As the Nets prepare to head down to Orlando as one of the 22 teams involved in the NBA restart, they’ll of course be without superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Durant hasn’t played with the Nets all season after tearing his Achilles in last year’s NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors, and he previously announced that he had no plans of playing this season, even with the schedule being pushed into the late summer. Irving, meanwhile, had season-ending shoulder surgery earlier this year.
But speaking on a video call with reporters on Saturday, interim head coach Jacque Vaughn discussed his relationship with the Nets’ duo of superstars.
“My conversations with those guys are generally based around me checking in with them to see how they’re doing,” Vaughn said. “Some of those conversations lead into basketball, some of those conversations lead into life conversations, some of those conversations might lead into ‘I have a podcast for you to listen to.’ It ranges.
“For me, it’s more the connection of them knowing that I’m thinking about them, and that’s for players 1-15. That connection piece is huge. I believe in voice and choice, so if you don’t have a relationship with guys, you can’t ask for that. So, my conversations have been a little bit of everything.”
While Irving and Durant will have a huge impact on the Nets moving forward, Vaughn’s attention is currently on the group of players who will take the floor in Orlando, as they Nets make their final push to secure a playoff spot after playing their eight “seeding games.”
“I have been more focused on the group that we’re going to take to Orlando and what that’s going to look like,” said Vaughn. “I think always as a coach in the back of your mind, you are looking at possibilities going forward. So those are great conversations that I look forward to having with both (Irving) and Kevin.
“Being around guys who are high-level athletes, it’s great having conversations with them about the process of basketball and how they see the game. I look forward to more of those conversations, though, too.”
The NBA released the full scrimmage schedule for Orlando on Saturday as well. The Nets will take the court for their first scrimmage on Wednesday, July 22 against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans.