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Charles Barkley has boldly claimed that now former Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash was the scapegoat to the failures of three players, whom he used some colorful language to describe.
The players who caught the ire of Barkley’s rant were expectedly the Nets big three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons.
‘From a public perception it’s bad you let these players run this man off his job because they were acting like fools,’ Barkley said.
Charles Barkley said that the Brooklyn Nets star players are to blame for Steve Nash being fired
Steve Nash was fired by the Brooklyn Nets early on Tuesday afternoon after a bad start to the season
‘This is all on Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons. Steve Nash is just a scapegoat.
‘It’s really unfortunate. I don’t know if Steve Nash is really that bad. All of a sudden these guys start acting like fools and jacka***s and now “oh Steve Nash can’t coach. It’s just a bad look.’
Durant, Irving, and Simmons have all drawn their fair share of criticism and negative attention to the team within the past couple of years.
Dating back to this summer, Durant caused problems for Nash and the team from the moment he initially requested a trade away from the organization.
Durant then doubled down on his request weeks later stating that if Nash and general manger Sean Marks were not fired, he demanded to be traded.
Following team ownership choosing to side with Nash and Marks, Durant and the teams front office supposedly had put the issues behind them and were ready to come into the season with no ill will.
Kevin Durant reacts to a foul call during the first quarter of the game against the Chicago Bulls
While Durant may have reportedly given the team an ultimatum to either trade him or fire Nash at least he can say he was available for his now former head coach whenever possible, unlike his two-star teammates.
Ben Simmons did not suit up for the Nets for about half a season following his highly publicized trade from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Simmons had already been at the center of many fans criticism around the league due to his reluctance to shoot the ball. Even after moving to Brooklyn the target on his back from fans was still obvious after he drew attention for airballing a jump shot at the Nets ‘practice in the park.’
The matter has already been compounded throughout the Nets first handful of games after Irving was heard yelling ‘shoot it,’ when Simmons had the ball near the basket.
Simmons then went on to airball a layup, later on in the same game to make matters worse.
Ben Simmons dribbles the ball against the Indiana Pacers during the second half of NBA basketball
Irving on the other hand has been the NBA’s poster child for disfunction over the last two-three seasons.
As Barkley, or someone who shares a similar opinion to the NBA hall of famer might say, Irving has done enough ‘acting like a fool,’ for all three players.
The 30-year-old point guard’s issues first started when he took a mid-season sabbatical during the 2021 season. He was then controversially seen out partying with family during the sabbatical, while Covid-19 was still in full effect.
The following season the unvaccinated Irving would miss majority of the year due to New York City’s much maligned vaccine mandate having stated that athletes who resided in New York City had to be vaccinated in order to play home games.
Kyrie Irving shared links to a movie based on book ‘containing anti-Semitic disinformation’
Coming into this season Irving was at the center of trade rumors after the Nets considered trading him in the offseason, but the bigger issue stemmed from a recent social media post.
Irving recently linked to the 2018 film ‘Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,’ which is based off a book with the same name. The book has been criticized over the years for being ‘containing anti-Semitic disinformation.’
Rolling Stone Magazine has even labeled the book with the same name, released in 2015, which the film is based on as ‘venomously anti-Semitic’.
Irving proceeded to double down on his posting of the link to the movie after getting into a verbal spat with a reporter during a Nets post-game press conference. The team is yet to again make him available to the media since.
Fans sat courtside at Monday’s Nets game wearing T-shirts reading ‘Fight anti-Semitism’
Following Nash’s departure, the Nets are yet to give any insight on what their long term plans at head coach are.
Reports surfaced following the firing that the Nets were eyeing Ime Udoka, as the favorite to be hired as the teams next head coach.
Udoka is currently suspended by the Boston Celtic’s after an investigation found that he made ‘unwanted comments’ to a female Celtics staff member that he had an affair with.
Any hiring decision by the Nets or another team as it pertains to Udoka would come after the team has conducted what they feel is a thorough background check into the situation.
Ime Udoka’s Celtics swept the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of last season’s playoffs
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