The Brooklyn Nets' Mid-Season

By Jonathan Nachsin - February 2nd ,2022

The NBA season so far has been filled with amazing matchups and games as well as league controversies and injuries. Where do the Brooklyn Nets stand in all this? The season is about halfway through, and the Nets have a lot on their plate. A great season so far with a record of 27-16, things have seemed to take a turn. Nets star Kevin Durant recently endured a knee sprain injury resulting in an expected absence of 4-6 weeks. In addition, fellow star Kyrie Irving, an unvaccinated player, has only recently been able to play the Nets away games. This is because of New York City’s policy which mandates vaccination for all public indoor activities. But will these obstacles derail their playoff hopes? According to sport statistics source fivethirtyeight, they have a 91% chance to make the playoffs which means most likely, it won't.

But how have the Knicks been? With a not-so-great season so far, the Knicks have an almost even record of 22-23 at 11th place in their division. This season the Knicks haven't received any devastating injuries although they lost their starting point guard and veteran of the league Kemba Walker for 9 games just coming back tonight. Why are they losing so much? There’s no real reason then overall not having the right pieces. Unlike other teams in the NBA the Knicks don't have a star player to carry them all the way to the championship. The question is will they make the playoffs? According to fivethirtyeight, it’s extremely unlikely with an 11% chance of attending the playoffs and public opinion also doubts playoff chances.

Kyrie Irving one of the most eccentric players in basketball officially returning to the NBA only being permitted to play home games because of his unvaccinated status.  The decision made by the league has the basketball community and people outside of it furious. Today I have as you may know as the center of the JV basketball team Zakir Rothstein and we're getting his thoughts on the Brooklyn Nets right now and Kyrie Irving returning. He stated that he thinks that the Kyrie situation can be perceived in two ways, the nets organization let an unvaccinated player back on the team or they brought him back to help the other players and he said he believes both sides. He also stated when comparing Knicks and Nets “one is like a 5-star Peter Lugers meal and the other a McDonalds happy meal. One is fun, the other amazing. The Nets are a real championship contending team while the Knicks can be a fun team.” Zakir, an active supporter of the Brooklyn Nets who watches daily games, thinks that the Nets could go extremely far this year while the Knicks probably won't make the playoffs.

The season still has a couple months left to go before playoffs anything can happen! Make sure to keep tuning in to the NBA and rooting for your favorite teams and players!