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      Brooklyn Nets Fire Coach Steve Nash

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      The Nets have struggled to a 2-5 start, and their star guard Kyrie Irving is under fire for promoting an antisemitic documentary.The Nets fired Coach Steve Nash on Tuesday as the team struggled on the court and faced criticism for the off-court actions of the star guard Kyrie Irving.Nets General Manager Sean Marks said the situation was particularly difficult because of his long relationship with Nash, a former teammate whom he hired to coach the team in September 2020.“We both felt that this was time,” Marks said at a news conference before the Nets faced the Chicago Bulls at Barclays Center on Tuesday night. “It was certainly trending that way, and to be quite frank, the team was not doing what it was supposed to be doing. We’ve fallen from our goals.”At 2-5, the Nets are among the worst teams in the N.B.A., despite starting the season with all three of their best players: Irving, Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons. Over the past week, the team has also been dealing with backlash after Irving promoted an antisemitic documentary on social media.Marks said he had not sought any input from the players on his decision to make a coaching change.“He has certainly not had an even playing field over two and a bit years here,” Marks said of Nash. “And for that, I certainly feel definitely some responsibility because this does not fall on him. I take a great deal of responsibility in creating the roster, hiring staff, bringing people in, whether that’s free agency or draft.”Nash, 48, was hired before the 2020-21 season, despite never having coached professionally at any level, even as an assistant. The Nets were criticized for hiring Nash, who is white, over experienced Black coaches. Jacque Vaughn, a Nets assistant coach, was chosen to be acting head coach Tuesday against the Bulls. Vaughn, who is Black, was passed over when the Nets hired Nash.Nash carried the pedigree of being one of the best point guards in N.B.A. history, having won two Most Valuable Player Awards during a celebrated career from 1996 to 2014. He initially surrounded himself with experienced coaches such as Vaughn and Mike D’Antoni, who had coached him as a player in Phoenix.Over a little more than two seasons, Nash led the Nets to a 94-67 record, a winning percentage of .584, but with only one playoff-series victory to show for it. Nash thanked the team Tuesday in a statement on Twitter.“It was an amazing experience with many challenges that I’m incredibly grateful for,” he said, adding: “I wish the Nets all the success in the world and the Nash’s will be rooting for our team as they turn this season around.”Nash faced problems from the start, including injuries (Durant; Simmons), trades (Simmons in; James Harden in, then out) and Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, which meant that he missed most of the 2021-22 season because of local rules.Irving returned in time for the postseason after New York City changed the rules, but the Boston Celtics swept the Nets in the first round of the playoffs, closing out the series in front of thousands of despondent fans in Brooklyn.“We had high expectations,” Durant said at the time. “Everybody had high expectations for us. But a lot of stuff happened throughout the season that derailed us.”Durant went to the team’s front office over the summer to request a trade. According to a report by The Athletic, Durant demanded that the Nets owner Joe Tsai choose between him or Marks and Nash. Tsai released a statement that said the team’s front-office staff and coaches had his support.Durant eventually relented and joined the team for training camp in late September. Hope blossomed anew: Durant, Irving and Simmons were expected to help form one of the more explosive starting lineups in the N.B.A.But the Nets sputtered, particularly on defense, losing five of their first six games this season. Marks said he came away from games this season feeling as though the players had not “bought in,” and he was now hoping to find “a leader” whose message would resonate with them. He said that he had not made a decision on the team’s next coach and would thoroughly vet any candidates.“We’re looking for somebody to have poise, charisma, accountability,” he said, adding: “We’re not playing up to our expectations of where we should be. So, you hope this new coach can come in here and put this group in the best possible place to succeed.”But Nash’s firing does not resolve the issue with Irving.At a testy news conference Saturday, Irving doubled down on his support of the antisemitic documentary. He has not apologized since then, but he deleted a tweet that linked to the documentary on Sunday.Irving did not address reporters after the Nets’ win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday, when several fans in T-shirts that said “fight antisemitism” sat in the front row. Marks said Irving would not be made available to answer questions Tuesday, adding that he wanted to let “cooler minds prevail.” He also said that the team had been in contact with the Anti-Defamation League for advice, but he would not say whether Irving had been part of those conversations.“Just trying to weigh out exactly what the best course of action is here,” Marks said. “Part of it is going to be getting the sides together so they can understand where people are coming from. There’s an education piece for everybody here.”Tania Ganguli More

