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      Kyrie Irving Rebuked for Linking to Antisemitic Documentary

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      Irving, the Nets guard, posted a link on Twitter to a documentary that promotes antisemitic tropes. Joe Tsai, the Nets owner, said he was “disappointed.”The Nets owner Joe Tsai spoke out against his team’s star guard Kyrie Irving on Friday after Irving tweeted a link to a documentary that promotes antisemitic tropes.“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation,” Tsai wrote in a Twitter post late Friday. “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.“This is bigger than basketball.”Tsai posted on Twitter just before 11:30 p.m. Friday. A representative for Irving did not immediately respond to a text message.The documentary, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” was written and directed by Ronald Dalton Jr. and released in 2018. Dalton also released a book with the same title. On Thursday, Irving tweeted a link to a site where users can rent or buy the documentary. He also shared a screenshot of the site on Instagram. In response, Rolling Stone magazine reported on the antisemitic messaging of the documentary and the book.Irving, 30, is a seven-time All-Star in his fourth season with the Nets, but his off-court actions have often overshadowed his basketball career.He did not play in most of the Nets’ games last season in part because he refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, which New York City required for him to compete in home games. The Nets initially barred him from road games as well but relented about two months into the season as the team struggled.In September, Irving was widely criticized for sharing a conspiracy-theory video by the Infowars host Alex Jones, who for years falsely said the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting that killed 26 children and adults was a hoax.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the N.B.A. Hall of Famer, chastised Irving for sharing Jones’s video, writing on Substack that “Kyrie Irving would be dismissed as a comical buffoon if it weren’t for his influence over young people who look up to athletes.”In 2018, Irving was mocked for falsely suggesting that the Earth might be flat.“Can you openly admit that you know the Earth is constitutionally round?” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “Like, you know that for sure? Like, I don’t know.”Irving joined the Nets as a free agent in 2019 after playing for the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers, with whom he won a championship in 2016 alongside LeBron James. The Nets have made the playoffs in each of Irving’s seasons with the team, but they are struggling this year. Five games into the season, they have won just once. Their next game is Saturday at home against the Indiana Pacers.Tania Ganguli 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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      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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      Kevin Durant Asks to Be Traded From the Nets

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      Durant has been with the Nets since 2019, but his tenure has been rocky between injuries, losses and turmoil among his teammates.The Nets’ latest foray into the world of superteams might be over.Kevin Durant, a 12-time All-Star, has asked the Nets to trade him, according to a person familiar with the request who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. Rich Kleiman, Durant’s business manager, told ESPN that the Nets had given him permission to find a trade partner. Durant’s request came three days after Kyrie Irving opted into the final year of his four-year contract with the Nets.Durant and Irving signed with the Nets in 2019 on four-year deals, but last year Durant signed an extension that goes through the 2025-26 season. Irving can be traded in the final year of his contract.Durant, 33, is widely thought of as one of the best scoring forwards in N.B.A. history. He won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2014, which was one of the four seasons in which he led the N.B.A. in scoring.During this past season, Durant played in 55 games and averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.He and Irving came to Brooklyn hoping to win a championship together.“We want to end our careers together,” Irving told reporters at their introductory news conference in 2019. “We want to do this as a team, and what better place to do it than Brooklyn?”Durant was the second overall pick in the 2007 N.B.A. draft, selected by the Seattle SuperSonics, who then became the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant spent nine seasons with the franchise before signing with Golden State in 2016. There, he helped Golden State win back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018, and was named the M.V.P. of both those finals. Durant tore his Achilles’ tendon during the 2019 finals, which Golden State lost to the Toronto Raptors.Irving, a seven-time All-Star, had also won a championship before joining the Nets — in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.The 2019-20 season — the first with the Nets for Durant and Irving — was interrupted by the coronavirus, but for the Nets it was a wash anyway. Durant’s recovery from his Achilles’ tendon injury lasted all year and the Nets came up short in the playoffs. In the 2020-21 season, the team added James Harden midseason after he asked to be traded from the Houston Rockets, but it lost in the second round of the playoffs.Then the Nets began last season with all three superstars presumably ready to play. But a New York City coronavirus vaccine mandate meant that Irving, who refused to be vaccinated, would not be allowed to play games in Brooklyn. The Nets decided to sit Irving until he was eligible for all games rather than allow him to be a part-time player. But they relented in December, and he began playing in road games where he was eligible to participate in January.Durant and Harden helped the Nets to the top of the Eastern Conference, but the team faltered after Durant injured his shoulder in January.Harden, who had been irritated by Irving’s absences, requested a trade and was sent to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons in February. Simmons was dealing with mental and physical ailments and has yet to play for the Nets. In March, New York City’s vaccine rules changed and Irving became eligible to play in Brooklyn.The Nets earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but even though they were as complete as they had been all year, the Boston Celtics swept them in the first round.