The YES Network, the TV home of the Brooklyn Nets, held their annual media conference call on Tuesday, just after GM Sean Marks spoke about the Kyrie Irving situation – meaning the heavy topic was on Kyrie and his coverage.
While our Chris Carrino, who fills on occasionally on YES play-by-play, did not attend, those that did were in agreement with Marks that given the circumstances, this was indeed the best way for the team to move forward.
"Your goal isn't to lead the league in drama, and I think what the Nets did was to deal with this topic and hope to avoid making it a daily distraction along the way," said Ian Eagle. "This is a team sport, and you have to determine what's best for the entire team while respecting any individual's rights and privacy. This affects everyone on the Nets; it's not a simple solution, there's no playbook for this, but they had to address it, and this was the necessary step to move forward. What they did today will make it a lot easier for everyone to do their jobs because we understand where the team stands."
"The important thing Sean brought up was fairness to all parties: the team, the organization, and Kyrie himself," Sarah Kustok added. "Everyone had a role in the decisions that brought it to this point, so I think for those reasons, there's a real sense of clarity for the purpose of the team: winning a title and putting themselves in the best positions to do that. You can't overstate how much chemistry matters in that, and this decision is their way of trying to push forward in that manner."
Kustok, who was a collegiate star at DePaul on teams that made the first two of what would be 17 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, understands that notion of team chemistry as well as anyone – as does former NBA Champion Richard Jefferson, who also put the onus on the fact that the decision was, in part, out of the Nets' hands.
"As much as this is a story, it is what it is. These are the rules; the team and NBA didn't make it, this is a city ordinance above a lot of people's pay grades," RJ said. "Everyone else has complied and they have worked to try to accommodate Kyrie, but Sean and the team came to the decision that if we're going to push for a title, we need to push in the same direction. We'll see where it goes, but I think that if or when Kyrie is eligible, he'll be added to the team with little issue."
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And to that point, Ryan Ruocco, who also calls NBA games across the league on national outlets, noted it also makes the broadcast teams' jobs easier as well.
"Our job became a whole lot easier today with that statement. It would've been much trickier to navigate if we were in purgatory of whether he was playing or not," Ruocco said. "If something happens in a home game where he could've been useful, it would've popped up in a different way than it will now, or you might have had some resentment to the guy who is there part-time."
"It's multi-layered like that, because there's very little practice time over the course of an 82-game schedule," added Michael Grady on the basketball side of Ruocco's last quote. "After the two road games to start the season, they have a six-game homestand, and then a six-game road trip. Even when you have a guy of Kyrie's stature, it's hard to get into and out of the flow, so with everything involved from a continuity sake, this seemed to be the best call."
That's because, as they all agreed and Bird emphasized, the best way to pave the golden road to a title is to start with the best bricks possible.
"As we saw last season, you need a lot of things to go right to win a championship, and you can't predict what the challenges will be in May or June – but what you can do is try to create an atmosphere where you can deal with the challenges," Eagle said. "That means open communication, strong leadership, a commitment to the ultimate goal. That's what they're trying to establish today."
And for those wondering what the Nets' chances are no without Kyrie, or with him if and when he eventually returns? They may be favorites either way, but as RJ cautions, nothing is a given.
"There's no such thing as an easy championship, no matter who you have," said Jefferson, who won his lone ring in his 17th and final season. "Look at the Warriors team that lost a championship because if injuries. It is incredibly hard no matter what. Without Kyrie, the Nets have enough to win a championship. Adding Kyrie will make them a heavy favorite, but this is what their team is."
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