Tag: Barclays Center

Steve Nash is the New Coach of the Brooklyn Nets

By on • ( Leave a comment )

ESPN – Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash has signed a four-year contract to become the next coach of the Brooklyn Nets, sources told ESPN. The Nets announced the hiring Thursday afternoon.

In recent weeks, Nets owner Joe Tsai and general manager Sean Marks have been aggressive in recruiting Nash to make the leap that he had so far resisted in his retirement as a transcendent player: head coaching.

The Nets are keeping Jacque Vaughn as the lead coach and making him the highest-paid assistant in the league, sources said. Vaughn made a strong impression on Tsai and Marks after taking over for Kenny Atkinson in February, including during the league’s restart in Orlando, and he likely would’ve been the Nets choice had Nash been unconvinced of taking the job, sources said.

My first reaction was WOW Steve Nash is jumping into coaching! Followed immediately by wow the Nets are AGAIN hiring a head coach with zero coaching experience just six years after the unmitigated disaster that was the Jason Kidd experiment. But in all seriousness, I love this move for the Nets.

Ironically enough, Nash and Kidd went into the HOF the same year, but Nash is a different story entirely. A lot of people don’t realize Nash has actually been running the Canadian National Team for years as its GM from 2012-2019. So he has quietly been developing his team building chops for a while behind the scenes. I completely forgot he was a consultant for the Warriors too so he apparently already has a relationship with Kevin Durant. Add in the fact the Nets’ GM Sean Marks was a teammate of Nash’s in Phoenix and he’ll have solid backing right out of the gate.

Despite all that I do wonder how Nash as the guy in charge for the first time will mesh with mercurial superstars in Kyrie Irving and Durant. But these guys likely hand picked Nash so they should be on board. It will be interesting to see how the three work together when things inevitably get rocky like they do for any team. We’ll see just how much of LeBron has rubbed off on Kyrie, as LeBron is infamous for working behind the scenes to hire and fire coaches.

Nash is an extremely intelligent guy who has played with Hall of Famers, superstars, and mercurial talents like Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Grant Hill, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dwight Howard, Jason Kidd, and Joe Johnson among others. This guy has probably been an armchair psychologist for the better part of 20 years. He played with Ron Artest for christs sake.

Not to mention he has been teammates with a handful of guys that went into coaching themselves like Kidd, Avery Johnson, Walter McCarty, and Steve Blake. He even played for Danny Ainge in the late 90s!

This is all before you even mention just how great of a player Steve Nash truly was. He’s a 2x MVP and an 8x All-Star so this isn’t some stats nerd holding the clipboard, this is one of the greatest players of all time. Yet he’s still young enough at 46 for Durant and Kyrie to be violently aware of Nash’s stature as a legend of the game. That grants him boatloads of respect just walking through the door.

Although as a rookie head coach Nash needs to be prepared for the ball busting that will inevitably come from the veterans on the team for his ill advised Sports Illustrated cover shoot in LA.

I am fascinated thinking about how Nash will coach his team considering he was part of arguably the most famous offense ever created (behind the Triangle Offense) with the Seven Seconds or Less Suns. He won two MVPs playing for Mike D’Antoni in that style of offense so I wonder is something like that going to be his bread and butter? Add in the fact he was a consultant with the Warriors and you get a guy that has institutional knowledge of how to run a fast paced, pick and roll focused, three ball launching type of offense. Kyrie would EAT in that type of offense. Now he obviously has two superstars on his roster that can score from anywhere regardless of the offense, but Nash is more than aware of how too many stars on one team not buying into a system can sabotage a seemingly great thing. Remember his comments from his time in LA where he not so subtly criticized the offense they installed/the lack of adoption from some of their core guys.

“I think Dwight just didn’t hide the fact that he didn’t like it. You either have to decide and say ‘I’m not going to like it and move on or just eat it and make it work. You could tell he wasn’t committed to moving on. He didn’t like it. He was stuck in ‘I don’t like it mode.’ I’m not putting it on him but you can tell it really bothered him.”

…Howard resisted playing pick-and-roll with a point guard who perfected that play.

“He wanted to get the ball in the post,” Nash said. “Kobe can be a pain in the [butt]. Tough beans. That’s tough beans. Instead of being like, That’s Kobe and moving on and trying to work with it, it bothered him and ruffled his feathers. The ball didn’t move enough for him. When the ball doesn’t move enough, it means he didn’t get the ball enough.”

Either way I think his collection of experience of being the best player in the world, the pilot of the best offense in the league, the teammate of future NBA coaches, the elder statesman on a disastrous Lakers team, the GM of Team Canada, and a consultant for the All-World Warriors teams puts him in a unique position as a rookie head coach. I’m excited to see what he does for the Nets even if I do hope the Celtics crush them for the next decade.

All Hell Breaks Loose at UFC 223 Media Day as Conor McGregor and His Crew Blitz Fighters’ Caravan, McGregor Now In Police Custody

By on • ( 1 Comment )

So there honestly isn’t a great “article” out there detailing what happened yesterday but the good folks at Sherdog have an interesting social media and youtube breakdown that gives you not only a first person view of what went on, but a surreal one at that as you see and hear multiple UFC fighters as basically people at their jobs thrown into a chaotic situation.

