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The 2026-27 schedule is out and it shows the Brooklyn Nets, generally seen as having one of the worst rosters in the NBA this season, will open the season October 21 vs. the Charlotte Hornets, just as they did last season, only in Brooklyn rather than Charlotte.

The game is not likely to get much attention from New York or national media. The night before, five miles away at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street in Manhattan, it will be “ring night” and “banner night” at Madison Square Garden in 53 years. The long-suffering fans of New York’s legacy team, the Knicks, will celebrate their title — and relive their incredible run — on national TV before facing the Atlantic Division’s exciting newcomers, LeBron James and Jaylen Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers.

It’s not much of a stretch to say that Brooklyn’s team has never been more irrelevant since moving to the borough 14 seasons back. One team is at the top of the world and will be hosting its biggest challenger; the other an afterthought, facing a non-contender a little further along than the home team.

So now midway between the big win and opening nights, how do the Nets look at their challenges in light of that disparity? and a rivalry record 14 losses in a row? We spoke with Joe Tsai and Sean Marks recently, Tsai exclusively by phone, Marks at the rookie press conference last month and read the comments of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment’s chief financial officer Peter Stern in an interview published this week with CFO Magazine.

There are two takeaways: 1) they say all the right things about the Knicks accomplishments but they’re not changing their strategy, their trajectory, just because the team they share the city with won it all … in dramatic fashion and 2) there’s some hope that the championship has renewed New York’s interest not just in the Knicks but in the NBA in general. Tsai was succinct in his comments, saying yup, it’s “irating,” even “embarrassing,” in his words but nothing has changed in his thinking on the path the franchise has chosen. Are they whistling past the graveyard? As with a lot of things, starting in October, we shall find out.

“Every year, some team is going to win a championship,” Tsai told us and indeed the Knicks became the eighth different team win a chip in the last eight years. “So it happens that this year that team is in the same city. It doesn’t make us feel very good. It irates our fan base and it is embarrassing but in business or in competition, in sports, or in anything, you shouldn’t let the embarrassment factor affect how you perform…. [We] had a plan and we’re rebuilding and I think right now we are on a positive trajectory. So it doesn’t change my thinking at all.”

Tsai also noted that the Nets central business theme — generational fandom — remains in place. Get them while they’re young.

Marks, in answer to an ND question about the Knicks back on the day his team introduced its three draft picks, dismissed the possibility of having another team’s success change his thinking. (As more than one NBA watcher has noted, the team governor and GM have been like “peas in a pod” when it comes to strategy.)

“No, not at all. I mean, we’re not, we’re not, we’re not going to be motivated or less motivated by what somebody else is doing,” Marks said. “I think we all we control is our path. I think we set out on this a couple of years ago, and I think I’m very happy with what the group has done, what Jordi (Fernandez), the coaching staff, have done to develop these young men, and it’s gonna be really exciting to see what they look like, and you know, whether it’s a year or two years from here, and who really seizes this opportunity?”

Patience is the watchword then.

Stern, in his CFO Magazine interview, took a different tack. He gave credit to the crosstown rivals, but argued that a large part of the excitement we saw in the city the night of O.G. Anonoby’s tip-in or Jalen Brunson’s 45-point performance a couple of nights later or the parade that drew TWO MILLION New Yorkers to the Canyon of Heroes, may be contagious.

“We’re happy for the Knicks,” said Stern who came with Tsai from Alibaba. “But even more so, we’re happy for the NBA. You could make an argument that it’s a tailwind because of this reason or that reason, or a headwind. We think about mostly just tailwinds.

“We want more people loving basketball, and the Knicks’ championship, or I should say, even their deep playoff runs previously, really activated many dormant fans. Fans got to engage with it and appreciate this special thing called the NBA in a different way.”

It’s about the city too, said Stern, not just NBA.

“This year, there were plenty of folks around New York who maybe weren’t basketball fans who ended up at a watch party or engaged in some way, shape or form with the playoffs. That’s a great thing for us as the Nets and Liberty continue to grow in Brooklyn.“

While that certainly was true, some of the biggest and most prominent street watch parties was in Brooklyn, like this one in Fort Greene for Game 4 of the Finals …

So, yes, things will require re-introducing the team to fans, take advantage of the possible new interest in the NBA. (We should not from our small sample that there are indications fan, at least the die-hard ones who come to ND, are not giving up. There’s more interest, more of circle-the-wagons mentality. Here’s a fun fact: the three news items that garnered highest number of comments on ND are the Kevin Durant trade in 2023 with more than 4300, the Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce trade, about 2000 less, ten years earlier … and the signing of Moe Wagner last month which had more than 2100!)

