Beyond the Bylines: Getting to Know the Nothin’ But Nets Team
By Sandy Mui
Zach Cronin
Favorite NBA team: The Nets — shockingly. They’re at the top, but I’ll watch anything. Oklahoma City is up there because I love the passion and killer mentality that Russell Westbrook plays with. There’s also Minnesota because, let’s face it, their ultra-young core is super entertaining to watch. Also, the 76ers are another team. Who doesn’t like some Joel Embiid?
Favorite NBA player(s): Isaiah Thomas from the Boston Celtics. There’s only been one other player at his size (5-foot-9) who can dominate a game like him, and it was Calvin Murphy, who played for Houston from 1970-1983. Thomas is like a new-school Allen Iverson, but far less polarizing as an icon. His relentlessness for a short player isn’t seen in the league today, and I believe he’s one of the top-10 point guards in the association. He’s also left-handed, and I’m biased to players with the same handedness as me — lefties have to stick together, right?
Player(s) you want to meet: I don’t want this to sound like a cop out, but all of them. Each guy in the NBA has their own unique story. From LeBron James and Stephen Curry to Cheick Diallo and Spencer Hawes, no two guys have the same personality. Some are more vibrant than others — yes, I’m looking at you, J.R. Smith, now put your shirt back on.
How did you become interested in NBA basketball?
Baseball got me into the NBA. When I was younger, probably around 2005-06, I was a huge Yankees fan, and the Yankees and Nets have shared the YES Network since the early 2000s. During baseball’s offseason, I watched basketball. The then-New Jersey Nets were actually a perennial playoff team, and it made everything easier to watch. As I got older and got more involved in the NBA and with basketball as a whole, I grew away from baseball and prioritized basketball as my number one sport.
If you’re pursuing sports journalism as a career, when did you realize this was what you wanted to do? If not, what is your career goal, and what drives you to cover sports?
My interest in journalism came from my interest in writing, and it was when I was studying architecture at school. I hated that major. Me going to class was like stepping on 1,000 Legos while barefoot, and writing was what kept me from going insane. I didn’t have that epiphany until I was 18, which was about two years ago, and I shifted focus from architecture to journalism and writing. Since then, I’ve founded my own media/publishing company (TBN Media) and cover the NBA full-time there; I regularly contribute about the Nets for NBN and Elite Sports NY, where I’m also an editor.
What is your favorite piece you’ve written for NBN? If you haven’t been here long enough, what is your favorite piece you’ve written for any publication?
It’s between two: Top 5 Moments in Brooklyn Nets’ History and Sean Kilpatrick’s Rocky Road in the NBA. I love NBA history. It’s illustrious, to say the least, and the change the NBA has seen over time is scintillating. That’s why I like the former piece. I was able to dig through the Nets’ history and learn about the franchise.
For Kilpatrick’s piece, it was the story. When I write, I try to give the best story I can — after all; that’s what this art is about. Although Kilpatrick wrote his own story, I had a blast doing the research on it and highlighting each increment from his time at Cincinnati, to the D-League, and now as one of the Nets’ go-to guys.