How to keep Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant’s egos in check — ”Hire Mike Krzyzewski”
Mike Krzyzewski, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant
© Troy Wayrynen and Winslow Townson - USA TODAY Sports
In the coming days, analysts will parse out what led to the Brooklyn Nets’ embarrassing first-round exit. Fingers will be pointed everywhere: at the coach, at the front office, at the series of internal issues. But according to analyst Jeff Goodman, all the fingers should be pointed at Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving’s egos.
Steve Nash was dealt with a bad hand
As Goodman sees it, Steve Nash had to deal with a slew of troubles throughout the course of the NBA season. Irving’s vaccine stance was just one of them. Apart from this, James Harden wasn’t pleased with how things were going in Brooklyn, which triggered him to request a trade.
“I feel so bad for Steve Nash. Like, honestly, you come into your coaching career and he’s the nicest, most positive human being in the world. But you’ve got to deal with James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant,”
Jeff Goodman, The Greg Hill Show
Goodman’s reading echoes somewhat Irving’s comments right after Nash was named head coach in 2020. Irving might have meant that it’d be a collaborative effort with Nash. But given Irving’s odd history, fans read it differently.
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“And I think it’s also going to change the way we see coaches. I don’t really see us having a head coach. You know what I mean? KD could be a head coach. I could be a head coach,” Irving said, per The ETCs with Kevin Durant.
The hunt for a new coach begins?
Goodman offered the thought of a head coach hunt. A brand new coach has to take over to keep Durant and Irving’s egos in check. Goodman believes that legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who had just retired, would command respect from the two stars.
“Who are you going to use to coach? Like seriously, go pick somebody. It doesn’t matter who you pick to coach Kyrie and KD, who do you want to pick? Mike Krzyzewski? Is he going to want to deal with them? I know they have respect for him, but they have respect for him when he was coaching them for Team USA and at Duke in college. I don’t know if those guys are going to have respect for anybody coaching them.”
Jeff Goodman, The Greg Hill Show
“I think if I was him I’d be like, I’m done. This isn’t worth it. It’s not worth it. I mean seriously, you don’t even get to coach,” Goodman added.
While Coach K would definitely humble Irving and Durant, let’s temper our expectations on this suggestion. After all, Krzyzewski has had numerous offers to coach in the NBA, and he declined all of them. What are the chances that he changes his mind, especially now that he’s officially retired?
Safe to say that it will be an interesting offseason for the Nets. On top of fixing the Ben Simmons issue, they’ll need to evaluate if a coaching change is indeed in order. Breaking off their squad is out of the question. The Nets roster is oozing with talent and experience. But if they are to make a significant roster tweak, perhaps it should start with their two stars.
