kyrie in the other hand, was supposed to be a leader for Brooklyn, but instead created limitless distractions for himself and the organization. He engaged in wars with the media at large. 

The Nets fell laughably short of their lofty goals. So, to compare Kidd's tenure with the Nets to Irving's is an insult to Kidd's legacy. 

After his trade from the Nets, Kidd won a ring with Dallas in 2010-11 behind Dirk Nowitzki's greatness against Miami's big three of Wade, James and Chris Bosh.

Now, Irving can do the same behind Doncic's greatness with the very and franchise. 


Former Nets coach in mix for Cavs job can reunite with LeVert, Allen



 Kenny Atkinson is a hell of a coach. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant drove him out of town, but the well respected veteran earned himself a ring on Golden State's 2022 Championship team as an assistant. 

Atkinson turned down a job offer from the Charlotte Hornets in 2022 as he's been a little more selective of what kind of roster, front office set up and franchise he's taking over. 

It now appears that Atkinson is in the running for the Cleveland Cavaliers job with JB Bickerstaff handed his walking papers, according to Shams Charania.

 


If Atkinson ultimately becomes the choice, he'll coach two former players that were with him in Brooklyn: Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen. 

Atkinson was able to tap into both players' potential and get the most out of them. 

Unfortunately, the superstar era in Brooklyn saw Atkinson's demise, but the Cavaliers will be getting a high character coach that helps develop young players and creates selfless leaders. 

With Donovan Mitchell's future unclear in Cleveland, the hiring of Atkinson would be a great insurance policy in case they end up losing their franchise player. 


Nightmare NBA finals matchup will rock Nets' World

 


The Brooklyn Nets don't have a dog in the fight. 

They snapped a playoff streak of four consecutive seasons this year. 

That doesn't mean that Nets fans don't have a rooting interest. 

It looks like Brooklyn fans will have to root for the lesser of two evils.

If things continue down this path in the Conference Finals, the nightmare matchup of Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks against the Boston Celtics will be a reality. 

You couldn't cherry pick two teams that Nets fans would want to see in the finals less. Perhaps Kevin Durant with the Phoenix Suns or James Harden with the Los Angeles Clippers would be the only exceptions. 

So the question becomes if a Boston- Dallas final is in the offing, who should Nets fans root for.

Irving recruited superstar talent to Brooklyn, only to burn down the house a few seasons later. The Celtics used the unprotected picks the Nets sent them in the Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry trade to draft Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. 

The Celtics will always be a rival of the Nets. The two teams met in the 2021 playoffs with the Nets big three of Irving, Durant and Harden disposing of the Celtics in five games. 

Boston flipped the script in the 2022 playoffs, sweeping the Nets and thereby precipitating Durant's trade request. 

While Irving is among the most unlikable players to ever put on a Nets uniform, the presence of former New Jersey Net great Jason Kidd on the coaching staff and the historic rivalry with Boston, makes the Mavericks the lesser of two evils for Nets fans. 

Nets still with more playoff success this millennium than Knicks




 The New York Knicks have not made the Eastern Conference Finals since the 1999-2000 season when they reached the NBA finals and lost in five games to the San Antonio Spurs.

The better part of the first two decades of this millennium was littered with four seasons and playoff less campaigns for the Knicks. 

Meanwhile, the Nets went to back-to-back NBA finals in 2002 and 2003. They made the playoffs every year from 2002 to 2007.

The then New Jersey Nets had some lean years in their final seasons at the IZOD Center at the Meadowlands and the two-year interim stop the Prudential Center in Newark. 

Upon the Nets moved to Brooklyn, they made the playoffs for three consecutive years,  followed by a rebuild and three-year dry spell.

The Nets enjoyed a great run of five consecutive playoff berths that was snapped this year. 

The Nets may not have enjoyed much playoff success, in fact, only two series wins since moving to Brooklyn. 

But since 2001, the Nets have won 11 series and made 14 playoff appearances.h

Across the river, the Knicks have had seven playoff seasons and won three playoff series. You be the judge of which franchise has been more successful this millennium. 

Injury riddled Knicks might face same fate as banged up 2020-21 Nets

 


Injuries stink. They're also part of the game. The New York Knicks have tried to grind and battle their way through a whole host of injuries. 

Between Julius Randle announcing before the playoffs he was lost for the year, Bojan Bogdanović shutting it down after the first round series win over Philly, Mitchell Robinson going on the shelf after Game 1 against the Pacers, and OG Anunoby's hamstring injury in Game 2 of the semi-finals series, it's been almost too much to take for Knicks fans. 

Now, the team's emotional leader, Josh Hart, suffered a strained abdominal muscle on his left side. Hart tried to exit and re-enter two separate times during Friday night's Game 6, but he was unable to continue. 

His status for Game 7 is uncertain. Even if Hart gives it a go, he'll likely be compromised and not the same hustle player fans have seen this entire tenure as a Knick. 

So now the Knicks are staring at a Game 7 at home leaning heavily on their leader, Jalen Brunson, to take them to the finish line.  A berth in the Eastern Conference Finals is at stake. 

Where have we seen this storyline before?

Look no further back than the 2021 playoffs, when the Nets watched injury after injury decimate their team, leaving Kevin Durant on an island to try to play hero. 

Kyrie Irving, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge and others were banged up or lost for the playoffs, with the Nets losing an epic Game 7 at home to the eventual champion Bucks. 

Just like Durant before him, Brunson may be heroic, but the odds are stacked against the Knicks just like they were the Nets only three short years ago. 

The Knicks are hoping to avoid the same fate the Nets faced, a heartbreaking loss on their home court to end the season and a hopeful playoff run cut tragically short. 

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