The Brooklyn Nets are one of the few NBA teams without a clear direction or future plan in the eyes of many fans. With the Boston Celtics owning much of their future draft picks, the team would have a tough time rebuilding. In addition, this Nets roster isn’t a Playoff-bound team. So, what’s their plan? Establishing a new culture.
Brooklyn, in its new reign under owner Mikhail Prokhorov and head coach Kenny Atkinson, has added like well-respected veterans such as Luis Scola, Randy Foye, and Jeremy Lin this offseason. Atkinson, one of the most respected and likeable coaches in the league, loves these kinds of additions. While this Nets team is far from good, the culture is certainly improving. Longtime Nets’ player Brook Lopez understands and approves what the team has done, as he tells Fred Kerber of the New York Post.
“It’s abnormal,” he said. “It’s a good feeling. I know they’ve been harping on the culture and all but it’s a completely unique feel this time, like we’re moving in that right direction. It’s something people actually want to be a part of.”
The 7-foot, 28-year-old center calls the training staff “an international work force” with “guys taking what they’ve learned all around the world, bringing it together in this eclectic fashion so we really have the best of the best.
“It’s hard,” Lopez said. “We’re together and we’re doing it. Before, we’d have guys coming in, wouldn’t really get their treatment [or] their mobilization. And they weren’t necessarily on time. It’s the way it should be now.”
The Nets are beginning their process of adding their guys to the franchise. Not necessarily in a win now or rebuild mode, the Nets have officially embarked on what should be a long journey to regaining prominence in the league. From what it sounds like, former All-Star Brook Lopez approves.