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      Kyrie Irving Defends Antisemitic Movie and Conspiracy Theory

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      Irving, the Nets guard, is facing backlash, but said he was “not going to stand down on anything I believe in.”Nets guard Kyrie Irving doubled down on his support of an antisemitic documentary and a “New World Order” conspiracy theory about secret societies during a testy news conference Saturday night, a day after his team’s owner chastised him for supporting the film.The conspiracy theory, pushed by the Infowars host Alex Jones, falsely suggests that people in the government are working to enslave the human population by, among other methods, releasing viruses.“History is not supposed to be hidden from anybody,” Irving said as he defended himself for posting a link on Twitter to the 2018 documentary “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which espouses several antisemitic tropes.“Did I do anything illegal?” Irving said. “Did I hurt anybody? Did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people?”Irving posted about the documentary on Twitter and Instagram in the past week, and the Nets owner Joe Tsai rebuked him in a statement Friday, saying that he was “disappointed.”“I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion,” Tsai said in a post on Twitter.The Spread of Misinformation and FalsehoodsElection Fraud Claims: A new report says that major social media companies continue to fuel false conspiracies about election fraud despite promises to combat misinformation ahead of the midterm elections.Russian Falsehoods: Kremlin conspiracy theories blaming the West for disrupting the global food supply have bled into right-wing chat rooms and mainstream conservative news media in the United States.Media Literacy Efforts: As young people spend more time online, educators are increasingly trying to offer students tools and strategies to protect themselves from false narratives.Global Threat: New research shows that nearly three-quarters of respondents across 19 countries with advanced economies are very concerned about false information online.On Saturday afternoon, Irving said in a post on Twitter that he was an “omnist,” a person who supports all religions. “The ‘Anti-Semitic’ label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or truth I live in everyday,” he said.At the news conference Saturday, after the Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers, Irving argued with a reporter who said he had “promoted” the documentary and reiterated that he was not antisemitic.“I’m not a divisive person when it comes to religion,” Irving said. “I embrace all walks of life.”As he was pressed about the potential consequences of sharing an antisemitic documentary to his millions of followers on social media, Irving gave seemingly contradictory answers about his impact.“I’m in a unique position to have a level of influence on my community,” Irving said. “What I post does not mean that I support everything that’s being said.”He later said: “There’s things being posted every day. I am no different than the next human being, so don’t treat me any different.”Irving was also asked about his support of Jones, who was ordered this month to pay almost $1 billion in damages in a lawsuit about his false assertions that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting that killed 26 people was a hoax. Irving said he did not back Jones’s claim that Sandy Hook was a hoax, but that Jones was right in a 2002 video about the New World Order theory that Irving shared on Instagram last month.“It’s true,” Irving said, adding, “It’s actually hilarious because out of all the things I posted that day, that was the one post that everyone chose to see.”In the video, Jones said: “The facts and common sense are in. Yes, there have been corrupt empires. Yes, they manipulate. Yes, there are secret societies. Yes, there have been oligarchies throughout history. And yes, today, in 2002, there is a tyrannical organization calling itself the ‘New World Order’ pushing for worldwide government.”There has been public backlash for Irving’s support of Jones and the documentary, but on Saturday he stood firm.“I’m not going to stand down on anything I believe in,” Irving said. “I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.”After Irving accused an ESPN reporter of trying to “dehumanize” him and denied that he was promoting the documentary by posting about it, the Nets abruptly ended the news conference.Irving, a seven-time All-Star, has become a lightning rod for criticism in recent years. He missed much of the 2021-22 season because he declined to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, and in 2018 he suggested that the Earth might be flat.Neither the Nets, the N.B.A. nor a representative for Tsai responded to requests for comment. More

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      Ben Simmons Finally Plays, but the Nets Lose

