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Alex Labidou

Let’s get this started. The offseason has been good for the most part. It’s been good to refresh and spend time with my family and friends. Honestly, being able to stay close to those who I’m closest with and play the game I love are the two most important things to me. If there’s one thing that irked me, it’s comments made by a person last Tuesday that I won’t give any shine to. As I’ve said already, he’ll need to check in before he visits Brooklyn.

He doesn’t know what’s going on in our locker room, in our text messages and how we are as a team. I felt like it was a shot and a slap to the face, because of the perception of how nice we are. I feel like people look past what we have here sometimes. Yes, our record is what it is, but we have a brotherhood in our locker room and we have a group of young guys who are grinding every day to prove against that perception and improve as a team. We improved by eight games last season and that’s got to be the minimum expectation heading into next season. That was what the California trip was all about.

Everyone who went on that trip, volunteered to be a part of it. There weren’t any ultimatums and we definitely didn’t hold anyone hostage once they came. I was impressed that even guys who are free agents showed up. It shows the comfort level that we have with each other, it’s like they were like “I want to be here.” Anytime you get a group of guys that commit to something bigger than themselves, that says a lot about their character. About who they are and focusing on a better future, not only for themselves, but for us as a team. I think it was big, it was a step forward in the right direction for us.

Personally, it also inspired me to think about my own goals and expectations. I’m entering my fourth year and I want to be great. I want to be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. I think that’ll take some time, but I think I’m making the right strides – mentally. Once you figure out and know you have the talent, I think the next step is mentally sacrificing. Whether that’s your diet, your sleep or telling your friends ‘no we can’t hang out.’ Ultimately, to become this great player, you have to make those sacrifices and changes that the ones who aren’t great wouldn’t do. I think I showed some of that last season by improving offensively and I want to build on that heading into next season.

Funny enough, those comments weren’t the only diss that came out last Tuesday. There was also Pusha T lighting up Drake with one of the craziest tracks I have ever heard. Yo it’s crazy! Pusha is literally coming for Drake’s neck out here.

I’m actually a big fan of Drake’s, so I’m interested to see where he goes from here. He can rap, but he’s also great at making music that anyone can jam to. Pusha is a straight-up poet and he apparently knows his stuff…ha ha. Drake’s issue is that he knows his limits and where he feels comfortable. It’s not his identity to battle rap, but you never know. He always seems to surprise people and he needs to respond. Sooner than later.

Getting back to the offseason, although I have been enjoying some downtime, I’ve definitely been paying close to attention to the playoffs.

I was able to catch up with my good friends, Alex and Maia Shibutani, for Game 1 of the Finals. Now you might be wondering how I’m cool with two Winter Olympic figure skaters. Simple, we’re all ambassadors for Right to Play. I joined my rookie year in 2015 and that’s where I met them. I remember I was chilling with personal friends on my own when they came up to me and introduced themselves. Moments later, Alex came up to me and was like “Dude, you’ve should’ve been a higher draft pick!” That’s when we started to laugh and joke and exchanged numbers. Ever since, we’ve been pretty close.

Alex and Maia are big fans of the NBA. Alex used to tell me how Maia would beat him all of the time in 2K by exclusively using Shaq. It’s cool to hear their perspective on ball and I’ve also quizzed them on figure skating. I’m not a huge figure skating fan, but I watch whenever they are on. I’ll be like “Bro, you got an ice blade on your leg, that doesn’t hurt?” LOL. So here’s where this gets even better, they have offered to teach me how to figure skate. I mean I skate a little bit, but imagine me at 6-foot-8 trying that out? Of course I accepted. You may see some videos come this winter.

Alright everyone, appreciated having a chance to share some thoughts here. Next time, I’ll reveal why my grandfather was dominating street courts in his late 50s and how he and my brother Rahlir led me on my path to the NBA.

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Rondae Hollis-Jefferson's Nets blog: Offseason, Drake vs. Pusha T, figure skating

Editor’s Note: All opinions expressed by Alex Labidou are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Brooklyn Nets or the team’s Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors

The NBA Draft and offseason are almost here, which means there's plenty of questions about the draft and the team's current roster. Without further ado, here's my responses:

The one promising thing about the guards on the Nets roster is that they are all relatively tall (the shortest out of the group is Isaiah at 6-foot-4) and can play multiple positions.

Caris LeVert, for example, can play and guard positions 1 through 3. The combination of D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie hit some bumps on the road last season, but I’m not sure the team is quite ready to give up on that yet. There were some promising signs at times and Kenny Atkinson appeared to have high expectations for both, judging on comments in a recent interview with Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck.

