Tag: Nets

Kevin Durant absolutely bullied Trae Young during the Nets-Hawks game but he said ‘it’s all competition’

This is a big bro, lil bro situation.

Sometimes, on the basketball court, you get big bro’d. It happens.

You might be good, but sometimes there’s someone out there who is older than you, craftier than you and just better than you. And when you like up against each other, it shows.

That’s what happened with Kevin Durant and Trae Young when the Hawks and Nets played on Friday night. KD just big bro’d him. There’s no shame in that for Young — this is one of the best players to ever pick up a basketball. He does this to a lot of people.

But things on Friday night got a bit more physical from KD than they usually do.

NBA Hot Take Cannon: Hand-checking is creeping in, fights don’t matter, and more

The rule change needs a rule change.

Welcome back to the Hot Take Cannon! Thank y’all for rocking with yerboi for another week.

It has been an absolutely wild week in the NBA from players complaining about things to players actually kind of, sort of fighting about things to players not fighting about things at all. It’s just been sort of messy.

But there’s a lot of basketball things to talk about in the league, too! A bunch of surprise teams are still surprising people in both good and bad ways depending on who your allegiance is with.

We’re diving into all of that today. Buckle up, people. It’s going to be a bumpy one.

BOOM.

NBA execs on Kyrie Irving’s trade value: ‘Every front office is scared to death of him’

Kyrie Irving’s chances of playing for the Brooklyn Nets took another hit recently when New York Mayor-elect Eric Adams said the city wouldn’t change its vaccine mandate policy during a CNN interview.

With Irving remaining inactive, rival NBA teams have called the Nets regarding his trade availability, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Following Adams’ unchanged stance on the vaccine mandate, HoopsHype spoke with seven NBA executives to gauge Irving’s value on the trade market should the Nets decide to move him.

Nets 3 goals: How Kessler Edwards can grow in the G-League

Three goals for Nets rookie Kessler Edwards as he begins his first year:

2021-22 will be an intriguing two-way season to watch for Brooklyn’s 2021 second-round pick Kessler Edwards. The Pepperdine product recently agreed to a two-way deal with the Nets, and can play up to 50 games with the team.

One of the significant differences for a player like Edwards in the new two-way structure is that he can have unlimited practice time with his NBA team even if he isn’t suiting up in games.

Nets fans got their first glimpse of the 2020-21 WCC first-teamer at NBA Summer League, where after a slow start he broke out against the Washington Wizards for 14 points and a number of defensive gems. Attacking this Corey Kispert closeout in a late shot clock situation was a particularly fun flash:

Edwards was branded as a prototypical “3-and-D” NBA wing, but that broad, overused archetype will lead you down many different rabbit holes when further analyzing a prospect with that label. The best defense Edwards played at Pepperdine was as a team defender, helping to cover up the mistakes of his teammates with length, timing, and intelligence to be able to guard in nearly every spot on the floor.

The funky jumper mechanics were a big question for many, but he nearly never had an issue getting his shot off or making those shots at a decent clip while in college.

What would define a successful year for the two-way tweener? Here are three goals for Edwards heading into his first NBA campaign:

Kevin Durant absolutely roasted Scottie Pippen for saying he ‘didn’t know how to play team basketball’

Kevin Durant didn’t hold back on Scottie Pippen. At all.

Whew. You’d best not cross Kevin Durant. Because, if you do, he’ll probably embarrass you on the internet.

Scottie Pippen is finding that out the hard way right now.

In an interview with GQ’s Tyler Ricky Tynes, Pippen called Durant out for not being able to lead the Brooklyn Nets past the Milwaukee Bucks to the Eastern Conference Finals. He said Durant didn’t know how to play “team basketball” and criticized him for not playing like LeBron James.

He said Durant was a better scorer than James, but said he’d yet to pass him because he didn’t know how to use the team around him as well. And he also said James would’ve figured out a way to beat the Bucks.

Of course, Durant didn’t take kindly to that. At all. And rightfully so — he did everything he could do to get his team to the point they got to including playing one of the best playoff games you’ll ever see.

So, naturally, Durant responded on Twitter. And it was quite the response. He called Pippen out for quitting on his own team in the middle of a game.

He brought up that time Pippen refused to play on a final possession for the Bulls in a Game 7 because Phil Jackson drew up a play for Tony Kukoc instead of him.

He also brought up the fact that Pippen rehabbed a back injury through the regular season instead of the offseason because of a contract dispute. And he threw the @ in there to make sure Pippen saw it.

Whew, buddy. Talk about petty. Hopefully, Pippen doesn’t log on anytime soon.

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Kevin Durant’s 30 points not enough to hold off the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3

Breaking down Kevin Durant’s performance and the Brooklyn Nets’ struggles in game three against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Just days after the Brooklyn Nets embarrassed the Milwaukee Bucks beating them by 39 points, the Bucks came into game three with a much more efficient strategy to cut the Nets series lead to 2-1.

Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer took a new approach by playing Giannis Antetokounmpo practically the whole game, having the two-time MVP on the court for 43 minutes. Milwaukee also kept center Brook Lopez in the game in clutch time to help make the jumpers from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant much more difficult. Lopez also blocked Bruce Brown’s potential go-ahead game winning layup.

This game looked like it was fresh out of the Jordan era, with the final score being 86-83. Durant shot a series worst 39% from the field, and the rest of his team was not much better. As a team, the Nets shot 36% from the field and 25% from three.

