NEW YORK — It would be giving the Nets disorganization too much credit for timing the firing of Steve Nash to coincide with, and take the heat off, the latest Kyrie Irving controversy.
Things got so bad for Brooklyn, Jay Williams, self-proclaimed Nets fan, oft Irving supporter and confidant, said on ESPN (one of the league’s national TV partners): “They are now the most unlikable team in the NBA.” This dubious title will stick. For the controversy isn’t going away.
“With Kyrie Irving there is always going to be something,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said.
This became apparent Tuesday evening, hours after Nash was fired. TNT, the NBA’s other national TV partner, opened its pregame show with courtside reporter Jared Greenberg listing — incident by incident — how the coming of Irving and Kevin Durant adversely impacted the franchise. The list included the latest episode; Irving promoting a movie containing antisemitic tropes while selling preposterous conspiracy theories.
Rather than give the NBA a soft place to land, TNT’s crew spent a half-hour, prior to Bulls-Nets, digging into the controversy. This included Charles Barkley calling for Irving to be suspended. In case it didn’t know, Barkley reminded the Free World that NBA boss Adam Silver is Jewish. “... You gonna insult me, you have the right,” Barkley said. “But I [Silver] have the right to say: ‘You can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion.’”
Even the non-apology, apology Irving and the Nets issued Wednesday night was shaky. And by the time he issued a more direct apology late Thursday evening via his Instagram account, after the Nets hit him with an indefinite suspension (at least 5 games), the only thing certain about the Nets is the uncertainty surrounding the organization.
Has the team been irreparably damaged as a TV product? No matter when, if, or how, the Irving situation is eventually resolved, it will not be forgotten. Now, when it comes to likability, the Nets don’t register. That’s not good for TV ratings. And how will NBA stars going mum on the Irving fiasco impact the league’s image and the ratings for its national TV package?
Last week, when given a chance by ESPN reporter Nick Friedell to put the fire out, to clarify or further explain why he was promoting the movie, entitled “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” Irving said: “I’m not going to stand down on anything I believe.” The Nets' first cockeyed instinct was to not make Irving available to the media messengers, shielding him from boss scribes.
Could the negative reaction to Irving’s controversy, and fear of what’s next, cause eyeballs to exit Nets games on the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network? More importantly, could current advertisers decide they don’t want to be associated with the Nets, a team that protected and coddled, a player who endorses antisemitism?
Could advertisers abandon Nets telecasts on YES for the same reason? The Nets’ bottom line, already impacted by sluggish season ticket sales, could be adversely affected by the continued presence of Irving, who once again generated self-centered controversy, and created a huge distraction for the Nets organization and the NBA.
Will the Nets’ internal woes drive more eyeballs to Knicks telecasts on MSG? Lately, the Knickerbockers have not offered up their familiar brands of chaos and dysfunction, although Knicks prez Leon Rose still reserves his right to maintain media silence — unless he’s speaking to an MSG voice.
The MSG Network now sells Knicks’ hope while YES waits for the Nets’ next shoe to drop. Those current YES promos featuring superstars Durant and Irving are more discouraging than encouraging potential viewers to watch Nets basketball. They don’t produce the same star shine they did when the pair first arrived in Brooklyn.
And now, besides Irving’s upcoming meeting with Silver, all interested parties can look forward to the coming of coach Ime Udoka, who was sitting out a one-year suspension from the Celtics for an improper relationship with a female subordinate. Another Nets mess?
At least until Irving issues another proclamation. Or Durant plots to get another coach fired.
