New York Sports And Rhymes

After the Brooklyn Nets traded their future away for aging superstars in 2015, who could have imagined they’d return to the playoffs 3 years later with a roster fueled by young talent? How were they able to turn matters around in such a timely fashion? Upon hitting rock bottom in 2016, the Nets brought in GM Sean Marks who hired head coach Kenny Atkinson. Marks and Atkinson believed in player development as a key to the Nets rebuild. Marks hired the right people to help him find talent and build off it. He hired lawyers, a number of them, to do capology and analytics. This is how a rebuild turned into an evolving winning culture. “I would say, not ahead of schedule, way ahead of schedule,” said Atkinson. “I was expecting year four, year five, that’s when we’ll start being in the playoff mix. I don’t know. Like I said, I think it’s a special, special year, special moment and very proud as an organization that we’ve come this far in a short time.” And it’s not over.