The past year and a half has been a whirlwind for the Brooklyn Nets. In the span of a year, they lost James Harden for Ben Simmons (who missed that whole season), lost Kyrie Irving to New York City’s vaccination laws, and got swept in the first round of the playoffs to a younger and less experienced Celtics team.
What followed was even more chaos that summer, when Kevin Durant asked for a trade and called for the jobs of head coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks.
All along the way, trust was broken and bridges were burned — and everybody knew it was a huge problem for the franchise.
But now, with the new season underway, Uncle Drew is doing everything in his power to rebuild team chemistry and get his squad back in a desirable place. Apparently, he has already taken his first step in this process.
NBA Insider Reveals Kyrie Irving’s Attempt To Set Up A Team Bonding Event For The Nets
According to a report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Irving set up a team dinner for the entire roster ahead of opening night, apparently in an attempt to recover from the chaos of the summer.
“I’m told on Oct. 8, Kyrie Irving set up a team dinner for the entire Nets roster. Some team officials even showed up,” reported Shams. “I think this was a way for the Nets, after a really tumultuous, up-and-down last couple of seasons, the pandemic, with last year’s disappointing season, to really have a team outing and a team bonding experience with one another. And having other franchise officials come through as well — and I think Kyrie spearheading that and being the one to coordinate that goes a long way in terms of leadership, and also what he’s tried to set forth this offseason with a lot of the instability that occurred. But now, it finally looks somewhat stable going into the season and the Nets should be primed for a good season.”
https://twitter.com/TheRally/status/1582849269467271169
Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that Kyrie turned his back on the Nets for the sake of making a political point. It also wasn’t that long ago that Durant tried to force a trade from the team.
But with nowhere else to go, and no other options left, Kyrie and Durant have no choice but to stick around and try to make things work as they are. Clearly, Kyrie is actually trying to rebuild the relationship and trust with his teammates, but it may take some time before things really start to gel for them, especially on the court.
