Kyrie to Durant ...

[Whiskey Slick]

"Bro, I already killed Harden by giving him extended minutes to carry the team in my absence."

"Now it's your turn."

"Good luck with that Achilles and Hamstring."

"Oh and if by chance you do join Harden on the IL, only worse, blame Steve Nash for trying to win and caring too much about playoff seeding. As for me, I'm in a no lose situation. If Nash tries too hard and extends your minutes, and you get hurt, most fans and media will give Nash all the blame. And if he doesn't try to win because limiting your minutes and protecting your health is his priority, not playoff seeding, and we start losing to teams like the T-Wolves, Nash will get the blame from the fans for that too. Meantime they'll misdirect their anger at guys like Whiskey Slick for posts like this one ..."

Right now Kyrie has a job like my Uncle used to have. Not gonna lie, he was connected to the mob, long time ago, but he had what they used to call a no-show job just to appease his parole officer. So basically he showed up when he felt like it, because it wouldn't look good to never show-up, but only when he felt like it. When you think about it, his job wasn't a hell of a lot different than Kyrie's.

Hey, it's a nice gig if you can get it.

[ecuhus1981]

I'm not gonna lie, this latest report of an absence due to personal reasons" chaps my hide.

I know nothing of KAI's personal life, and I'm not making a moral assessment of his character. I'm looking at the same information as the rest of you, and drawing my personal conclusion that he is not the on-court leader he professes to be. He's really a kind soul in regard to philanthropy and social justice. That's cool, and that's not his craft.

All credit to the organization and his teammates, we haven't heard one peep about dissension due to Kyrie's unreliability. Maybe they know more than we do, or maybe someone has instructed them not to talk to the media about it. Either way, kudos. This situation only gets uglier when someone issues a sound byte. I say when, because I feel it's only a matter of time.

[sashaturiaf]

Nash won't be that short sighted. KD will get his 30 minutes or whatever it was under his minutes restriction that that'll be it.

There are no must win games in the regular season, especially against the Timberwolves. We need to play the role players more anyway to see how to respond when they aren't being force fed buckets by the stars. God knows they should be motivated after that **** against the Lakers.

[sashaturiaf]

I'm not gonna lie, this latest report of an absence due to personal reasons" chaps my hide.

I know nothing of KAI's personal life, and I'm not making a moral assessment of his character. I'm looking at the same information as the rest of you, and drawing my personal conclusion that he is not the on-court leader he professes to be. He's really a kind soul in regard to philanthropy and social justice. That's cool, and that's not his craft.

All credit to the organization and his teammates, we haven't heard one peep about dissension due to Kyrie's unreliability. Maybe they know more than we do, or maybe someone has instructed them not to talk to the media about it. Either way, kudos. This situation only gets uglier when someone issues a sound byte. I say when, because I feel it's only a matter of time.

I'm fine with it until he starts taking personal days in the conferences finals or something.

Objectively it's not a great look since the role players know they'll be cut or traded if they do what Kyrie does, but hey let's be real that's the NBA for you. I don't think our team identity (KD, Kyrie, even Harden) is one that enjoys sugar coating things anyway.

[ecuhus1981]

Nash won't be that short sighted. KD will get his 30 minutes or whatever it was under his minutes restriction that that'll be it.

You say that, and the minutes restriction is real. But let's be honest, Nash ran Harden into the ground, when many of us said for weeks before his injuries that he needed a night off badly. His 3pt shot had looked off since the ASG, but when his floater stopped being automatic, I knew he needed a rest. We finally got him off a couple of games, but the horse had already left the barn, James was walking wounded by that point.

I can see a world where Nash does a similar thing with Kevin. He might push the envelope with KD's minutes because at need an on-court leader, when if we had Kyrie or James he would not risk it.

Hopefully, Irving is only gone for Monday. At this point, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, and we find out Kyrie is gone for 2 weeks for undisclosed reasons.

[Whiskey Slick]

Hopefully, Irving is only gone for Monday. At this point, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, and we find out Kyrie is gone for 2 weeks for undisclosed reasons.

Honestly, at this point I'll be surprised if that DOESN'T happen.

[Whiskey Slick]

But let's be honest, Nash ran Harden into the ground, when many of us said for weeks before his injuries that he needed a night off badly. His 3pt shot had looked off since the ASG, but when his floater stopped being automatic, I knew he needed a rest.

All of that is the gospel truth.