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      A rusty Ben Simmons isn’t the difference maker in his first appearance for Brooklyn.Ben Simmons smiled and chuckled about the way he had been acting all day. Wednesday was the first time in 16 months that he had played in a meaningful basketball game, and he seemed positively effervescent.“I think I was just too excited, honestly,” he said Wednesday night at Barclays Center. “It was just great to be out there.”The outing did not go especially well. Simmons scored only 4 points and fouled out, perhaps a function of his enthusiasm, and his team lost, 130-108, to the New Orleans Pelicans in the N.B.A. season opener for both teams. He was a bit rusty having missed all of last season with mental and physical health problems, starting in Philadelphia before he was traded to Brooklyn. But just the fact that Simmons played in the game was momentous.His availability is emblematic of where the Nets find themselves at the start of this season. Kevin Durant is still on the team. Kyrie Irving should be available all season. And now Simmons is healthy. This season could offer a final word on what the Durant-Irving Nets can be, and how they respond to the pressure of having the pieces in place to be real contenders.“Now you can see who we really are,” Nets forward Markieff Morris said. “Would you rather be a team where you have championship aspirations and a lot of pressure on you to win? Or would you rather be a team that’s tanking trying to get the No. 1 pick? You got to pick your poison in this league. Playing with pressure is a good thing.”It has been three years since Durant and Irving chose to join the Nets in free agency. Their arrival demanded patience, at first because Durant was working through an Achilles’ injury that would cause him to miss the entire 2019-20 season. That season was also interrupted by the onset of the pandemic, and when the season finished in the N.B.A. bubble, Irving did not join the team as he recovered from an injury.Zion Williamson looked fairly sharp on Wednesday, scoring 25 points in his team’s win.Monique Jaques for The New York TimesThe 2020-21 season was short, but the Nets finished it with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. James Harden had joined them through a trade in January. They lost the conference semifinals in seven games to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks.Then everything unraveled.Irving decided he would not get vaccinated against the coronavirus, which meant he could not play any home games because of a local mandate. The Nets said they did not want a part-time player, until they did. They later did not agree to a maximum contract extension with Irving when they could have, and Irving affirmed his player option to stay in Brooklyn for the final year of his contract.Frustrated by Irving, Harden asked for a trade and got it, swapping places with Simmons, and then more patience became necessary. Simmons, who hadn’t felt mentally able to play until the trade, missed the rest of the season with a back injury that required surgery. He spent the off-season healing and said he felt fully healthy at the start of training camp.This summer’s final drama for the Nets came when Durant requested a trade in July. The Nets never found the right offer, if such a thing even existed for a player of his caliber. Reports surfaced that Durant had wanted General Manager Sean Marks and Coach Steve Nash fired. Durant has not confirmed those reports, and Nash referred to the whole episode as though it were a family disagreement.The silver lining of an off-season that threatened the team’s stability was that the Nets were returning with two of the best players in the game and a third more talented than most in the league.All that’s left is for them to prove they can actually do this.Wednesday’s game offered an inauspicious start to that quest. The Nets trailed the Pelicans by as many as 26 points and were outscored by 36-4 on second-chance points, a symptom of inconsistent effort.“The same plays that demoralize the fans at home, demoralize us as players,” Irving said.Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, like Simmons, returned after missing all of last season, in his case with a foot injury. He looked less rusty than Simmons did, scoring 25 points, and New Orleans took advantage of his play.“I think they beat us in every category tonight,” Nash said. “Clearly, we started the game a little hectic, a little bit rattled to start the year. Sometimes that’s normal. First night out excitement. New group. It was a little clunky at times.”Durant led all scorers with 32 points, making 11 of 21 shots, with four blocks, a steal, two assists and three rebounds.If one were to overreact to an opening night result, one might say these Nets are in big trouble. But the way they played Wednesday didn’t match how they played in preseason games, perhaps hinting at their ability to play much better.There were flashes of positivity in Wednesday’s game as well. On one play, Irving darted in front of Larry Nance Jr. to steal the ball and throw it to Simmons for a dunk.The Nets finally had the full team together on Wednesday night.Monique Jaques for The New York TimesBut to compete in the East this season will be no easy task. Milwaukee, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, is still as formidable as it was two years ago when it won the N.B.A. championship. The Boston Celtics seem determined to improve upon last year’s finals loss to Golden State. The Philadelphia 76ers, led by Joel Embiid and Harden, will also challenge for supremacy in the conference.In the waning seconds of Wednesday’s game, Durant sat all the way back in a seat on the bench with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up tightly over his head. Occasionally, he turned to Simmons, who sat next to him, and said something as they watched the Pelicans complete their 22-point victory.“We got 81 more of these,” Durant said later. He added: “It’s about just bouncing back, coming to work tomorrow and figuring it out.” More

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      What to Know About the New NBA Season

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      Much of the conversation around the league the past few months hasn’t been about basketball.The N.B.A. will begin a new season Tuesday under a cloud of scandals and drama that has distracted from the basketball and that has challenged the progressive image the league has long cultivated.“I think right now the best thing that can happen is the season start on the court,” said Chris Mullin, a Hall of Fame former player.Last season’s finals teams — Golden State and Boston — are navigating internal crises. Two teams in top media markets — the Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers — are trying to integrate their stars.And a situation in Phoenix has brought the league’s leaders and image under scrutiny. The majority owner of the Suns and the W.N.B.A.’s Mercury, Robert Sarver, was found to have used racial slurs and engaged in sexist behavior over many years, but the league’s punishment — a $10 million fine and one-year suspension — was immediately criticized by players and fans as being too light. Soon, under public pressure, Sarver said he would sell the teams.Though there are still many things for fans to be excited about, such as a new rule to speed up games and the improved health of some injured stars, several issues are lingering as the season gets underway.Here’s what you need to know:How will Draymond Green’s punch affect Golden State?Suns owner Robert Sarver’s misconduct casts a shadow.Celtics Coach Ime Udoka’s suspension is a mystery.The trade rumors of the summer aren’t over yet.A new rule and stars’ returns could up the excitement.How will Draymond Green’s punch affect Golden State?Golden State’s Jordan Poole, left, and Draymond Green, right, played together Friday for the first time since an altercation during practice this month.Jeff Chiu/Associated PressAfter defeating the Celtics in six games to the win the N.B.A. championship in June, Golden State looked poised for a strong campaign in pursuit of a repeat. Then TMZ posted a video of forward Draymond Green punching his teammate Jordan Poole during a practice this month.“I don’t think anyone could watch that and not say that it’s upsetting,” said Mullin, who spent most of his 16-year career with Golden State and is now a broadcaster for the team. “It’s unacceptable behavior.”After Green was fined and agreed to stay away from the team for about a week, Golden State welcomed him back and publicly put on a “Nothing To See Here” face. Green apologized privately and publicly, and Poole said Sunday that they would coexist professionally.What to Know: Robert Sarver Misconduct CaseCard 1 of 7A suspension and a fine. More

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      NBA Season Preview: The Nets and the Lakers Are the Wild Cards

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      Even for a league used to drama and headlines, the N.B.A. had a dizzying off-season.There were trade requests (Kevin Durant) and trade rumors (Russell Westbrook); injuries (Chet Holmgren) and returns (Zion Williamson). The power structure of the Western Conference could be upended by the return of Kawhi Leonard with the Clippers; the power structure of the East is again unclear.And a series of scandals at Boston, Phoenix and Golden State could have lasting implications for the league.In short: A lot is going on.Headline More

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      Ben Simmons Returns to the Court for the Nets

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      Nets Coach Steve Nash said he saw “glimpses of the potential” in a 6-point, 19-minute effort.Nineteen minutes, 6 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in a preseason game.You could say that it’s nothing special. But you could also say that it’s one of the most important stat lines in the N.B.A. in recent years.Ben Simmons is back.After injury, mental health issues and disputes with management kept him off the court for more than 450 days, Simmons suited up for the Nets on Monday night in a preseason game against his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.“I thought I was going to be nervous, but I wasn’t nervous; I was excited,” Simmons said after the game. “The only way you learn is making mistakes. I had a few out there tonight.”With the caveat that it was a preseason game, when defense can be lax and the pace a little slower, Simmons looked fairly comfortable and fluid on both ends of the floor, notably making some nice passes.And he showed off his unusual skill set. As Coach Steve Nash put it after the 127-108 Nets loss, the 6-foot-11 Simmons plays center on defense and point guard on offense.An Australian, Simmons was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft in 2016 after his freshman year at L.S.U. After missing a full season with a foot injury, he debuted for the 76ers in 2017 and had four effective seasons with the team, averaging 15 to 17 points a game and 7 to 8 assists and playing first-rate defense. He won the Rookie of the Year Award and made three All-Star teams in four seasons.But the 2020-21 season ended in disappointment, when Simmons passed up a seemingly easy dunk opportunity late in a decisive playoff loss in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Both the 76ers’ star, Joel Embiid, and their coach, Doc Rivers, expressed frustration with Simmons over the incident.The play also seemed emblematic of Simmons’s progress. Always excellent on defense, he never seemed to develop a great shot. In a game in which 3-pointers have become increasingly crucial, he has taken just 34 in his career, making only five.Over that summer, Simmons demanded a trade. When he returned to the 76ers in October he was kicked out of practice after refusing to participate in drills. He did not return to the court for the team that season, saying his absence was due to mental health reasons.In February, the 76ers finally traded him to the Nets in a deal that included James Harden going the other way. Soon after, though, he was diagnosed with back problems and while there was hope he could return for the playoffs, he did not.Now Simmons is finally back on the court and is being counted on to be a key contributor for the Nets, who were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round last season.“Ben’s playing in a totally different unit than he’s played with in the past, different style, so it’s a big departure for him,” Nash said. “These guys haven’t played together, so we’ve got to go through this. It’s going to be ugly as times, but I thought as the half wore on we started to see glimpses of the potential.” More

