In an interview late last week with the New York Post, NBA analyst and former player Jalen Rose said he thought the New York Knicks would finish with a record similar to the Brooklyn Nets.
Nope, the air conditioner in your house isn’t broken. The current wave of heat you just felt was Jalen Rose asserting a take that’s as hot as the sun. Here’s the official quote:
"“On paper, while I love (Caris) LeVert, (Spencer) Dinwiddie and those guys playing with Kyrie and having (Jarrett) Allen down low, they have what it takes to be a playoff team,” Rose told The Post. “But without KD, their record will probably hover around what it was last year. On paper, if everyone plays to their expectations, I don’t feel the Knicks’ record should be far off that and almost be as good as theirs.”"
While the rest of the story can be found here, all this has seemed to do for Brooklyn Nets fans is provide clarity on one thing – the media’s refusal to accept that the Nets are objectively a better team. It’s not an unpopular opinion to say that the national media and even dedicated NBA fans are already forgetting about the Brooklyn Nets, but this quote has served as more fuel on the fire.
The continued narrative that the Nets won’t be successful without Kevin Durant is outlandish. A team that last season alone improved their overall win total by fourteen and reloaded with a point guard upgrade and a top ten center in the league.
If one was to guess which team was presumed to land Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and the other was going to spend $114 million on three power forwards to open free agency, would you be able to guess which team did which? I’d take the former for at least ten more wins.
Even with Kevin Durant out for a majority of the season, the Brooklyn Nets are better in every measurable aspect. The Nets second unit would take the Knicks starting five in five games.
Once October rolls around, the Brooklyn Nets will have the opportunity to control the rhetoric that’s being thrown around about them. They’ll have the chance to show the world who the city of New York really belongs to.