Melodrama surrounding contract for star Irving said to alienate fans, show Brooklyn Nets' dysfunction

The soap opera surrounding the Brooklyn Nets and the future of mercurial star Kyrie Irving, whose anti-vax stance and (previous) injuries have caused him to miss a significant number of games, has hit a froth, with unsourced--and, likely, self-serving--bit emerging through favored reporters.

Here are the headlines from NetsDaily:

• 6/20/22: IMPASSE! Kyrie Irving, Nets at a negotiations standstill, perhaps clearing way for him to leave
• 6/21/22: LEVERAGE: Nets, Irving ‘keen’ about keeping negotiations ‘fluid’ as deadline approaches
• 6/21/22:Friedell: Friendship between Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving ‘isn’t always as close as it appears’
• 6/22/22: Woj: Nets risk ‘alienating’ Kevin Durant, ‘unfastening him from his commitment’
• 6/25/22: Woj: Negotiations between Nets and Kyrie Irving have turned ‘acrimonious’ as Lakers ‘loom’

For financial reasons, it's more likely than not that Irving stays in Brooklyn, even without a new contract, but who knows--the front office's effort to tie compensation to on-court appearances has apparently alienated him.

The contract issue may be resolved by Wednesday, June 29.

Alienating the fans?

Meanwhile, the soap opera has alienated supporters.

No matter what happens with Kyrie Irving's contract, even if there is a deal done, Nets have lost a lot of credibility this week. It is not noise. It is real and it won't only be the roster that needs configuration. The organization's relationship with its fans is also in peril..

— NetsDaily (@NetsDaily) June 24, 2022

That's somehow reminiscent of the Bruce Ratner era, as the same writer, Net Income (aka Bob Windrem), wrote 6/26/09 of the team:

It’s traded away its stars. It plays in the worst venue in the NBA, if not professional sports. Its fan base is shrinking and its move to Brooklyn questionable at best. Its respected basketball managers spend most of their time making excuses for an owner who is increasingly unavailable and when he does speak says little anyone believes.
There is no longer trust between those who are most passionate about the team and those who own and manage it. And quite frankly, it’s not going to get better any time soon. In fact, it is likely to get worse. It’s hard to root for the New Jersey Nets...or if you prefer, the Brooklyn Nets or the New York Nets.

In New York magazine, Will Leitch wrote 6/22/22 The Nets Are Outdoing the Knicks in Dysfunction, noting that, while the Nets "have certainly made more of a splash than they ever did in their former home of East Rutherford, New Jersey... the team has proven to be just as dysfunctional as their Manhattan quasi-rivals."

"Since coming to Brooklyn, the Nets have led the NBA in hype, drama, and tumult but have yet to reach the conference finals even once." he pronounced. "They’ve out-Knicks’d the Knicks."

Leitch cites the bad trade with the Celtics, the Nets' low-key rebuild, then short circuited by recruiting superstars, and then the failure to win with those stars, because of injuries, dissension, and (so he says) weak coaching. Also, it seems, roster construction.

Stay tuned: as the saying goes, you're just rooting for the clothes, and the cast wearing Brooklyn Nets jerseys, promoting this sports entertainment corporation, is sure to change.