So it’s about patience and steadfastness, which are admittedly in short supply as the Nets enter what is basically the fourth year of a rebuild. It began with monumental collapse of the Big Three and has included a brutal two-year tank that didn’t result in getting a top draft pick (although everyone seems happy with who they did get.) Now, with a flawed roster and two 20-year-olds as the face of the franchise, few other than Jordi and his staff believe there will be much improvement.

Although we’ve not supposed to pay attention to the Knicks, according the three officials we quoted, the Manhattanites basically return with the same club other than Mitchell Robinson who’ll be blocking shots and missing free throws in Boston. But Leon Rose keeps pushing all the right buttons in roster building. Yes, he’ll have to maneuver around his boss’s dictate about the second apron and yes there are huge contract decisions down the road, but they now have that championship pedigree and swagger as well as a staggering amount of continuity. They also have Brunson who is an unlikely superstar but a superstar nonetheless. And everything is going James Dolan’s way.

These pages are filled with the status of the Nets so no need to reiterate all that. It’s also kind of brutal. How soon might they turn it all around? Hope for the best this year and don’t dismiss, despite the Nets history, the possibility of a big trade deadline move. They still have all those draft assets, all those rookie contracts, all that cap space.

Last season, despite the 20 wins, the Nets filled 99.22% of Barclays Center on average and as Stern pointed out, they’re in the midst of a $150 million renovation of Barclays while BSE is also putting together an $80 million training facility for the Liberty. Tsai is ready to spend. He has a record.

So on October 20, it will be all about the Knicks in New York and that’s just fine with the brass. It’s the days after that matter.

Hall of Famers

Back in the 2009-10 season when the Nets were playing their final season in the Meadowlands, losing badly, the people who ran things at the YES Network decided to pair Chris Carrino and Mike Fratello for the first time Over the rest of the season, the veteran announcer and former head coach broadcast a Nets game together. Over the course of their careers, they appeared together 12 times in nine seasons.

Then, this weekend, they were sort of reunited in the grandest of stages, the induction ceremony for the Basketball Hall of Fame, Carrino and Fratello were awarded the Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award Recipient. They are now both Hall of Famers.

Both of course are familiar to Nets fans as well as fans of national and Olympic media and their time in New Jersey and Brooklyn noted in the Hall’s induction announcement:

Chris Carrino has served as the Brooklyn Nets’ radio play-by-play announcer since 2002, having joined the organization in 1992 as a studio producer and feature reporter. He steadily worked his way up to studio host, backup play-by-play announcer, and ultimately the team’s lead radio voice. Over more than two decades on the call, Carrino has narrated many of the franchise’s defining moments, including consecutive NBA Finals appearances and the Nets’ historic first game in Brooklyn.

Fratello’s broadcast contributions have earned him a 2015 New York Emmy Award for Best Sports Analyst and four consecutive nominations (2012-15). His relationship with Turner Sports spans decades, including NBA playoff coverage (1994-96), regular-season work (1999-2004), and Thursday night NBA coverage alongside Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, and Reggie Miller (2009-13). He later joined NBA GameTime Live (2014-19) and appeared on select NBA on TNT telecasts.

Beyond national broadcasts, Fratello served as color commentator for the Nets on YES Network for 10 seasons (2008-18).

Carrino is not just known as a broadcaster but as a campaigner for those who suffer from facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). His Chris Carrino Foundation for FSHD is the leading non-profit addressing the disease. As the Post’s Phil Musnick wrote a couple of years ago, Carrino may be the “toughest guy in sports.” Wheelchair-bound, he is often helped getting in and out of tough spots by his WFAN analyst, Tim Capstraw, Carrino is a hero to a lot of people, including, it should be noted, his son, Chris Carrino Jr. who’s been heard on the FAN of late.

