The Brooklyn Nets have endured a torrid start to the NBA season, with head coach Steve Nash paying the price with his job despite the season being just a month old. However, it seems the former all-star lost the confidence of his players early on in the campaign.
Before the season began, the Nets had to deal with Kevin Durant's trade request, and now they're in the middle of dealing with Kyrie Irving's suspension for sharing anti-semitic material on social media. To go on top of that, there are reports suggesting the Nets aren't happy with Ben Simmons after the former number one draft pick made a slow start to the season.
Their struggles on court can be summed up perfectly by Irving's actions on-court earlier in the campaign. A recent report claims Irving ignoring play calls from the sideline and doing his own thing with the ball in his hands.
A scout from the team, who spoke to the New York Post anonymously, said that this happened on 10 separate occasions in a loss to the Indiana Pacers.
He said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Nash would call something, and he'd run the opposite. I've never seen anything like that."
Just three days later, Nash left was fired from the Nets, with the team attempting to hire Boston Celtics suspended head coach Ime Udoka, before deciding to look elsewhere.
Irving remains suspended after sharing the documentary 'Hebrews to N******: Wake Up Black America', which includes Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories concerning Jewish people. He was set a number of tasks to complete before he can return to the team.
He could return from his five-game suspension this Saturday, when the Lakers face LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers - a team who Irving reportedly wanted to join this past off-season.
Irving is set to become a free agent this summer, with many projecting him to leave the Nets, whilst fellow superstar Kevin Durant could force a move away from Brooklyn should Irving exit.
