Brooklyn Nets: How One Play Symbolizes A Culture Change

Kevin Garnett brings a much needed culture and attitude change to the Brooklyn Nets. (NBA.com photo)

Less than seven minutes left in what was a meaningless preseason first quarter between the Brooklyn Nets and the Miami Heat.  Brook Lopez is stripped under the rim by LeBron James, who proceeds to steam into the open floor like the 6’9″, 270-pound locomotive that he is.  Last season, a thunderous dunk would’ve gotten the decidedly ambivalent Barclays Center crowd on its feet, half cheering, half snapping pictures.  It would’ve been a play like this that ignited a Miami run that likely would’ve put a talented, but listless team like last year’s variation of the Brooklyn Nets away for good early.

Not this season.

The King was met at the foul line by what amounted to basically a shoulder check from a familiar foe, Paul Pierce.  The hard foul sent LeBron stumbling in a different direction, effectively stopping a fast break and giving the NBA’s best player something to think about all in one drop of the shoulder.  The typically savvy New York basketball fan base immediately jeered, completely aware of what this represented.  It’s a play that’ll likely be forgotten when the games matter.  But it’s an important one.  It’s a foul that might be a microcosm for the complete culture and attitude change Brooklyn has undergone this offseason.

Paul Pierce made it pretty clear that this year’s Brooklyn Nets are going to be a team nobody wants to play on a nightly basis.

"“That’s going to be our identity. That’s a message to the league,” Pierce said.  “We want to be a hard, grind-it-out team. We want nothing to be easy. That’s what we’re trying to show in the last couple of games, the way our defense has been playing. We’ve given up so few points. That’s the message we want to send. Some nights our shots are not gonna fall, but we can control that end of the court.”"

The Nets were a talented bunch last year, winning 49 games and finishing in the top half of the East.  But they didn’t have leadership.  They didn’t have locker room guys that held people accountable.  Most importantly, they didn’t have the ability to play team defense at the elite level necessary to win big in the NBA.  Many of the faces entering this season are the same.  Deron Williams is still the team’s best talent and franchise player.  Joe Johnson is still likely the team’s closer.  Brook Lopez is still the most gifted offensive 7-footer in the NBA.  Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett aren’t going to be getting any MVP votes next season as third or fourth options.  But they don’t have to.  So much of what they have brought to Brooklyn goes beyond what they’ll produce on the court (which won’t be to shabby, either).

For Pierce, this is somewhat reminiscent of an earlier time in his Hall-of-Fame career.  Pierce was a member of a Boston Celtics squad in 2006 that staggered to stay relevant for too long and fell off of a cliff.  After an injury-riddled season that left Boston as the worst team in the NBA, the Celtics struck out in the lottery, unable to land a high enough pick to grab Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.  Celtics general manager Danny Ainge elected to forego a long rebuild and instead swung for the fences, landing Ray Allen in a draft day trade and later that offseason cashing in all of his young assets in the form of a trade for Kevin Garnett.  In their first season together, they were able to win a championship, cohesiveness and chemistry be damned.  Reason being?  Kevin Garnett brought a culture change.  It was a mentality the Celtics hadn’t had in the past.  A commitment to defense and an emphasis on words like “sacrifice.”  It’s the little things that make Garnett one of the best defenders of this and maybe any generation, those same little things that garnered him a Defensive Player of the Year trophy that season.

It’s also those little things, that same attention to detail, that’ll make the Brooklyn Nets a threat to win the NBA championship in 2013-14.  As LeBron James can probably attest to after his first visit to Barclays Center, there won’t be many easy buckets in Brooklyn this season.

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