In his induction speech, Carrino spoke extensively about how his broadcasting career gave him the audience and the stage to discuss the disease and disabilities in general…

For Fratello, the award was just the latest in his long career that has spanned coaching three college teams and four NBA teams either as an assistant or head coach. He also led the Ukraine national team. He won the NBA Coach of the Year in 1986 when he was with Atlanta. His head coaching record is the NBA was 667-548 for a .549 winning percentage.

The New Jersey native spent nine seasons with the Nets on the YES Network. Of those, he was the lead analyst for last four years in New Jersey, then part of a three-man analyst rotation for 1he first five seasons in Brooklyn. Overall, he worked 342 Nets games on YES with Marv Albert, Ian Eagle, Ryan Ruocco as well as Carrino. Previously, he had been a national TV analyst for both NBC Sports and TNT where Albert dubbed him the “Czar of the Telestrator.”

Most recently, he’s done analyst gigs for the Clippers, Cavaliers and NBA TV.

Congratulations to both on their well deserved honor. And special thanks to Frank DiGraci, the YES producer who first paired them … and kept copious notes that we used in this item. DiGraci of course became the coordinating producer for YES broadcast before leaving for a similar job with NBC Sports two years ago.

Final Note

In addition to talking to CFO Magazine about the Knicks and how the Nets business side is starting to use AI, Peter Stern spoke as well about how he teaches financial literacy to inmates at maximum security prisons, most recently in New York, including at Sing Sing.

Stern said he feels empowered by his time teaching and helping prisoners.

I strongly believe in the power of rehabilitation. People talk about, ’Oh, Stern, your students deserve a second chance.‘” Many of them, most of them, never had a first chance. Born into abject poverty, one parent incarcerated, the other parent passed away, or you pick the challenging situation that they’re in.

I want to inspire, and I want to empower, and I want them to know I believe in them. I want them to know that I believe that upon their release, they’re going to be successful.

I tell my students, “I’m going to show you in this class how to buy a house and build an investment portfolio.” I believe if you can help those at the bottom, then all of society rises…

You can learn a lot about resiliency and determination from someone who’s been locked in a cell for decades.

Congratulations to him too.

During the CelticsBlog History Month, I ‘ve had the enjoyable assignment of writing about the 11 NBA championships won by Boston during Bill Russell’s career. The Celtics of 1957-69 achieved so much, set unbreakable records, and overcame obstacles time after time, yet they are often underappreciated by today’s basketball fans and observers.

That sentiment came across in some of the comments posted to the series, with some readers saying those long-ago teams should get more credit than they do.

The accusation that non-Celtics fans like to make is that too many of Boston’s 18 total titles were won when there was no competition. Anything that happened decades ago can’t possibly be as good as what the doubters see with their own eyes now. The grainy highlight videos from decades ago are easily mocked.

So let’s take this opportunity to provide some facts and context for common misconceptions about a) the Celtics dynasty and b) NBA basketball in general before the Eighties. Some readers might form a new opinion, but most won’t. If you’re a hardcore Wilt fan or a Celtics hater who happened upon this commentary, you may regret reading past the words “Celtics dynasty,” but here we go.

“It was too easy to win in a league with only eight teams.”

Can’t deny math. Four is more than two. Winning four series in one postseason is more difficult than winning two. However, let’s compare the longest streaks from the NBA, MLB and NHL, and see how many postseason series they won.

• NBA (eight or nine teams), eight straight titles: 1959-66 Boston Celtics, won 17 consecutive series (16 best-of-seven, one best-of-five).
• NHL (six teams), five straight titles: 1956–1960 Montreal Canadiens, won 10 series.
• MLB/American League (eight teams), five straight titles: New York Yankees (1949–1953), won five World Series, best-of-seven, no preceding playoff rounds.

Basketball and hockey requirements are comparable, and baseball had the shortest path. The thing is, I haven’t seen hockey and baseball fans claiming the Canadiens and Yankees had it too easy. So why hoops?

If the Celtics were to win 17 straight series in this era, that would be more than equal to four championships in a row. Keep in mind that no team except Boston has ever won more than three straight titles.

Michael Jordan is famously 6-0 in Finals appearances. Taking absolutely nothing away from him, it’s worth noting that John Havlicek, Satch Sanders and K.C. Jones all had an 8-0 Finals record.

“No competition, playing against plumbers, firefighters and insurance salesmen.”

