Stuart Ramson/AP
Does this look like a championhip-caliber starting five? The Nets seem to think so.
One by one, the stars stepped to the podium, repeating the championship goal that would justify Mikhail Prokhorov’s massive investment.
This is what you’d expect from Media Day of a team with high-priced veterans, a collection of winners who said all the right things Monday – they’ll lead by example, they’ll sacrifice their shots and stats, they’re removing all egos from a locker room filled with All-Stars.
As unbelievable and hyperbolic as it sounded, there’s reason to believe Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. They’ve done it before. Pierce raised the stakes as the last player interviewed Monday, declaring that a division title – which is something the Nets haven’t won since 2006 – is unworthy of celebration.
They don’t hang those banners inside Boston Garden.
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“Truthfully, it’s not that important to me. I came here to win a championship,” said Pierce, who won five straight Atlantic titles with the Celtics. “I don’t even want to see an Atlantic banner put up if we win. I don’t even know how many Atlantic divisions we won in Boston. I don’t even know. I don’t remember getting a hat, a t-shirt, a call. It’s the division. You don’t get anything for it.
Stuart Ramson/AP
Kevin Garnett says the only reason he and Paul Pierce came to Brooklyn was to ‘get another ring.’
“The expectations have grown here in Brooklyn. It’s no longer the New Jersey Nets, hoping we can win the division. Now we’re the Brooklyn Nets with championship aspirations.”
It’s is quite the 180-degree turn from years past, especially those final teams in Jersey. Sure, the Nets declared themselves title contenders before last season, but that was quickly exposed as the pipe dream and exaggeration experts predicted.
These new Nets – the three additions from Boston and coach Jason Kidd – already own a ring, so their swagger carries substance. Garnett, who contemplated retirement before agreeing to join the Nets, opened his media interview with a statement resembling title-or-bust.
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“We’re here to get another ring,” he said. “That’s the only reason we came to Brooklyn –the only reason we came to Brooklyn.”
Still, there was an understanding the team will have to lean on Deron Williams.
Stuart Ramson/AP
Jason Kidd looks like a coach who likes his team’s chances this season.
“He’s an MVP candidate off the top,” Jason Terry said. “When you have a roster like we have and you give him the ball it’s pretty much his job to go out and lead. And he should be able to do that. He should be able to go out freely and play his game. There are no restrictions on him, whatsoever. We’re going to follow his lead.”
The Nets and Knicks have an opportunity to capture the city’s attention for the winter, especially with the failures of the area’s football teams. But there was a greater realization Monday that this’ll require winning beyond New York, as Brooklyn players downplayed the predictable questions about “Honey Nut Cheerios” and besting the Knicks.
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“Have not,” said Garnett when asked if he’s spoken to Carmelo Anthony. And that was that.
There’s an excitement in the unknown in Brooklyn, a tangible buzz that stands on its own, without the Knicks as the backdrop. According to team’s public relations department, they credentialed 150 members of the media for Monday, a 50 percent increase from last season – and about a 500 percent increase from the final media day in New Jersey.
“All the markets are small compared to New York,” Garnett joked from the podium.
So are the expectations.
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