SCOREBOARD: Brooklyn Nets Social Media Round-up: June 16th

A new ND feature. No need to drink from the fire house of news and get not just wet but frustrated when you have Scoreboard, Collin Helwig’s round-up of NetsWorld news.

Your social media feed might as well be your father’s morning newspaper at this point. It’s brighter, it moves, it delivers news instantaneously and endlessly. So much news. So much opinion … and so little time!

The digital revolution has made information so abundant if difficult to track. No, this isn’t an essay re-explaining one of the most obvious social phenomena of our age. It’s also not an exploratory think-piece. I’m about as basic as it gets.

The fact is, a large portion of our news today comes from social media, oftentimes straight from the source. Whether someone’s making a public announcement, merely engaging in discourse, or making a notable connection, the “bird app” and its contemporaries have much to offer. And that’s why we’re here, to manage the water hose of information and create fountains, to separate the wheat from the chaff, divide the quality from the quantity. You name the analogy. We’re here to help.

For the Brooklyn Nets, even amid a quiet offseason so far, it’s no different. In this next-gen kind of news roundup for the team, we’ll attempt weave together everything we’ve seen from Nets — both on the team or potentially tied to it in some way. Some of it will, hopefully, be things you haven’t seen.

Tosan Links with Adam Harrington

Everyone knows summer is the time for workout tapes — ones everyone will undoubtedly make way too big a deal over. But Tosan Evbuomwan’s curiously enough featured one of Brooklyn’s more familiar faces from the past — Adam Harrington.

Harrington spent over six years in the Nets organization working as an Assistant Coach and Director of Player Development. He was among, if not the, first hire Sean Marks made. Not long before his Brooklyn departure, he founded The Clubhouse, which appears to be where Evbuomwan conducted this documented training session.

Harrington is widely known for his close relationship with ex-Net Kevin Durant, though he’s also trained several household names including Jimmy Butler, Jalen Green, Paolo Banchero, and New York’s own Sabrina Ionescu. His most recent success: turning Killian Hayes into a reliable shooter even if only at the G League level. He’s also the head coach of Phantom BC in the women’s Unrivaled League.

The team didn’t bring Harrington back after the 2021-22 NBA season. The move may or may not have factored into KD’s unhappiness, but it was certainly hinted at … but more on that later.

For Evbuomwan though, it’s good to see him working with someone who’s already helped craft some of the best players we’ve seen in and beyond the Barclays Center. The two-way contract he signed last year extends into the 2025-26 season, so he should be back this coming year, at the very least in Long Island.

JWil’s Also in the Gym

Jalen Wilson has also been polishing his skills in other gyms this summer. From a tweet earlier in the month, we can see the forward has been “stacking good days” with Jeremie Hart, a recruiting coordinator at SMU and 10-year pro outside the NBA.

Hart has also worked with ex-Net Dorian Finney-Smith, as well as draft prospect Tre Johnson. ESPN’s Jeremy Woo referred to the Texas guard as his “pick that gets the most value” for the Nets at No. 8 in his latest mock with Jonathan Givony.

Cam Responds to his Critics

Cam Thomas is cooking, just in a different kind of way. A handful of weeks ago, after a fan account expressed some doubts over his abilities to perform at a high level on the defensive side of the ball and/or be a point guard, he responded with the the following:

It was Thomas’ first post on the platform of the year. For as many laughs as it generated, don’t expect CT to log back on and share more of his thoughts anytime soon.

Kevin Durant “Clears” the Air

For years, Kevin Durant’s Twitter or X feed was a digital mosh pit for Brooklyn Nets fans. Today, or this offseason specifically, the music has gotten louder and the basin has opened up to include just about anyone, with the future Hall of Famer discussing anything from on-court tips to dialogue on basketball discourse itself in recent weeks.

This past one allowed him to shed some light on his departure from Brooklyn — a topic some of us can’t seem to escape no matter how hard we try or how much time has passed. It’s only been 860 days since he was dealt to Phoenix but who’s counting? WE ARE!

Jumping in on Durant’s conversation with a handful of other users, NetsFrequent, one of NetsTwitter’s more rambunctious accounts, said the following of the Slim Reaper:

People forget history too fast.

1. Kevin signed his extension with the Nets first. Signaling he wanted it to work in Brooklyn

2. At that time kyrie and harden were expected to sign. However days later the Nets pulled Irving’s offer bc he refused the vaccine. (Which Irving had every right to deny). Pulling Irving’s offer was the biggest mistake the Nets made.

3. Once Irving couldn’t sign. Harden decided he wouldn’t sign even though the offer was still on the table

4. The Nets decided to not allow Irving to play that season initially.

5. KD got hurt & harden didn’t think Irving was taking winning seriously by refusing to get vaccinated to play.

6. Harden demanded out, then the Nets delay Irving & harden.

7. KD had no choice but to leave, the best thing for both sides was to separate. The Nets received a ton of assets & the Suns looked to be a true contender with KD & Book

KD had no choice but to demand a trade. And the Nets did the right thing for the future of the organization & negotiated a god father offer.

This is the reality of the fall of the Nets. Kevin knows it, Netsfrequent knows it. We all should know it.

KD then replied with the following…

Durant, a self-admitted troll, might just be playing around once more — but it’s hard to tell — and figuring out for sure doesn’t seem like a worthwhile exercise. However, this is still the closest thing to him confirming his reasons for leaving that I’ve seen.

For anyone who hasn’t totally moved on (and I’m willing to be there’s more of you than the collective fanbase would care to say) that’s rather interesting.

Of course, KD has other issues at the moment, like the rumors that the Suns aren’t in total sync with his and manager Rich Kleinman’s desires to land in a warm, sunny venue like San Antonio, Houston or Miami. Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes and a lot more cases of frostbite, is not where he wants to reside, per Shams.

Remember what he said all the way back in 2011? We do…