When the NBA season began last October, the Brooklyn Nets were justifiably pegged as a championship contender with the second-highest payroll in the league. But the dollars spent by billionaire owner Joe Tsai didn't yield enough wins -- in fact, the Nets weren't able to buy a single one during the playoffs.
In a season chock-full of vaccination drama, injuries to key contributors, and constant lineup shuffling, Brooklyn suffered a first-round sweep against the Boston Celtics on Monday inside Barclays Center, losing 116-112 in Game 4. Dating back to last year's East semis, the Nets are now 1-8 in their last nine playoff games, and self-inflicted failures are to blame for their letdown and underachievement. It was championship or bust, and the latter prevailed.
"Never would I imagine that a team that has Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving get swept in the first round," JR said during Monday's edition of the JR SportBrief show. "And for everything they've gone through this season, you can't tell me this was an incomplete score. You can't tell me, for this season, that you can't judge it... It's not harsh for [head coach Steve Nash] to say this season was a disappointment, that the Nets underperformed. Let's go ask the fans...
"This past year with the Nets, you could write a book and story -- and I know someone will. Give it a couple of years... I can't think of a more disappointing season... The Lakers were a disaster this season. But, I've got to tell you: for all of the Nets' issues, I'd say they're more of a disappointment. These guys on the Nets were supposed to be in their primes... There's no covering this up... Don't need to dress things up, don't need to make things sound pretty."
JR's complete thoughts on the Nets' first-round playoff exit can be accessed in the audio player above.
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