YES Network’s Brooklyn Nets crew ready to tackle challenges of 2020-21 NBA season

Art or Photo Credit: E.H. Wallop/YES Network

The 2020-21 NBA season is just a few short weeks away after the shortest offseason in league history, and both players and media members are getting ready for another unpredictable and unprecedented journey to the playoffs.

For YES Network’s Brooklyn Nets crew, this year will bring a whole new level of expectations and national attention as the superstar duo of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant get set to embark on their first season together in Brooklyn uniforms.

While basketball fans will still be prohibited from attending games in person for the start of the upcoming season, the Nets broadcast crew will be calling both home and away games on location at Barclays Center as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the sports world and society at large.

“It’s going to be different,” said Nets play-by-play man Ian Eagle on Tuesday, “but your job doesn’t change. The job is still to inform and entertain, and just because you’re not up close doesn’t mean that you have a built-in excuse now to change the way you do your job.”

Eagle joined fellow YES Network Nets broadcast crew members Ryan Ruocco, Richard Jefferson, Sarah Kustok and Michael Grady on a media conference call Tuesday to discuss their expectations for the 2020-21 season in Brooklyn, and how the pandemic will alter their approach to covering the team this year.

“While we may be detached from the action, it’s our job to not let the viewer feel detached,” Eagle continued. “If anything, I think covering this particular team is going to raise the level for everyone to make sure that we’re providing great content.”

For Richard Jefferson, a former Nets star and ex-teammate of Kyrie Irving, covering this year’s team in Brooklyn will in many ways be just like any typical season, even in the face of mounting challenges posed by the pandemic.

“I truly think the only thing that can slow down high-level basketball is COVID,” Jefferson told reporters. “As far as players being prepared, this is far different than it was 10 years ago, 15 years ago. One, this is the shortest offseason for players that were in the bubble, and two, players are just in shape year-round. They take no breaks. I think the quality of basketball is going to be there.”

With the healthy returns of both Irving and Durant, two players with NBA championship pedigree, there will be plenty of compelling storylines to follow as the season gets underway in Brooklyn, and courtside reporter Michael Grady will be there every step of the way no matter what challenges may arise.

“It’s absolutely an adjustment. From a reporter’s standpoint, and especially with new faces and wanting to get to know these guys and wanting those guys to see your face as often as possible so you have that connection and you’re building that trust, that’ll be a different animal this season. But we’re going to do the best that we can and work with what we’ve got,” said Grady. “I’ve felt like these guys have been really good. They’ve been really open and they’ve been really honest, and that’s really all that we can ask for.”

The Nets will kick off their title pursuit Dec. 22 against the Golden State Warriors, but before that a pair of preseason games will take place on YES on Dec. 13 against Washington and Dec. 18 against Boston.

The NBA will do everything in its power to bring basketball to the masses amid a host of tough challenges this year, but the excitement level for the new season remains as high as ever.

“In a strange way with no fans in attendance, there’s something that goes to the root of the purity of basketball,” said Eagle. “It truly is ‘me against you,’ and there’s that feeling that kicks in where your ego is at stake and it’s all about basketball. It’s not about all of the other aspects of the event, it’s about the game, and I think we’re going to get a feeling of that over the course of this season.”

For the latest news and developments on the Brooklyn Nets, be sure to tune in for the next installment of Nets Hot Stove airing Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on YES Network.