The story itself goes like this: All of the UFC 223 fighters were at the Barclays Center for “media day”, where they sit and take numerous interviews from every outlet imaginable in the MMA world and beyond in order to promote their fight and the event. I know this is not what this blog is about but I’d like to address this is as grueling as it sounds. In the middle of a weight cut and 2 days away from a cage fight and you have to spend the whole day answer the same questions over and over.

Anyway, after media day the fighters were in a couple of vans, located under the Barclay’s where team buses normally are, waiting to go back to the hotel they were staying at. Unbeknownst to the fighters, security, etc. reps from The Mac Life, Conor McGregor’s website and branding campaign(s), had media credentials and thus access to the area where the caravan of vehicles was. McGregor apparently had taken exception to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s altercation with Artem Lobov, Khabib’s statement about there being one king after Saturday, being stripped of his belt in general, a combination of all of the above, or something else entirely and had flown across the Goddam Atlantic Ocean to rectify the situation. The folks from The Mac Life let him and a dozen or so of his crew, Lobov included, in a side door or something and they attacked the van Khabib was in. They threw some trash cans and barricades and God knows what else at the van. One projectile demolished one of the windows, cutting both Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg, who were sitting next to it, causing them to be pulled from their fights tomorrow. Something else cracked a windshield. This was all after McGregor’s crew demanded that somebody get off the van to confront them, most likely Khabib.

In the videos above you can see the look of absolute shock and confoundment in Ray Borg’s face. Like “is this happening?” You can hear Joanna Jedrzejczyk say something with the same amount of disbelief. Like I said it’s surreal. Another video from IG taken by someone in a Starbucks near or in the Barclay’s shows McGregor and his people running out of the building and into a large SUV. He was at large for awhile before surrendering and being taken into police custody around 10:30pm EST last night when he realized he’d probably be charged. I mean, shit. To be 29, at the height of your powers, a multi-millionaire many times over, and have an entire sport in your hand only to pull some shit like this is beyond stupid.

Who knows what was going through his head. Aside from the criminal charges, which will actually probably net out to some fines or what not when you think about it, there is a laundry list of other consequences that Conor will probably face. All of them of course are “probable” as it Conor McGregor after all. He’ll probably be suspended by the UFC itself. Dana White already said he’s not a fan of being in the CM business right now. He’ll probably be suspended by the NYSAC, which will be enforced by all athletic commissions in the United States. Whether or not you think athletic commissions overstep is a debate for another time, it’s probably happening. Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg could absolutely seek damages for their lost fight money as they have been pulled. The same could actually be said for their opponents, Anthony Pettis and Brandon Moreno. To that extent, while not the marquee fights on the card, losing them and the Lobov-Caceres fight, cancelled due to Lobov being pulled for his actions, could cost the UFC some money which means the UFC could go after Conor monetarily as well. It’s just a mess of shit that could rain down on him and that is just what comes off the top of my head as O, Idk, someone who isn’t a fucking lawyer.

The TL:DR of this blog is staggering: Conor and his buddies attack a group of UFC fighters on a van resulting in 3 fights being cancelled, two fighters being CUT BY BROKEN GLASS, and McGregor himself being arrested. Dana White called it “the most digusting” incident in UFC history and he may not be wrong, it really has been hard to process. It will be interesting to see as McGregor’s legal and professional battle unfold what the ramifications will be for the winner of tonight’s Main Event and the UFC as a whole. He didn’t come here to take part. He came here to cause chaos.

The NBA Offseason is the Best in Sports and its Not Even Close

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The amount of juice the NBA has provided since the season ended last week is just insane. Its been more entertaining than the NBA playoffs and even more so than the Finals. The NBA offseason is hands down the best in sports as GM’s continue to look around the league, see teams like Golden State, and just say fuck it lets reload.

In the immortal words of Ricky Bobby: “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

I think that needs to be the new slogan of the NBA. If you’re not Golden State then your franchise might as well punt on the next 3-5 years. It sounds like a joke, BUT THATS WHAT TEAMS ARE DOING. Sure, there are teams like the Celtics who are technically within striking distance so I applaud Trader Danny’s efforts to improve this team as long as it does so without mortgaging the future. But even LeBron and the Cavs, the team thats been to the NBA Finals the last 3 years IN A ROW, seem to be panicking. Cleveland has been in talks for all the big names like Paul George and Jimmy Butler all sandwiched around kicking their own GM to the bricks.

As much as it sucks there is a goddamn Super Team standing between the Celtics and a title, I’m glad it at least gives the rest of the league the motivation to either completely blow things up and rebuild or just stockpile as many assets and big name players as possible.

It’s like the Elite Four at the end of Victory Road in Pokemon. An absolute nightmare to deal with so don’t even both walking down the road if you’re not ready. Level up, get your shit together and then go after the top dogs.

So yesterday we had Woj Bomb after Woj Bomb. Paul George told the Pacers after next season he’s out so now they’re looking to get whatever they can for PG-13. The Knicks are listening to offers for 21-year old stud Kristaps Porzingis and the Celtics are one of the teams in talks with NY. Jimmy Butler saying he’d rather not play in Cleveland so the C’s are still in on that rumor too. Dwight Howard got traded, minutes after dropping some fire jokes about NBA trades on his own Twitter account.

Then we got the Lakers trading D’Angelo Russell, the Clippers looking to deal DeAndre Jordan, all while we still have the NBA fucking Draft on Thursday night. God knows how many more trades there will be and how much more hot, hot heat Woj is going to be dropping on Twitter.

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The only one drooling more than me right now is probably Ainge. No sleep til Brooklyn.