The Toronto Raptors stormed their way to a 143-100 victory over the San Antonio Spurs to take their record for the season to 5-3. It is safe to say that not many fans would have expected Nick Nurse’s team to make this strong of a start when you consider how many injuries they have already had to deal with.
The Brooklyn Nets paint a completely different picture at this point in time. They are 2-6 despite Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving averaging a combined 59.4 points per game. The poor start to the season has also led to the franchise firing head coach Steve Nash, who underachieved in spectacular fashion.
They were expected to compete for the NBA Championship when they brought Durant, Irving, and James Harden together. That push for the ring has never really come through, and the furthest they have gone is the Eastern Conference semi-finals. They got swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Playoffs last season.
The mess around Irving specifically has reached concerning levels. From sending out a link to an extremely anti-Semitic video on Amazon to refusing to say he was wrong for sharing the video, the Nets have the least enviable PR situation in the league right now.
The Nets could be set to make their most controversial decision yet by hiring Ime Udoka, who the Celtics handed a season-long suspension due to his improper conduct behind the scenes. Times like this are when you really appreciate the Raptors’ front office of Masai Ujiri, as he never cultivates this level of drama.
question: are you surprised that you did hurt people?
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) November 3, 2022
kyrie irving: “yeah i think i can ask a better question: where were you when i was a kid finding out that 300 million of my ancestors were buried in America?”
later he said: “i’m not here to compare anyone’s atrocities.”
The Raptors are well run in contrast to the chaos engulfing the Nets.
Of course, the Nets’ struggles were not all down to Nash. Not by a long shot. The franchise has been a picture of complete chaos. Irving sat out large parts of last season by refusing to get vaccinated.
Durant reportedly wanted to be traded in the offseason. It already looks like the Ben Simmons experiment is doomed for failure, as the three-time All-Star continues to struggle on both ends of the court. The Udoka hire is only going to serve as another lit match on this gasoline fire.
In Ujiri’s tenure, the Raptors have won their first-ever NBA Championship, made two Eastern Conference Finals appearances, and stayed a playoff team despite seeing three All-Stars leave in DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard. The drama (and anti-Semitism, let’s not forget in these trying times) has been nonexistent.
It is clear to see that there has been a culture shift in Toronto with Ujiri at the helm in the front office, as they were named the second-best-managed franchise in the league in ESPN’s Future Power Rankings.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver statement on Kyrie Irving: “…I am disappointed that he has not offered an unqualified apology… I will be meeting with Kyrie in person in the next week to discuss this situation.” pic.twitter.com/9u1Y2j2jBw
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 3, 2022
The Raptors are set up for success both now and in the future. In contrast, the Nets’ super team looks like a house of cards that could tumble down at any moment. Trying to hire Udoka and enabling Irving might very well be their last big mistakes.