As the final moments of 2022 tick away on Saturday night and the calendar flips to 2023, it’s easy to think the Nets have had one of the craziest years in NBA memory.
Until one stops to think about all the bylines, headlines and storylines that have gone into covering Brooklyn — from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve — and it becomes clear it was actually far crazier than that. Here is a month-by-month retrospective.
January: Return of the Kai
After missing the first 35 games of the season, Kyrie Irving finally makes his 2021-22 debut on Jan. 5. Irving had refused to adhere to New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate policy, something that had cost him not only the max salary contract offer Brooklyn had tabled over the summer, but the first 2 ½ months of the season.
The Nets had sent him home, saying they wouldn’t have any part-time players. Until they made a desperate heel-turn, as team owner Joe Tsai told The Post, “We’re trying to be practical. And I’ve always said I don’t want to make this a political issue. My only religion is to win games and win the championship. That’s where we are.”
