Of all the wonderful words of wisdom that the great poet and philosopher Kyrie Andrew Irving has spouted in recent years, this is probably the greatest: “Are you sure the earth is round?” His thesis: for centuries people had believed that the earth was flat, now the consensus is that it is round; but who really knows what is actually going on in this universe? Everyone must have their own experiences, they must be allowed to have other thoughts and opinions – this is how a fruitful dialogue develops.
So then, another experiment: How about if the team that only managed the fourteenth-best record of 30 clubs in the regular season of the US basketball league NBA and reached the playoffs via a “play-in” game, ended up winning the title wins?
Sounds crazy, and it is; it has a lot to do with Irving, who not only doubts the shape of this planet, but also refused the Covid vaccination and therefore missed a large part of the games due to the rules in New York City. Add to that the injury to Nets co-leader Kevin Durant and the fact that after trading with the Philadelphia 76ers (James Harden was sold), signing Ben Simmons came to Brooklyn with a herniated disk.
The Nets now face Daniel Theis and the Boston Celtics in the playoffs
Only: Durant is fit. Simmons is close to making the roster and Irving is now allowed to play anywhere. The knockout game (without Simmons) against Cleveland showed what Brooklyn is capable of when everyone is on board: Irving managed 34 points and 12 assists, Durant 25 points and 11 passes, Bruce Brown (nine rebounds), Andre Drummond (eight) and Nic Claxton (nine) provided the basket protectors.
The Nets are favorites in Sunday’s first round of the playoffs against the Boston Celtics (with German center Daniel Theis) and they should be favorites if they advance to the finals – the Western Conference Phoenix Suns may end up the big opponent in the finals.
So what would it say about the league if these Nets actually became champions?
The league is booming financially, no question, for the next TV deal in the USA, the NBA is likely to demand eight billion dollars a year – more than three times as much as currently. She’s a pop culture phenomenon, basketball is cool. Only: In terms of sport, the league is losing its north star.
The regular season is, there is no other way to put it, a dubious event. Clubs without a chance of making the playoffs don’t care much if they lose – they build a young team in peace and have a better chance of early voting rights at the annual talent fair due to the poor placement. The really good teams care about this regular season like a stick of gum under a seat in the top row of the stadium – what matters is that by the start of the playoffs the celebrities are healthy, fit and willing; so the best ones regularly give up if they feel even a niggle in their little left toe.
League boss Adam Silver has announced that he will do something about the artistic breaks; But he said that five, four and two years ago. What has changed: nothing. The title for the Nets would be the final proof that something is wrong in the NBA – or as the great poet and philosopher Kyrie Andrew Irving would put it: It would be an experience that should lead to allowing other thoughts than that with the longing for the greatest possible profit.