“We had high expectations,” Durant said after Game 4 of that series. “Everybody had high expectations for us, but a lot of stuff happened throughout the season that derailed us.”He added later: “No regrets.”Even when Irving had been criticized by the news media and fans, Durant had publicly supported him. As rumors swirled recently that Irving wanted out of Brooklyn, Durant said on his podcast that he wasn’t involved with Irving’s possible free agency.“Basketball is obviously the most important thing, but I try not to let that get in the way of somebody else’s personal decision,” Durant said. “Like I said, whatever happens, the friendship will still be there.”Durant’s request comes at a time when league offices are working to determine what their rosters will look like next season either through trades or free-agency signings. Teams and players were able to begin discussing free-agent deals at 6 p.m. on Thursday, and can make them official on July 6.Durant’s transcendent talent would make him appealing to many teams, despite the $193 million remaining on his contract with the Nets. Trades for players of his caliber typically include several first-round draft picks. More

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      Kyrie Irving Decides to Opt Into a Fourth Season With the Nets

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      Irving was eligible for a maximum contract extension, but he and the Nets did not reach an agreement on one. Once he officially opts in, they will have until the end of June 2023 to negotiate an extension.The latest episode of Kyrie Irving’s tenure with the Nets has reached a conclusion for the moment.Irving has decided to opt into the final year of his four-year contract with the Nets before Wednesday’s deadline, his stepmother and agent, Shetellia Riley Irving, told The New York Times.Irving will earn $36.5 million next season.“Normal people keep the world going, but those who dare to be different lead us into tomorrow,” Kyrie Irving said in a statement to The Athletic, which first reported Irving’s decision. “I’ve made my decision to opt in. See you in the fall.”Once Irving officially opts into his contract for the 2022-23 season, the two sides will have until the end of June 2023 to negotiate an extension that can be worth near the maximum salary for a veteran player. The Nets will also be able to trade Irving once he formally opts in.When the season ended, Irving affirmed his commitment to the Nets and to Kevin Durant. Given the chance to do so, General Manager Sean Marks did not reciprocate.“I think we know what we’re looking for,” Marks said. “We’ve looking for guys that want to come in here and be part of something bigger than themselves, play selfless, play team basketball, and be available. That goes not only for Kyrie but for everybody here.”Irving was eligible for a maximum contract extension this season, but he and the Nets did not reach an agreement on one.Irving returns to join Durant, the 12-time All-Star and winner of the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2014.“When I say I’m here with Kev, I think that really entails us managing this franchise together alongside Joe and Sean,” Irving said, referring to the team’s owner, Joe Tsai, after the Nets had been swept by the Boston Celtics in April in the first round of the playoffs.Irving and Durant arrived in Brooklyn in the summer of 2019, shunning the Knicks, who had created the salary-cap space to sign superstars that summer, too. The promise their union offered would be delayed: Durant was still recovering from an Achilles’ tendon injury he had sustained during the 2019 N.B.A. finals and would miss all of the 2019-20 season.The Nets were willing to wait. Both players had signed four-year deals; they would have plenty of time together.Irving returned to join Kevin Durant, a 12-time All-Star.Brad Penner/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThat season was interrupted by the pandemic, and Irving played in only 20 games, in part because of an injury to his right shoulder. The Nets went to the league’s so-called bubble at Walt Disney World without either player and lost in the first round of the playoffs.Durant returned for the 2020-21 season, healed and just as dangerous to opponents as ever. The Nets traded for James Harden in January 2021, creating what many thought would be an unstoppable superteam.They finished second in the East and nearly made it to the conference finals, losing in seven games to the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round.Then, once again, the pandemic complicated things.Heading into the 2021-22 season, Irving chose not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, despite a New York City ordinance that would prevent him from playing in Brooklyn without the shot. The N.B.A. required that teams comply with local rules about vaccines.The Nets initially said he would not be allowed to play until he was eligible for all games. Seeing the toll that was taking on their record, they changed course and allowed Irving to play in arenas where he was eligible. He made his season debut on Jan. 5.Ben Simmons, acquired in a midseason trade with Philadelphia, had off-season back surgery and has yet to play for the team.Michelle Farsi for The New York TimesFor a while, the Nets made it work despite Irving’s long absences. Durant, who signed a four-year extension before the season, helped lead the team to the second-best record in the East on the day Irving made his season debut.Then Durant sprained his knee, leaving Harden as the only available star. Harden grew irritated with Irving and eventually asked for a trade. The Nets sent him to Philadelphia, acquiring Ben Simmons just before the trade deadline.Simmons has yet to play for the Nets and had back surgery in May.In March, Mayor Eric Adams of New York altered the city ordinance that had barred Irving from playing in Brooklyn, just in time for baseball season, creating an exception for professional athletes and entertainers. Irving made his home debut on March 27.In all, Irving played in 29 regular-season games last season.When he played, he showed glimpses of the kind of brilliance that made him a coveted player in the past. He scored 60 points in a March 15 win at Orlando, 50 points in a March 8 win in Charlotte and 43 points in a March 23 win in Memphis.But his return did not come soon enough to give the Nets the chemistry they needed to succeed in the playoffs. More

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      Kyrie Irving Wants the Nets, but Do the Nets Want Him?

