Kyrie Irving and the Nets will have plenty of time to think about the 2022-23 NBA season.
Brooklyn’s offseason officially began Monday night when the Boston Celtics completed a first-round sweep of their Atlantic Division rival. After a hotly contested, back-and-forth Game 1, the C’s seemingly proved they were the better team with each passing contest.
Irving dazzled in the series opener, but he virtually disappeared after that 39-point performance at TD Garden. Following Game 4 at Barclays Center, the star point guard shed light on his mindset moving forward.
“On the positive side, there’s motivation. It’s just burning in my heart right now,” Irving told reporters, per a clip shared by NBC Sports Boston. “I know so many people wanted to see us fail at this juncture. You know, picked us as contenders and had so much to say at this point. So I’m just using that as fuel for the summer and coming into the season starting from October and just getting a good start as a team.
“Hopefully we don’t run into any barriers and we can just start fresh and be realistic with our own expectations and live with our team results rather than being the polarization of the media scrum and having our names be dragged for a series that naturally happens in people’s careers. It’s definitely exciting to have this motivation going into the summertime.”
Considering how this campaign played out for Brooklyn, the Nets probably aren’t going to receive much respect from NBA fans and media members alike heading into next season. But if they make a few tweaks to the roster and Ben Simmons can regain his All-Star form, the Nets could be a tough out in 2022.
