The stunt and the uproar were caused by Irving tweeting about the film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which contains antisemitic tropes.

On the court, the Nets 안전놀이터 blew most of a 24-point lead, but defeated the Indiana Pacers, 116-109, to snap a four-game losing streak. That wasn’t enough to keep Steve Nash from getting fired Tuesday. The distraction that Irving caused by sharing a link to a controversial film has created yet another firestorm surrounding the mercurial guard, and most of the mainstream New York media columnists are calling upon the team to trade him.

But Irving and Kevin Durant are tight, and what we have here is the latest chapter in a power struggle that began when Irving and Durant publicly called for the firings of Nash and general manager Sean Marks. The decision on which trigger to pull was ultimately made by owner Joe Tsai, and a fifth straight loss going into Tuesday night’s home game against the 3-4 Chicago Bulls wouldn’t have mattered for Nash.

For the first time all season, the Nets didn’t let an opposing star go nuts against them. Indiana’s high scorer was Chris Duarte with 30 points, which was on the low end for points by an opponent. This season, Benedict Matthurin scored 32, Luke Doncic had 41, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 43, Ja Morant and Desmond Bane each had 39, Pascal Siakam had 37, and Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and C.J. McCollum each had 20+ in the Nets’ first six games.

A sure sign that a team is quitting on its coach is a lack of effort defensively, and the Nets are allowing 120.3 points per game, the most in the Eastern Conference, where they sit in 12th place.

Is this Season Already a Lost Cause for Brooklyn?

After seven games? No. Ben Simmons has been dreadful, but Royce O’Neale was a nice off-season pickup, and T.J. Warren hasn’t yet played. Marks still needs to juice up the roster somehow. But since he traded away five first-round picks (including swaps) in order to acquire James Harden, then gifted him to the Sixers for Simmons, the trade cupboard is bare. That’s aside from disgruntled veteran Patty Mills and second-year forward Cam Thomas, who’s gathering dust on the bench after winning a Las Vegas Summer League MVP trophy.

It’s now up to interim coach Jacque Vaughn to decide whether or not to play Thomas and to give additional playing time to Mills, who averaged 29 minutes last season and is at 14.3 this season.

Irving’s latest social media fiasco (he deleted the controversial tweet after insisting he would not) is an extraordinary distraction, which is what every team that’s ever dealt with Irving came to expect from him. As Brian Windhorst said on ESPN Tuesday morning while the network discussed the Nets, the team probably won’t do anything to discipline Irving.

When something else happens later this year, they’re not going to do anything then, either,” Windhorst said, noting that the Nets sell fewer season tickets than any team in the NBA.

Tuesday night’s game will be telecast by TNT, and the best bet of the season is that hosts Shaq, Charles, Kenny, and Ernie will be weighing in on Kyrie and the general state of the Nets. These guys aren’t shy with their opinions.