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      Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving Talk About Nets’ Rocky Off-Season

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      Durant had asked to be traded but stayed put. Irving said he had come close to joining another team but decided that staying in Brooklyn was his best choice.Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were expected to make the Nets instant title contenders when they joined the team in 2019, bringing two of the best offensive talents in the N.B.A. to a team that had just finished sixth in the Eastern Conference.But three years later, without any championships or finals appearances with the Nets, Durant and Irving spoke Monday about a rocky off-season that at times seemed like it might end with both of them playing for other teams.In June, Durant, 33, requested a trade, which he said Monday was because of uncertainty and accountability issues in the organization.“I want to be in a place that’s stable and trying to build a championship culture,” Durant said. “So, I had some doubts about that.”Despite his trade request coming just days after Irving and the Nets couldn’t agree to a long-term extension, Durant said that wasn’t a factor.Instead, he pointed to the Nets’ 11-game losing streak while he was injured last season as a worrisome signal about the team’s direction. At the time, he didn’t want his concerns to affect the team’s play on the floor, he said, so he waited until the off-season to make his trade request.“That’s what was putting doubt in my mind, is that when adversity hit can we keep pushing through it?” Durant said. “I’ve been on championship teams. I’ve been on teams that have been right on the brink of winning a championship, and they did those things. So, I want to be a part of a group that did that.”He added: “Winning and losing — I can take all that. I’ve been in the league for a long time. So, it’s not more so about just a result. It’s like how we get to that point. And I wasn’t feeling how we was getting to that point.”In August, The Athletic reported that Durant had told the Nets to choose between keeping him or keeping General Manager Sean Marks and Coach Steve Nash. The report drew the Nets’ owner, Joe Tsai, to release a statement of confidence in the Nets’ leadership. “Our front office and coaching staff have my support,” Tsai wrote. “We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”On Monday, Marks said, “That’s pro sports, right?” He added: “Everybody’s entitled to their opinions. And I think from us, it’s not to hold a grudge against what Kevin said, but it’s almost like: All right, that’s the way he feels. What’s going on here? Like, what do we need to change?”Nash said that he didn’t take it personally. “This is not new in the N.B.A.,” he said.“Kevin and I go way back,” said Nash, who worked with Durant in Golden State as a team consultant. “So, you know, families go through things like this.”The Nets shopped Durant to other teams, but on Aug. 23, Durant and the Nets announced that they had “agreed to move forward with our partnership.”Durant said he wasn’t disappointed or surprised to return to the Nets: “I know I’m that good that you just not going to give me away.”Before Durant’s trade saga began, there was the issue of Irving, whose contract negotiations and unwillingness to be vaccinated against the coronavirus dominated headlines for much of the past year. Irving said he felt as though the Nets had given him an “ultimatum.”“I gave up four years, 100 and something million deciding to be unvaccinated,” Irving said. “And that was the decision: It was contract, get vaccinated or be unvaccinated, and there’s a level of uncertainty of your future — whether you’re going to be in this league, whether you’re going to be on this team. So, I had to deal with that real-life circumstance of losing my job for this decision.”Irving, 30, was eligible for max contract extensions worth up to about $245 million, but he and the Nets did not reach an agreement on one. Instead, Irving opted into the final year of his contract, which will pay him $36.5 million this season. He said he had other options — but not many — and decided that staying in Brooklyn was the best choice for him. Irving played in just 29 regular-season games in 2021-22, mostly because he was ineligible to play at home because of local vaccine mandates.Marks said that not reaching a contract agreement with Irving was because of reliability, not Irving’s stance against the vaccine.“There’s no ultimatum being given here,” Marks said as Nash sat next to him and nodded his head in agreement. “It goes back to wanting people who are reliable people, who are here, accountable — all of us. Staff, players, coaches, you name it. I’m not giving somebody an ultimatum to get the vaccine. That’s a completely personal choice. And I stand by Kyrie, and if he wants, he’s made that choice. That’s his prerogative completely, and I totally understand that.”While the Nets were navigating Durant’s injury and Irving’s absences last season, they were also affected by the unclear status of guard Ben Simmons. Amid tensions in Philadelphia early last season, Simmons, 26, was traded to the Nets for James Harden in February. Simmons, who said he was dealing a lingering back injury and mental health concerns, has never played in a game for the Nets.He appeared to be close to suiting up in the first round of the playoffs, when the Nets were facing elimination against the Celtics. “That day I was was supposed to play Game 4, I woke up on the floor,” Simmons said Monday. “I couldn’t move, could barely walk.”Simmons had back surgery in May. He said he was cleared to participate in training camp, which begins Tuesday.“I’m excited to play with these guys,” said Simmons, who hasn’t played in an N.B.A. game since Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals with the Sixers. “I think it’s a good opportunity for us, and we have a lot to prove.” More