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      Brooklyn needs its star guard to be more than a part-time player next season, General Manager Sean Marks said, without clearly stating the team wants Irving back.As the Nets’ disappointing season reached its end after they were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Kyrie Irving made clear that he was committed to the Nets for the long term.But after a season in which Irving played only 29 of the 82 regular season games because of his refusal to comply with a local vaccine ordinance, do the Nets want him back?That question loomed over the team’s season-ending news conference on Wednesday held by General Manager Sean Marks and Coach Steve Nash. While Marks was reluctant to give a clear answer, that he didn’t immediately say “yes” spoke nearly as clearly as anything he could have said. The Nets haven’t decided yet if Irving can and should be part of their future. “I think we know what we’re looking for,” Marks said. “We’re looking for guys that want to come in here and be part of something bigger than themselves, play selfless, play team basketball, and be available. That goes not only for Kyrie but for everybody here.”That theme of availability persisted throughout Marks’ remarks, and has been challenging for the Nets’ star players. Irving and Kevin Durant signed with Brooklyn to great fanfare in 2019, but the Nets have yet to reap the benefits of adding two multiple-time All-Stars who had each won championships by themselves. Durant missed all of the 2019-20 season while recovering from an Achilles’ tendon injury he sustained in the 2019 finals with Golden State.Last season, they added James Harden through a trade with Houston, creating what was supposed to be a formidable lineup. They lost to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season despite 48 points in Game 7 from Durant, who hit a buzzer-beating 2-pointer to tie the game in regulation. His toe was on the 3-point arc — the shot was mere millimeters from being a game-winner.Rather than building on that near miss, the Nets went backward this season.Irving declined to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, which meant he would not be able to play in games in Brooklyn or at Madison Square Garden for most of the season. The Nets initially decided they didn’t want a part-time player, and said Irving would not play until he was eligible for all of their games. They abruptly changed course in January and Irving began exclusively playing in road games outside New York and Toronto.On Wednesday afternoon, Marks declined to reconsider that decision, while again stressing the importance of a player’s availability.“When you have a player of Kyrie’s caliber, you try and figure out: How do we get him in the mix and how long can we get him in the mix for?” Marks said. “Because the team was built around saying, ‘Well, Kyrie and Kevin are going to be available.’”Irving’s absences made the Nets’ margins that much slimmer. Any time Durant or Harden were injured, that meant the team was down two starters instead of just one. As they dealt with coronavirus-related absences, like many teams did, they had fewer players on whom to rely. Irving, right, with Kevin Durant in a playoff game in April.Brad Penner/USA Today Sports, via Reuters“There were a variety of teams out there and the teams that are still playing to this day, they may not have had quite the extent of the excuses that we can come up with, but they had to navigate Covid as well, they had to navigate injuries,” Marks said. “And if I’m going to be brutally honest, they navigated it better than we did.”Harden tired of Irving’s absences and the challenges they posed. He was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, who play in Game 6 of their second-round series against the Miami Heat on Thursday night.In the trade, the Nets acquired Ben Simmons, who didn’t play a game for them. Simmons had back surgery on May 5 after magnetic resonance imaging showed a “herniation had expanded,” Marks said.In talking about the team’s big stars, Marks mostly spoke of Durant alone. He said Durant was a draw for other players around the league — that people wanted to play for him. He said Durant is the team’s best player development coach. He talked of wanting to involve Durant in personnel decisions, without asking him to actually make those decisions.“People think player empowerment means you just let them do whatever they want to do,” Marks said. “That wasn’t the case when Steve was a player. That wasn’t the case when I was a player on any of the teams we’ve been on. That’s not the case here. I think involving players on key decisions at particular points in the season is the right way to do it. There’s nothing worse than having players surprised by something.”Whether Irving returns to the team is not just in the Nets’ hands. He has a player option for next season worth $36.5 million and is also eligible for an extension worth $200 million over five years. Should he decline his player option, he would become an unrestricted free agent.He showed his dynamism on the court in several games this season, scoring 50 points against the Charlotte Hornets in March and then 60 a week later against the Orlando Magic.But what use is that explosiveness if he isn’t playing?“I think there’s been far too much debate, discussion, scuttlebutt — whatever you want to call it — about distractions, and about things that really are outside of basketball,” Marks said. “Whereas we’d like to focus on doing some of the things that got us here in the first place.”Marks made that comment in his opening remarks during Wednesday’s news conference, before anyone had asked him about Irving. It fit, though, with the message he seemed to be sending throughout his news conference. It was a message to Irving about committing in a real way, not just contractually, to a team that could have used more of him this season. More

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      Anybody Can Dribble a Basketball. But Few Can Do It Like This.