The man was exhausted, playing on fumes, but he was so determined to win that he refused to be taken out unless he couldn't even run up and down the court, and that's mostly because he didn't trust we could win if Kyrie wasn't there to replace him.

Make no mistake about it, that's absolutely a part of the reason Harden is on the IL now. The degree is purely subjective, but no-one will ever convince me it didn't contribute to James straining his Hammy. As you pointed out, right before he got hurt the man was missing shots he normally makes blindfolded, including his tear-drop which is normally a LAY-UP for James Harden.

[LOUiS-D]

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. He's his own man, that's the reason why he's here. Without him our lineup is Allen, Lev, Harris, Dlo, Din, Clax. Those are my boys and that's a fiesty, fun team. It's not sniffing the conference finals... ever.

I'm ride or die with kai and for the most part it's a sinch because this dude is a closer and a basketball virtuoso.

[sashaturiaf]

Nash won't be that short sighted. KD will get his 30 minutes or whatever it was under his minutes restriction that that'll be it.

You say that, and the minutes restriction is real. But let's be honest, Nash ran Harden into the ground, when many of us said for weeks before his injuries that he needed a night off badly. His 3pt shot had looked off since the ASG, but when his floater stopped being automatic, I knew he needed a rest. We finally got him off a couple of games, but the horse had already left the barn, James was walking wounded by that point.

I can see a world where Nash does a similar thing with Kevin. He might push the envelope with KD's minutes because at need an on-court leader, when if we had Kyrie or James he would not risk it.

Hopefully, Irving is only gone for Monday. At this point, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, and we find out Kyrie is gone for 2 weeks for undisclosed reasons.

Harden is perceived as an Ironman though. While KD is coming off 2 months of no gametime while recovering from a very major injury. Let's hope Nash isn't that dumb to give KD the Harden treatment.

I grimaced when I saw KD rubbing his right hamstring against the Lakers...

[MrDollarBills]

I doubt Nash is going to run KD into the ground like he did Harden, KD is on strict injury management whereas Harden had no significant injuries before that.

Much ado about nothing. If Kyrie starts missing games in the playoffs for personal reasons wake me up, til then some of yall are just looking to vent about someone just because we lost a game. Same thing happens every time we lose this season. Someone wants to complain about Nash, Kyrie, whatever. The long game is what's important here.

This is the first pure winning season I have enjoyed since the early 00s. If you're going to get rattled by one loss out of every few games I don't know what to tell you. I sat through the Marbury days where we won like 20 games, the 12-70 year, Billy King era, and the early Marks days of rebuilding where every win felt like a championship celebration. Yall need to relax and actually enjoy this because time is fleeting and it will be over before you know it.

[ecuhus1981]

I can only speak for myself, I'm not tripping over an L.

There's something to be said for building championship habits, and it starts at the top. Thank goodness, Kyrie is not our alpha, or even our beta. He has the luxury of just being his creative, awesome self on the court, and we have the luxury of not relying on him for leadership as much as most teams would of a top 15 player. Still, he has an elevated status among his teammates, and that comes with responsibilities of accountability and availability.

Nash doesn't need to play Durant 43mpg exactly like Harden, in order to push the envelope. For Kevin, the magic number could be 26, or 31, who knows for sure. Whatever that number is, he's definitely not ready to carry this team, you can tell from his high turnover rate. He goes through these spells when he is returning where he lacks physicality and coughs up the ball under pressure, because he is still worried about re-njury. I can't blame him, I just don't want KD In a situation where he's reached his minutes limit and we need a superstar play to close out a game. Nash won't sit him, and Kevin will push his body too far .

[Prokorov]

Nash won't be that short sighted. KD will get his 30 minutes or whatever it was under his minutes restriction that that'll be it.

You say that, and the minutes restriction is real. But let's be honest, Nash ran Harden into the ground, when many of us said for weeks before his injuries that he needed a night off badly. His 3pt shot had looked off since the ASG, but when his floater stopped being automatic, I knew he needed a rest. We finally got him off a couple of games, but the horse had already left the barn, James was walking wounded by that point.

I can see a world where Nash does a similar thing with Kevin. He might push the envelope with KD's minutes because at need an on-court leader, when if we had Kyrie or James he would not risk it.

Hopefully, Irving is only gone for Monday. At this point, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, and we find out Kyrie is gone for 2 weeks for undisclosed reasons.

