The Nets are gearing up for another run at bringing an NBA championship to Brooklyn. With the 2021-22 season quickly approaching, all eyes are on them as they prepare for opening night.
Training camp, along with preseason games, will give us an early glimpse into what’s ahead for the Nets. The offseason, as expected, brought new faces and saw old faces depart for future endeavors. The roster, on paper, is loaded.
But this group doesn’t need any reminders on how much potential they have. Last season, they showed us, with a roster that was almost never at full strength.
The Nets, despite all the injuries, went 44-28 last season. The team’s core of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving played together only eight games together in the regular season.
Still, Brooklyn overcame hardships and reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, losing in overtime to the eventual NBA Champions, the Milwaukee Bucks.
Heading into this season, there’s no shortage of NBA storylines. For the Nets, there’s uncertainty surrounding the availability of Irving, who is reportedly not vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Our hope is that our roster that we envisioned earlier this summer is all available for all the games,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “That’s our hope. When it comes to Kyrie, that’s a private matter that he’s gonna deal with, and we’ll address at the right time.
“But again, we’ve made our stance pretty clear. I know that New York City has made their stance clear. And it’s about us supporting our players and making sure that we’re all abiding by those protocols, and out there and hopefully achieving our ultimate goal.”
It remains to be seen if Irving will be ready to fully participate in home and away games for the Nets.
But the show goes on.
“I expect it not to be [an issue],” Durant said, when asked whether or not he was concerned about Irving’s availability. “That’s on Kyrie. That’s his personal decision. What he does is not on us to speculate. I expect us to have our whole team at some point.”
Last season, when the Nets encountered every challenge imaginable — they took them on together as a team. This year’s no different.
Irving’s availability this season won’t be the only point of concern for Brooklyn. There will be challenges which present themselves, as there will be for every team in the league. It’s the teams that find a way to stick together and push through it which ultimately succeed.
If the Nets are to reach their goal of bringing a championship to Brooklyn in 2022, they must stay united.