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      There’s hardly a more exciting play in basketball.A player is pounding the ball up and down with eyes darting left and right, deciding a point of attack. The player feints with one hand, and leans that way, so the defender follows. The ball flicks the other way, and the hapless defender slips, or in an even more embarrassing outcome, falls. The crowd oohs and aahs.Few basketball skills require more consistent creativity than ball-handling. The opportunities for flashy dunks and showy passes come and go. But innovative ball-handling is a constant need, particularly in the N.B.A., where athletic defenders are primed to close off every point of attack.This year’s N.B.A. postseason has featured some of the best dribblers in basketball history, including Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Chris Paul and Stephen Curry. Curry creates space for deep 3-pointers while defenders swarm him. Harden baits defenders into fouling him all over the court. Irving is a wizard at misdirections and spin moves to get to the rim. Paul operates the ball like it is on a string. All four can get by defenders with ease.The New York Times asked three generational dribblers to discuss ball-handling: God Shammgod, Tim Hardaway and Oscar Robertson.Shammgod, an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks, had a brief N.B.A. career, but his dribbling became a thing of lore on New York City’s outdoor courts. His signature move — the Shammgod crossover, in which he pushes the ball forward with one hand and then pulls it across with the other — influenced a generation of players.Hardaway, who played in the N.B.A. from 1989 to 2003, was one of the league’s best point guards. His notable move was a double crossover called the UTEP Two Step, nodding to the college he played for, the University of Texas at El Paso.Oscar Robertson was an early purveyor of the crossover dribble in the 1960s.Focus on Sport, via Getty ImagesRobertson, a Hall of Famer and the first player to average a triple-double for an entire N.B.A. season, was an early purveyor of the crossover dribble in the 1960s.This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.What makes for a great ballhandler?SHAMMGOD Most of all imagination. Just learning how to manipulate the ball and manipulate angles. To be an elite dribbler, I would say you have to know how to use your body, use your footwork. Because dribbling is all footwork.HARDAWAY Not turning the ball over. Being under control. Knowing when to take your man and how to set your man up.ROBERTSON Experience and time. I started playing when I was young. I was a guard. I started hammering the ball, dribbling and making a lot of mistakes. And then, literally, you get involved and you learn different players, and what they’re trying to do to you. And you have the confidence in going inside at just anyone.Shooting is a skill that has evolved over time. Centers are now launching 3-pointers. How has the approach to ball-handling changed?SHAMMGOD It’s changed a lot by hiring different coaches to help. I like to say there’s a difference between teaching somebody moves and teaching somebody how to dribble. Most people, when they come and they work with somebody, they want to learn moves. They want to learn the Tim Hardaway UTEP Two Step. They want to learn the Shammgod crossover or [Allen] Iverson crossover. But to me, that’s really not dribbling. That’s learning how to do moves.Tim Hardaway, creator of the UTEP Two Step, in 1993.Brian Drake/NBAE, via Getty ImagesHARDAWAY You know, back when we were playing, there weren’t that many cameras. There wasn’t social media. So now they catch every little tidbit from each angle so it can be five different angles where you see a guy shaking his man and getting to the hole or crossing somebody over and getting to the hole. Five different angles where you see the guy slip or fall.ROBERTSON Guys who can handle and dribble the ball are the most successful athletes. If you cannot dribble the ball around anybody, you’re not going to do very well in basketball.How did you develop your crossover?SHAMMGOD Growing up, I used to just look at every dribble move I could imagine. And then I would go practice it in slow motion. I would have two-pound ankle weights on my wrist.I would dribble in slow motion. I would watch film in slow motion so I could watch the point guard’s footwork or how they do a move. And then the biggest thing for me is when I used to take the weights off my wrist, it’s just like when you punch with wrist weights off. You take them off your hands, they’re flying everywhere.HARDAWAY I’m from Chicago. My parents’ basement wasn’t finished, and so I used to go down there when it was cold outside. I just used to go downstairs and just dribble and just work on my