New York Post, Tuesday, December 1, 2020
nypost.com
NBA TRAINING CAMP GUIDE
By BRIAN LEWISThe Nets start argu ably the
most highly anticipated — and
clearly the strangest— train-
ing camp in their historyTues-
day.
With Kevin Durant and
Kyrie Irving in the mix, cham-
pionship aspirations in mind,
and the specterof COVID- 19
staring them in theface, the
Nets willreturnto HSS Train-
ing Centerto begin preparing
for the Dec.22 season opener.
The returnsof Durant and
Irving from injury— Durant’s
torn Achilles in the 2019 NBA
Fi nals, and Irving’s season-
ending shoulder surgery — are
expectedto make theNets a
contenderfor the NBA Finals.
Putting aside any potentialto
trad e for James Harden, the
Nets are bringinga solidros-
ter to campTuesday.
“Whenyou’re thepart of
some rumors out there, you
ta ke heed and just look how
fa r the Ne ts orga nizat ion has
come,” said GM Sean Marks,
who inherited the NBA’s worst
team four seasons ago and is
handingrookiecoachSteve
Nash a legitimate contender.
“We’re obviously excited
to get the team that we have,
to be honest, ou t on the floor,
andI think not only withKev-
in andKy andCaris [LeVert]
andJarret t Allen,you work
your way through theros-
ter. For thoseguys having the
opportunity to get out there
andwear theblack-and-white,
that’s the most important
thing.”
Irving hasn’tworn theblack-
and-white since Feb. 1, his Nets
debut campaign cut short after
just20 games. Durant hasn’t
pl ayed a secondfo r Brooklyn,
or at all since rupturing his
Achilles onJune 10, 2019.
It’ll be540 days since Durant
lastplayed a competitive
ga me; but he and about half
therostercongregated in LA
for pickupgames this month.Now, after working out in Ber-
gen County, they’refinally set
to re-enter HSS en massefor
individualworkouts starting
Tuesday, and fullteam work-
outsSunday.
“They’ve beenback in our
gym now for acouple days.
And being around, thefeedback
from our performance team
and how they’ve looked, their
preparing has beenterrific,”
Markssaid onNo v. 19. “They’re
hungry. It goes back to what
theseguys set out to accom-
plish a year ago when they said
‘I want to come to Brooklyn.I
want to be a part of this.I want
to build something sustainable
and do something special.’
“They’re putting themselves
in a great place to succeed.
... It’s been nothing shortof
remarkable to watch Kevin’s
development and theway
he ’s atta cked hisre habilita-
tionover the courseof the last
year. We’re all champingat the
bit andvery excitedto see him
out here, see the entire group
out there.”
The groupincludes stal-
warts such as LeVert, Allen,
Joe Harris and Spencer Din-
widdie, the latter of whom has
been linked in trade rumors
for Harden.It also includes
newcomers Landry Shamet,
Bruce Brown, Tyler Johnsonand Elie Okobo, who filled out
the camprosterMonday.
“Howdoes thefit work?”
Marks asked rhetorically.
“That’s where Steve comes
into play.”
Nash — with the helpof for-
mer mentor Mike D’Antoni,
now his assistant— will have
to figure out how to blend
them alltogether under the
pressure of great expecta-
tions.
They’ll also be labor-
ing under the shadow
of COVID-19, literally as
well asfiguratively.
It’s unclearwhen or if
fa ns willreturnto Bar-
clays Centerfor games
this season, or how many
of the Nets’ road games
will beplayed before
crowds. But the stark-
estreminderof the
pa ndemic willco me
as the players,
coaches and staff
regroupat HSS
Tr ainingCe n-
ter, right across
39th Street in
theformof a
mobile morgue.
With coro-
navirus hav-
ing killed
more than
34,000 in the
city, about
650 bodies
are still being
stored in
wh it e re friger-
ation trucks in
theparking lot
across the street
from HSS Training
Center, accordingto
theWall Street Journal.
The Nets can see it not
only entering the glass-
fronted building, but
from thecourt as they
practice — areminder
of how differe nt thisyear
has been and this season
will be.
[email protected]NETS GET TO IT
Brooklyn will finally have KD, Kyrie
together when camp opens today
Steve
NashKyrie
IrvingKevin
DurantGetty
Images (4)