I dont think you can compare playing harden, the NBA's ironman, big minutes when healthy no rest to KD coming back from a hamstring injury he already had a setback on.

[Prokorov]

I doubt Nash is going to run KD into the ground like he did Harden, KD is on strict injury management whereas Harden had no significant injuries before that.

Much ado about nothing. If Kyrie starts missing games in the playoffs for personal reasons wake me up, til then some of yall are just looking to vent about someone just because we lost a game. Same thing happens every time we lose this season. Someone wants to complain about Nash, Kyrie, whatever. The long game is what's important here.

This is the first pure winning season I have enjoyed since the early 00s. If you're going to get rattled by one loss out of every few games I don't know what to tell you. I sat through the Marbury days where we won like 20 games, the 12-70 year, Billy King era, and the early Marks days of rebuilding where every win felt like a championship celebration. Yall need to relax and actually enjoy this because time is fleeting and it will be over before you know it.

When Kyrie starts missing games to something that not excused wake me up.

If he missed game 7 of the NBA finals and we lost by 1 point in quadrouple ovrtime i would not be even close to bothered by it

God/spirituality, Self, Family, Work in that order, always. Every absesnce he has had has been excused by the team and his teammates are 100% in support for him.

the fact that we have 0 articles from the media about his teammates being mad (including ones no longer on the team) just shows how much his teammates love him. the media is certainly looking for a single hair they can turn into an article about how this is causing a rift

Also, i get on nash a ton for a coach, but as a manager of stars he is doing outstanding.

As far as the absence i dont know what it was for, but so far, once we get details, it seems legit. Id guess its related to his fiancee/kid again. Speculation is ramadan is tommorow and he is doing some ceremony and beggining his fast. i dont really know much about muslim culture or if other muslims would take off or not but im not here to bash anyone for missing time the team has excused for religious reasons.

Last time he took off people were like "F this dude he is just taking off his birthday" then it came out he was having a kid:

Read on Twitter

The firs time he missed time it was said that it was "for his sisters birthday" which he did attend but i guess that was also related to his fiancee and her pregnancy.

I think people are upset they are not getting a better explination. but Kyrie doesnt own anyone details about his family life. if the team excuses it, "personal reasons" is really all thats required. but i guess some people cant handle that

[Hello Brooklyn]

I think youre being unfair to Nash.

Harden always plays that many minutes and carried that type of load his whole career.

In Houston he was asked to do even more.

I don't think he came here with the expectation that they were going to reduce his minutes.

Nash has been good about playing KD so far. No way does he sacrifice that for a few wins.

And Kyrie just needs his days off apparently. It is what it is.

[Whiskey Slick]

Yall need to relax and actually enjoy this because time is fleeting and it will be over before you know it.

Indeed, that's why NOBODY can take this opportunity for granted, particularly the BIG 3.

I lived thru all that (you mentioned) are more. In fact I became a Nets fan as a little kid when Dr. J was in the ABA.

I used to buy his Sneakers too, the white leather Converse with the red star on the side. Two pairs, low tops for spring and summer and high tops for fall and winter. So I remember the last time we were world champs and when we essentially gave Julius away to the 76ers so we could buy our way into the NBA, which was the first but certainly not the last time they broke my heart. There were some good moments too, like the Petro era and then he died suddenly and unexpectedly, yet another broken heart moment. Then there was the great promise of the J-Kidd era, but we couldn't get over the hump. I can keep going but you get the point. I didn't just jump on the bandwagon after we acquired the BIG 2, then added the BIG 3.

I lived thru all the down years too, just like you, so I can identify.

I also know these windows to win championships are a lot smaller than fans tend to think they are, AND SEEDING MATTERS, so when these moments come along you better take advantage of them before it's too late. Just look at Golden State. Seems like only yesterday when they were destined to be a dynasty for the next ten years.

Sometimes it happens (Celtics, Bulls etc.), but more often it doesn't.

[sashaturiaf]

I can only speak for myself, I'm not tripping over an L.

There's something to be said for building championship habits, and it starts at the top. Thank goodness, Kyrie is not our alpha, or even our beta. He has the luxury of just being his creative, awesome self on the court, and we have the luxury of not relying on him for leadership as much as most teams would of a top 15 player. Still, he has an elevated status among his teammates, and that comes with responsibilities of accountability and availability.

