The Brooklyn Nets have been a bit short of people lately. Still, with a record of 14 wins and 6 losses, they found themselves in number one spot in the East before a divisional showdown against the New York Knicks. However, they will not fully support this district battle.
Steve Nash's team has lost some players due to injuries, illness and vaccination conditions. The last question dominated the headlines, and for a reason. The Nets relied on their superstar and MVP candidate Kevin Durant to get there. That's in stark contrast to the two-time Finals MVP who played only half of the regular season season a season ago. At the beginning of the year, he began to go full speed.
Durant averaged 35.6 minutes per game, the highest since the 2015-2016 season. He just missed a game with a shoulder injury. It's safe to say that if Irving could play, Durant would have less playing time and might even take on some softer defensive tasks.
Ahead of Wednesday's game, Coach Nash was asked if he felt he was pushing his star given some of the Key Misses from the Nets' other players.
Nash admitted: "Yeah, I mean it's not an ideal burden (on Durant), but I don't know what options we have, other than to let him play less and lose more. He's a great player and we're missing a few people, Irving is a great player and Joe Harris is a very good player who left the team at least a month after ankle surgery and there are a few others, so I don't know if we have that many players now. ”
I was a little surprised to hear Steve Nash say all this so bluntly. He admits that if Durant is played less, he will lose more, which is obvious, but that's still not what coaches usually say — other players who are more willing to support them.
It is no exaggeration to say that there may be some real organizational setbacks in Owen's anti-vaccine mandate stance. Maybe we have a little projection, and that's not what Nash was trying to express at all. But it's not hard to imagine that behind the closed door, the Nets have been more than a little disappointed, which has dragged on as long as there is no sign of ending.
Is there any communication with Owen these days? Nash added: "There is no update, we keep in touch, but there is no update. ”
For now, the Nets want to stay number one. But it looks like they'd rather do it without pushing the MVP candidate.