Nets lose CEO in Brooklyn, blow game in Utah

Stunning Levy departure compounded by 119-114 loss to Jazz

November 13, 2019 JT Torenli

Kyrie Irving laments what could have been after missing a potential go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds of the Nets' tough loss in Utah on Tuesday night. AP Photo by Rick Bowmer.

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Just hours after learning that their Chief Executive Officer of only two months had “mutually agreed to part ways” with the team and Barclays Center, the Nets gave away a fourth-quarter lead in Utah Tuesday night, resulting in a 119-114 loss to the Jazz on the third leg of their ongoing five-game road trip.

David Levy, hired on Sept. 18 when Joseph Tsai officially took over as owner of the team and arena from Mikhail Prokhorov, made a sudden and unexpected departure from his post Tuesday morning, leaving the new-look Nets in the hands of interim CEO Oliver Weisberg.

“As we enter an exciting next chapter of our organization, it’s important that ownership and management are completely aligned on our go-forward plan,” Weisberg said in a statement.

“We are proud of the culture of the Brooklyn Nets under the leadership of General Manager Sean Marks and Head Coach Kenny Atkinson, and we look forward to continue bringing the best experience to our fans.”

That “experience”, at least thus far this season, has been a series of turnover-plagued fourth-quarter fiascos, similar to the one the Nets experienced against the Jazz after entering the final period with a 92-84 lead.

“I thought we had two bad stretches: the beginning of the third quarter, beginning of the fourth quarter,” Atkinson said after the Nets blew most of a 15-point halftime advantage before their collapse over the last 12 minutes.

“Those are the two bad stretches and against an excellent team, our margin is very small, especially on the road.”

Brooklyn, which fell to 1-2 on its longest scheduled trip of the campaign, did appear to have a final glimmer of hope as Kyrie Irving rose up to take a 3-pointer with just under eight seconds remaining and the Nets down 116-114.

But the NBA’s third-leading scorer watched his bid for a go-ahead basket skim off the front of the rim and into the hands of Utah center Rudy Gobert, leaving the Nets to lament what could have been after they yielded 35 fourth-quarter points and 16 giveaways to their league-leading turnover total.

“They made some hustle plays, of course, off my misses down the stretch,” Irving said after going 10-of-30 from the floor, including a dismal 2-for-12 from beyond the arc.

“We had a good chance down the stretch, a good look at the rim from the 3-point line. But things happen in the basketball world, you just gotta live with it.”

The Nets have been living with plenty this year.

First, the offseason splash of bringing in Kevin Durant and Irving, then an ownership change followed by a tumultuous politically-charged visit to China for an exhibition series and finally the loss of Levy, who was hailed by Tsai on his way in.

“David brings a unique combination of sports and media know-how, strategic thinking and operating skills to our sports and entertainment business,” Tsai said just 56 days ago.

“He is an entrepreneur at heart with the experience of managing and scaling organizations, and I really look forward to working with him.”

So much for that.

David Levy spent just under two months as Nets and Barclays Center CEO before “mutually agreeing” to part ways with the Brooklyn-based franchise on Tuesday morning. AP Photo by Evan Agostini.

The Nets (4-6), who will be in Denver Thursday night before finishing off their journey Saturday evening in Chicago, have gone down to the wire in six of their first 10 games, including an opening-night loss to Minnesota at Barclays which also featured a big late-game miss by Irving.

Brooklyn, which will almost certainly be without Durant for the duration of this season while he recovers from an Achilles injury, has been relying too heavily on Irving, who is averaging nearly 30 points per game, but had a team-high four turnovers in Tuesday’s loss.

“I felt like I had some great looks at the 3-point line,” Irving said following the Nets’ second straight loss.

“The whole night, I just felt like I had some great looks. I’m gonna shoot it better. If I make `em, it’s a different story.”

Things might have been different if Caris LeVert had been available for Brooklyn, Irving’s back-court mate sat out the game in Utah with a sprained right thumb.

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 21 points off the bench, DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 17 rebounds and Taurean Prince also scored 15 for Brooklyn, which began the night 5-of-10 from 3-point range before going 6-of-27 the rest of the way.

Opening with a bang and finishing with a whimper is starting to be a disturbing trend for this Nets team, which began the season with high expectations but still appears to be experiencing growing pains with its new personnel, both on the court and in the front office.

“We are where we are. We’re 4-6. We’re below average,” Atkinson ceded.

“There’s things to build on. Our defense has to improve for us to take another step. … This league is unrelenting. We are below average, I think our guys understand that.”