Nash doesn't need to play Durant 43mpg exactly like Harden, in order to push the envelope. For Kevin, the magic number could be 26, or 31, who knows for sure. Whatever that number is, he's definitely not ready to carry this team, you can tell from his high turnover rate. He goes through these spells when he is returning where he lacks physicality and coughs up the ball under pressure, because he is still worried about re-njury. I can't blame him, I just don't want KD In a situation where he's reached his minutes limit and we need a superstar play to close out a game. Nash won't sit him, and Kevin will push his body too far .

I'm fine if they keep KDs minutes at 20ish the rest of the way. Can't overstate enough he's coming back from an Achilles injury + a hamstring one and the last thing we need is to risk overexertion. Gotta think long term, we likely won't need KD full time until the 2nd round of the playoffs at the earliest..

I hope the coaches do the right thing rather than try and squeeze out a few more meaningless wins. I believe they will but it does makes me slightly nervous since guess who was on the sidelines when Kobe did his Achilles... Yup, Dantoni himself...

[Prokorov]

I think youre being unfair to Nash.

Harden always plays that many minutes and carried that type of load his whole career.

In Houston he was asked to do even more.

I don't think he came here with the expectation that they were going to reduce his minutes.

Nash has been good about playing KD so far. No way does he sacrifice that for a few wins.

And Kyrie just needs his days off apparently. It is what it is.

Yeah... Harden is like the league Ironman. He has been super durable over tons of minutes. Maybe shaving a few minutes or a day off is good, but he wasnt used any differently here then in the past load wise. and if anything, he has had a smaller offensive load playing next to kyrie.

KD wont be handled like harden pre-injury.

Kyrie has missed time for family stuff, luckily he has consistently come back from those and balled out

Lets just let the hammys heal and go get it in the playoffs

[Whiskey Slick]

God/spirituality, Self, Family, Work in that order, always.

As far as the absence i dont know what it was for, but so far, once we get details, it seems legit. Id guess its related to his fiancee/kid again. Speculation is ramadan is tommorow and he is doing some ceremony and beggining his fast. i dont really know much about muslim culture or if other muslims would take off or not but im not here to bash anyone for missing time the team has excused for religious reasons.

So you're cool with it if every Christian player on the team takes off for every Christian holiday, right?

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and that's only the big ones ... there's more.

But if every Christian player took those games off ... everyone one of them ... every player ... we'll probably have to forfeit those games because it's doubtful we'll be able to field a team, but you'd be cool with that, right?

[Prokorov]

Yall need to relax and actually enjoy this because time is fleeting and it will be over before you know it.

Indeed, that's why NOBODY can take this opportunity for granted, particularly the BIG 3.

I lived thru all that (you mentioned) are more. In fact I became a Nets fan as a little kid when Dr. J was in the ABA.

I used to buy his Sneakers too, the leather Converse with the red star on the side. Two pairs, low tops for spring and summer and high tops for fall and winter. So I remember the last time we were world champs and when we essentially gave Julius away to the 76ers so we could buy our way into the NBA, which was the first but certainly not the last time they broke my heart. There were some good moments too, like the Petro era and then he died suddenly and unexpectedly, yet another broken heart moment. Then there was the great promise of the J-Kidd era, but we couldn't get over the hump. I can keep going but you get the point. I didn't just jump on the bandwagon after we acquired the BIG 2, then added the BIG 3.

I lived thru all the down years too, just like you, so I can identify.

That said, I also know these windows to win champions are a lot smaller than fans tend to think they are, AND SEEDING MATTERS, so when these moments come along you better take advantage of them before it's too late. Just look at Golden State. Seems like only yesterday they were destined to be a dynasty for the next ten years.

Sometimes it happens (Celtics, Bulls etc.), but more often it doesn't.

Seeding has never mattered less then it does now or last year with no/limited fans. Health is whats important. There also is not much legit competition in the east. if we are healthy, we should handle anyone in 5-6 or less games. getting to 7 games would surprise me, so the home court there is even less relevant.

The few teams who i think have upset potentially would be a lower seed we would have homecourt over anyhow

[Prokorov]

So you're cool with it if every Christian player on the team takes off for every Christian holiday, right?

Yes.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and that's only the big ones ... there's more.

Yes

But if every Christian player took those games off ... everyone one of them ... every player ... we'll probably have to forfeit those games because it's doubtful we'll be able to field a team, but you'd be cool with that, right?

yes even if it was game 7 of the finals.