The frustration from Durant and the Nets was evident, especially when he and former Longhorn teammate, P.J. Tucker, got into a slight scuffle on the court.

In game two, the Nets had five players score in double digits with two other players scoring nine and eight points. The offensive support was just not there in game three, as the five other players not named Durant, Irving, or Brown combined for 15 points.

Nets head coach Steve Nash has to make some counter adjustments in order to help Durant and Irving score at a more efficient clip while getting more players involved. It helps he has offensive guru mike D’antoni on his sideline, but it is games like these where missing one of the best offensive players in league history, James Harden, exposes the Nets fragility.

“He’s (Harden) progressing nicely as well,” Nash said of Harden. “So we’re optimistic that we can have him back at some point.”

Durant rarely has two bad games in a row, and even with his worst scoring performance, his team only lost by three. It is safe to say he and the Nets are still very well in the drivers seat.

Celtics fans aimed boos and a NSFW chant at Kyrie Irving in his return to TD Garden

This is out of line from Celtics fans.

Game 3 between the Celtics and Nets wasn’t Irving’s first time playing at TD Garden since leaving the Celtics two seasons ago, but it was his first time playing in the building with fans present.

Things flared up earlier this week when Irving talked about returning to TD Garden for the first time with fans in the building. He said he’d hoped there’d be no “belligerence and racism” from fans toward the Nets.

And of course, as expected, when Irving touched the court there was no warm welcome waiting for him.

Before tip-off even began, he received boos from the fans.

Where things went a bit too far, though, was this NSFW chant from fans directed at Irving. “[Expletive] you, Kyrie.” It was rough.

Yikes. Safe to say there’s no love lost between Irving and Celtics fans.

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Jayson Tatum watched his son take over the Celtics’ court during his postgame interview and it was so adorable

Deuce Tatum owns TD Garden now. Those are the rules.

Jayson Tatum may have dropped 50 points on the Nets to extend the Celtics’ series on their home floor, but that court certainly doesn’t belong to Tatum.

Nope. Instead, it belongs to his son, Deuce.

Deuce came out on the floor after his dad’s absolute explosion in the Celtics win over Brooklyn to celebrate the win. But he had to wait for his dad to get through a postgame interview with Rachel Nichols — you know, what usually happens after the game.

Where we saw a regular postgame interview, though, Deuce, being the brilliant baby boy that he is, saw an opportunity.

Dad is busy, huh? Well, it’s time to make the basketball court a playground. He absolutely took off and just began running all over the court.

It was the most adorable thing ever.

Tatum looked so confused initially, but then he realized what was going down.

“This his gym.” 

Yes, Jayson. Yes, it is. Glad we’re in agreement on that.

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Kyrie Irving said he hopes there’s no ‘belligerence or racism’ in the Nets upcoming trip to Boston

Kyrie Irving isn’t the only athlete who has experienced racism in Boston

Kyrie Irving has a tumultuous history with the city of Boston, to say the least.

The Celtics traded for Irving in 2017 after he forced his way out of Cleveland with the Cavaliers. It seemed like Irving liked his situation initially — he said that he wanted to actually stay in the city long-term.

Then he broke that pledge and moved on to Brooklyn where he is now. So, certainly, there’s no love lost between him and the team or the city.

Game 3 against the Celtics will mark the first time Irving will play in TD Garden with actual fans in the building since leaving the Celtics behind. He played there earlier in the preseason and once on Christmas Day, but fans weren’t allowed in the building because of the pandemic.

Irving was asked about what sort of welcome he might receive from fans upon his return. And he didn’t really know.

But he said he looked forward to competing and hoped things could be kept “strictly basketball” with no “belligerence or racism going on.”

“I am just looking forward to competing with my teammates and hopefully, we can just keep it strictly basketball; there’s no belligerence or racism going on — subtle racism and people yelling s***  from the crowd. But even if it is, it’s part of the nature of the game and we’re just going to focus on what we can control.”

Yikes. He was also asked if that was something he experienced in Boston before. And he just shrugged and said “I’m not the only one who can attest to this.”

He’s not wrong. There have been instances where other athletes have had similar complaints about fans in Boston.

Marcus Smart has shared stories. Adam Jones was berated by racist taunts in 2017. Even Celtics’ legend Bill Russell once called the city a “flea market of racism.” Irving isn’t just pulling this out of thin air.

Hopefully, there’s none of that when he finally does play in front of Celtics fans in game 3.

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Julius Randle’s son was so upset with the Nets after they beat the Knicks

Julius Randle’s son was really going through it after the Knicks’ loss to the Nets.

The Knicks and Nets played a really good, entertaining game on Monday night where Kyrie Irving’s 40-point performance propelled Brooklyn to a 114-112 win.

This was a game any basketball fan would enjoy. A big performance from Irving, tough defense from the Knicks, a great all-around game from all sides. It was just amazing basketball.

But don’t ask Julius Randle’s son, Kyden, about it. He doesn’t care how fun it was. He really wanted that win for his dad.

Randle’s wife, Kendra, posted a video on Instagram of her walking out of the arena after Monday’s game with Kyden. And he was going through it.

He had a face full of tears when he saw the Nets’ big 3 on the wall of the arena after the game. “I hate them,” he said with tears just running down his face.

AWWWWWWWW. Man, this is too adorable. My guy was really going through it. This probably hit close to home for a lot of Knicks fans, too.

Don’t worry, Kyden. Your dad will get them next time, buddy.

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