Did every team except the Celtics have a roster of plumbers? Not at all. Each squad actually had one or more future Hall of Famers, and teams matched up 10 or more times per season. Russell and Chamberlain were in the league together for 10 years, and played each other 143 times.

Moreover, if it was really so easy to win, why couldn’t anyone other than Russell’s Celtics do it more than once? Playoff records of the greatest players of the era versus Bill Russell teams: Wilt Chamberlain, 1-7; Elgin Baylor, 0-7; Jerry West, 0-6; Oscar Robertson, 0-3; Bob Pettit, 1-3.

Russell went to 12 Finals in 13 years and was 11-1, losing only to Pettit’s Hawks when he missed two games with a sprained ankle. In playoff series overall, Russell was 27-2. The second loss was to Chamberlain’s 76ers in the year they set a record for wins, finishing 68-13. In other words, Russell’s teams lost only when a random, rare situation occurred.

Russell was uniquely 10-0 in Game 7s for his career. If every team was stocked with “plumbers and firefighters,” why was Boston forced to the limit 10 times? It’s because the “no competition” claim is untrue. Plenty of capable teams had their chances, pushing the Celtics to the brink of elimination:

• 1962 Finals, down 3-2 to the Lakers after Elgin Baylor hit them with 61 points in Game 5 at Boston; Celtics stayed alive by winning Game 6 at Los Angeles and Game 7 at home in overtime.
• 1966, down 2-1 to Oscar and the Royals in Eastern best-of-five, won on the road and then at home.
• 1966 Finals, even with the motivation of wanting a title for Red Auerbach’s last year of coaching, the Celtics almost blew a 3-1 lead and barely escaped with a Game 7 win.
• 1968 Eastern Finals, Celtics were down 3-1 to the defending champs with Chamberlain, but won three straight, including Games 5 and 7 in Philly.
• 1969 NBA Finals, Celtics fell behind 2-0 and then 3-2 versus the Lakers, but won Game 6 at home and Game 7 at LA, versus the superteam of Chamberlain, Baylor and Jerry West at his peak.

“Players in the old days could never compete today.”

There is truth to this, because numerous early NBA players lacked the size, speed and physique that today’s players possess. But the training methods and medical techniques of 60-70 years ago could never produce the same results as modern practices and resources.

Today’s Celtics are guided by eight assistant coaches and a player development staff of five. Meanwhile, anyone who played for Coach Auerbach or Coach Russell had access to exactly zero assistant coaches. (John Killilea was Boston’s first assistant coach, not hired until 1972.) There was certainly no player development staff.

Other obstacles in the old days included no free agency, so if you were a guard trapped on a team that had too many guards, or if you believed you had earned a better contract, you were stuck. Worse than that, in the Jim Crow era, even well-known black players were subjected to the evils of segregation. The Celtics were no exception.

Travel was not by private jet, it was on commercial aircraft, or train, or bus. On the road, you were assigned a roommate. And the schedule was often relentless, such as the example shown here: eight games in 10 nights!

One more thing: Basketball in the Russell era didn’t always pay enough for a good living, causing many players to work offseason jobs. Come to think of it, Tommy Heinsohn had a very successful second career – he was a manager of insurance sales.

Russell vs. Chamberlain

It’s the classic debate: How do you define greatness? Do you take titles over statistics, or vice versa? Wilt set all the records and won twice, but Russell won 11 times and revolutionized defense during an era when defensive stats were not recorded and Defensive Player of the Year was not yet created. Nor was Finals MVP, of which he would’ve had several. If those were in place, then how many records would Russell own?

Chamberlain was by far the better offensive force – obviously, that’s not up for debate. Yet, in the season that Wilt averaged 50 points per game, he was held to 22 points in Game 7 of the Eastern Finals, a game with the final score of Boston 109, Philadelphia 107. Wilt went home, and Russell continued on to raise another banner. A lot of people would agree that (here’s more math) 11 is more than 2, and maybe the individual most responsible for the 11 is better than the other choice.

Remember, too, at the end, Russell was the player-coach. There have been 40 in league history, but he’s the only one to win two championships.

Let’s also note that player-coach Russell’s Celtics beat Wilt Chamberlain and his stacked 1968 Sixers AND his stacked 1969 Lakers, in both years,in Game 7, on the road.