game. Dribbling, pretending the man was in front of me. In and out moves between my legs, crossovers behind my back — I used to just spend hours downstairs at a time. Just dribble, dribble, dribble.ROBERTSON Just watching guys that I played with in Indianapolis, a place called the dust bowl, which was outside. It was on concrete, but they called it the dust bowl. And there were some really great basketball players. It’s almost unbelievable. I’m sure they have these players in all parts of the country who played great outdoors but didn’t do very well when they went inside.Who are your favorite ballhandlers?SHAMMGOD Of course, the ones that easily come to mind: Kyrie. Steph. James Harden, Chris Paul.HARDAWAY I grew up watching a great person named Isiah Thomas, great ballhandler. It moved on to myself. And then, it moved to Rod Strickland. Oh, man, Rod Strickland had crazy handles that nobody even recognizes anymore. And then, you know, you had guys that were coming up after us. Shammgod. And he’s out of New York. Derrick Rose had some nice handles out of Chicago. Then you look at these guys. Chris Paul, you know, at 37, still doing what he’s doing with the ball is amazing. Of course, Kyrie. Steph Curry, [Ja] Morant. James Harden.ROBERTSON I think Curry is very adept at handling the basketball. And also Ja Morant.They understand what the defense is trying to do to them. When you’re going out there, you’ve got to control your speed. To a certain extent, you can’t go 100 miles an hour because you don’t want to run into anybody. So these guys go in, they’re watching the defense.Stephen Curry fending off another skilled ballhandler, Ja Morant, last week during Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.Justin Ford/Getty ImagesWhat’s your most memorable crossover in a game?SHAMMGOD The game against Rutgers University. It was against Geoff Billet at Madison Square Garden at the [1997] Big East tournament. It was on the right side of the court. That was when I first did the move. I threw it out to go to the basket and he tried to run to steal the ball. And the only thing I could do is pull it back on my left hand.HARDAWAY It’s a crazy story. I’m driving, and my son said: “Dad, I know you don’t like talking in the car while you drive to the game. But I want to ask you. Everyone is talking about the crossover. What is a crossover?”I said, “Boy, you’ve never seen me do the crossover?” He said, “No!” I said: “OK, I see it, but you can’t go nowhere. You’ve got to stay in your seat.” Because he liked to roam and walk around. Go back to the play room, play PlayStation and all this and all that. I say: “You’ve got to stay in your seat for the whole game. At halftime, you go use the bathroom. Other than that, you’ve got to stay in your seat the whole game because I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but I guarantee you it’s going to happen.”And sure enough, like the second play of the game against New York Knicks, Game 7 [of the 1997 Eastern Conference semifinals]. I came down and I said, “I’m going to point to you.” And I did a crossover, laid it up and I pointed to him. I could see him jumping up and down, point blank, being like: “Yeah, OK, I see it. I understand.” So that was one of those memorable moments when you would talk to your son and then show him in action what was the crossover and how you do it.ROBERTSON I didn’t think about it, to be honest.To what extent is ball-handling an art?SHAMMGOD I think it’s art to the fullest extent. It’s crazy, because right now, even if you say my name to a dictionary, it won’t bring up me. It will bring up a move and it will bring up the way the move is done.HARDAWAY Man, it’s like rhythm. It’s like dancing. Isiah used to do it. Nate Archibald used to do it. I used to do it. Dribbling a ball is like dancing and keeping up with the beat of a song. And if you watch Kyrie, that’s how he dribbles. If you watch Rod Strickland, that’s how he dribbles.You watch Kemba Walker and if you watch Steph Curry, it’s like dribbling to a beat of a song. When you see those basketball commercials and they’re bouncing a ball, it is like going to the beat of the song. That’s how it is. And it’s just gracefully just moving with the basketball and really having that confidence that nobody can guard you. Nobody can stick you, and you get around them and you look at them in their eyeballs, and you will see that fear in their eyes, “Damn, I’m in trouble.” That’s the art of dribbling right there.ROBERTSON I just think you either have it or you don’t.Source photographs: Focus on Sport/Getty Images; Joe Murphy/NBAE, via Getty Images; Dale Tait/NBAE, via Getty Images; Jeff Chiu/Associated Press; Cary Edmondson/USA Today Sports, via Reuters; Daniel Dunn/USA Today Sports, via Reuters; Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports, via Reuters More