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      Nets Owner Backs Team Leaders Amid Durant’s Reported Ultimatum

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      “Our front office and coaching staff have my support,” Joe Tsai said on Twitter just hours after a report that Kevin Durant wants the team to choose between keeping him or the coach and G.M.Joe Tsai, the owner of the Nets, issued a statement of support for the team’s front office and coaching staff on Twitter Monday evening and added, “We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) August 8, 2022
      The tweet appeared to be in response to a report from The Athletic that said the team’s star forward, Kevin Durant, was still insistent that the Nets meet a trade demand he made in June. Durant, one of the N.B.A.’s best players, met with Tsai in person over the weekend, The Athletic reported, and conditioned his staying with the team on the removal of Coach Steve Nash and General Manager Sean Marks. (Durant previously had publicly lauded Nash, who just completed his second year as the Nets’ coach, saying in the spring that the coach had handled the Nets “perfectly.”)The Nets did not respond to a request for comment, and a spokesman for Durant’s company, Boardroom, declined to comment.Tsai’s Twitter post was an unusual escalation of a simmering feud between Durant, 33, and the Nets. Tsai has rarely weighed in on basketball matters publicly, and just one year ago Durant appeared to be happily married to the Nets, having agreed to a four-year contract extension with the team he had signed with in the summer of 2019.But much of Durant’s three seasons with the Nets haven’t gone according to plan and have been marked by tumult.Durant, while recovering from an Achilles’ tendon injury, signed with the franchise along with his friends, the star point guard Kyrie Irving and the veteran center DeAndre Jordan. During the 2020-21 season, the Nets traded many of their young players, along with several draft picks, to Houston for James Harden, seemingly assembling one of the most fearsome star groups in N.B.A. history.But injuries kept the three stars from seeing the court very often. They played only 16 games together and had a dominant record of 13-3. In the 2021 playoffs, the Nets lost in the second round to the Milwaukee Bucks, the eventual champions.Last season, the Nets were once again optimistic that they would live up to their lofty expectations. But Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19 meant that he couldn’t play in home games until later in the season because of a New York City rule that was eventually lifted. A frustrated Harden asked the Nets for a trade, and the Nets sent him to the division rival Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons. And once again, Durant, as well as other players on the team, dealt with injuries, forcing Nash to push rookies into unexpected roles.Durant, left, requested a trade in June after having signed a four-year extension with the Nets in 2021.Brad Penner/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe Nets hit rock bottom in the playoffs, where they were swept in the first round by the Boston Celtics, an embarrassing outcome for a team that looked to be — on paper — one of the most talented teams of the decade.Durant’s trade request was a bombshell that shocked many league observers. For one thing, the Nets were projected to enter training camp with a formidable roster that include Simmons, a three-time All-Star, and Irving, who opted into the final year of his contract. But a player of Durant’s caliber has almost never made a trade request like this with four years left on his contract.Durant’s trade value, despite his résumé, is uncertain, in part because of how rare his request is and also because of Durant himself. In three years with the Nets, he played 90 regular season games of a possible 236 because of injuries. He will be entering his 16th season, a stage by which most players are already in steep decline. But when Durant has played, he has mostly looked like he always has: a generational talent.Durant’s talent makes him a tantalizing risk for a team looking to put itself over the top, not the least of which is that when a team trades for him, he might not want to stay. More