“Russell had better teammates, multiple Hall of Famers”

Hall of Fame teammates are often mentioned in the debate, but the count is almost even. 

Russell Hall of Fame Teammates (11) : Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, Frank Ramsey, Bill Sharman, Bailey Howell, Clyde Lovellette, Carl Braun, Andy Phillip.

Chamberlain Hall of Fame Teammates (10):
Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Lakers; Billy Cunningham, Hal Greer, Chet Walker, 76ers; Paul Arizin, Tom Gola, Guy Rodgers, Nate Thurmond, Warriors.

Consider that some of the enshrined Celtics were honored simply because they won so much – and that was because they had Russell as a teammate. No disrespect intended, but honestly, Frank Ramsey, the first Sixth Man, but 13 points per game career average. K.C. Jones, one of the best defenders ever, but less than 10 ppg career average. Can’t see them making the Hall today. And Lovellette, Braun and Phillip were stars elsewhere who came to Boston for a year or two at the end of their careers.

“Lakers are historically better. Most of Boston’s titles are from too long ago.”

• The Celtics are 9-3 head-to-head in the NBA Finals versus the Lakers. If it was, say, 6-6, many legacies would be much different now.
• Against Russell, the Lakers were 0-7 in the NBA Finals. They finally won a Los Angeles championship in 1972 when they were coached by Bill Sharman and K.C. Jones – two former Celtics.
• It makes no sense for LA fans to diminish the Celtics for winning titles before 1970, when the Lakers claim five Minneapolis titles from the Fifties. Yet, it happens.
• Again, 9-3. The Lakers took their swings, and missed.

The last point here: The mental and physical toughness required to win eight consecutive NBA titles cannot be measured. Try to win something – anything – eight straight times at a world-class level. Or just try to win eight straight games to 21 at your local park. Then imagine the degree of difficulty is “infinite.”

Only one group of people in U.S. professional sports ever met that challenge: The Russell-era Celtics, coached by Red Auerbach. Love it or hate it, that deserves to be respected.

1969 Finals MVP Award: Still puzzling

Until 1969, the last year of the Celtics 13-year dynasty, the NBA did not choose a Finals MVP. Presumably, no one thought of it before then. So, while the Celtics were stacking championships, likely candidates Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Bob Cousy and Sam Jones had no opportunity to earn a prestigious honor that recognizes both individual achievement and team leadership at the highest levels.

Then in 1969, the first trophy was awarded after a series in which, against all odds, the Boston Celtics emerged victorious. The FMVP therefore was presented to…the Lakers’ Jerry West?

Granted, West was incredible in the series, averaging 37.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists. He had five games scoring 39 points or more. But his team lost, so the MVP is tough to justify. Havlicek averaged 28.3/11.0/4.4 while playing every minute of the seven games, and was just as worthy.

No one from a losing side has won FMVP since then. West himself said in an interview that he didn’t want the award.

“I have two dubious honors that I would not recommend to anyone,” West shared. “I was the [NCAA] MVP on a team that lost to Cal by one point and I was the Finals MVP in a seven-game series loss to the Celtics…These were not ‘honors’…These were meaningless to me.”

After the 1969 loss, West was 0-6 against the Celtics in the Finals. Naming him MVP seemed like a consolation prize. If the choice was actually made for sentimental reasons, then Russell should’ve been the pick. It’s a head-scratcher knowing that, for instance, Celtics hero Cedric Maxwell — a deserving winner in 1981 but not close to Russell’s level — possesses a Finals MVP award and the man the trophy is now named after does not.

Long time fans of the San Antonio Spurs know that David Robinson has a gift for music. Back in 1989, he sang backup along with Sean Elliott, Willie Anderson, and Johnny Moore on Terry Cumming’s “It’s That Christmas Time of Year.” As local music legend Joe Reyes recalled, Robinson adeptly played the keyboard while in the studio as well.

In addition to tickling the ivories, Robinson plays saxophone, flute and bass guitar.

Recently, Robinson played bass in what appears to be a college-aged jazz combo. The video has been posted by mulitple sources and since gone viral.

Does anyone have information on how this happened? The room looks like a hotel of sorts. I just can’t image how a group of coeds lured one of the greatest basketball players to sit in with their jazz combo. I’m dying to know the back story.

If you know, please share.

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