“I don’t put ceilings on guys -- (it’s like) ‘Spencer, can you get to be top-50?’ or ‘D’Angelo, can you get to be top-30?’ That’s where I think you’ll see make a big jump,” he said.

With a full training camp together, that could develop into a stronger partnership. Then there’s Jeremy Lin, who has been determined to get back to his best. I think competition will bring out the best in this group.

I want to stress that this is strictly my opinion and I’m not speaking for the Nets organization. From my perspective, I think there’s three players who might be available at the 29th pick and could have an impact:

Villanova’s Omari Spellman, Mitchell Robinson, and USC’s De'Anthony Melton

We all know Kenny Atkinson loves big men who can shoot so Spellman would be a good fit there as he’s shot 43 percent from the arc in his freshman campaign at Nova. He’s a big, physical guy who is good at chasing boards – an area of need for the team.

Mitchell Robinson didn’t play in college last season, but he was considered one of the best prospects in high school just a year ago. He might be considered a project but late in the first round, sometimes those are the gambles that pay off. Plus, he’s got top level shot-blocking ability and Nets sat at 16th in that area last season.

Finally, I like Melton who some have considered to be the next Patrick Beverley. I know he’s a bit undersized at 6-foot-3, but those were the same concerns about Beverley. Atkinson often discussed wanting to improve on that side of the floor and Melton could help in that area.

To read more about potential prospects at No. 29 pick, check out our Mock Draft hub.

D’Angelo has been grinding and working out at HSS Training Center and elsewhere this offseason. If there’s one thing that’s been impressive about this roster, it’s the fact that participation in voluntary offseason workouts has been very good. This is a hungry group with a lot to prove and I think you’ll see that next season.

Spencer is a proud new dad to a baby boy. Otherwise, he’s been working out in California and I’ve been told, adding boxing and yoga to his regimen.

I’m assuming you’re asking me this question. I’m going with Jay Z, Kanye, Empire of the Sun and TV on the Radio. That new Pusha T album is also fire.

Ha, I’ll let our upcoming player blogs respond to that. Wink wink.

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Brooklyn Nets Mailbag: What will the guard rotation look like?

The second mailbag is here and there’s plenty of topics to touch on, so without further delay, here it is:

Among rookies (qualified stats), he’s first in blocks (1.2), first in field goal percentage (58.9) and seventh in rebounding (5.4). He’s also fourth in ESPN’s rookie Player Efficiency Rating (17.56), following behind ROTY favorite Ben Simmons, John Collins and Jordan Bell. As a starter, he averaged 10.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while shooting 62.1 percent from the floor.

In my opinion, Allen’s overall season averages might not draw the attention of a national media voter group, but coaches, players and media who got to see him up close all rave about how much he’s already shown. If it were up to me, Allen and De'Aaron Fox would have replaced two players on All-Rookie second team. I’m not naming names though.

Every NBA team explores options to move up or collect more assets in the draft. Looking at Sean Marks’ previous two drafts, he’s shown a willingness to make significant trades during the draft (D’Angelo Russell’s arrival for example) or find ways to acquire first and second round picks.

Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen were all first rounders that joined the Nets via trade. There is a case to be made that all of those players have proven that they should have been picked higher than where they were selected. So the possibility of moving up definitely can’t be ruled out in the 2018 draft.

That’s a good question. My BrooklynNets.com colleague Tom Dowd wrote a great feature about the Year 2 effect in Brooklyn that’s already taken shape with Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert and even Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (who was under his second year with Kenny Atkinson last season).

While I don’t want to sound like a PR campaign and predict a massive jump for Allen Crabbe next season, he showed some positive signs in the second half of the season.

After the All-Star break, Crabbe averaged 15.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 41.4 percent from downtown. The 25-year-old was torching it up in April as he put up 21.2 points a night in that month – shooting 54.8 percent overall and 50 percent from behind the arc. Crabbe admitted in an interview with BrooklynNets.com in March that at times he had to adjust to a different playing style and new surroundings. He expects bigger things for next season.

“I didn’t have the consistent season I wanted to have,” Crabbe told BrooklynNets.com. “But I got one year under my belt [in Brooklyn] and I know where I can be effective on this team and what I can bring – what I can do. Just go into offseason and come back a completely different player.”

It’s a goddarn hot dog! We had a lengthy debate about this at the BSE office last week btw! Over 35 people voted and based on the majority of the poll, it is not a sandwich!

I assume you’re referring to the players. There’s obviously a lot of offseason conditioning going on, but what’s really impressed me is the player-led team building that’s been going on. Seeing almost the entire team participate in a gathering in Los Angeles is something that you rarely see from NBA teams and it speaks volumes about how tight the locker room is.

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Brooklyn Nets Mailbag: Was Jarrett Allen snubbed from NBA All-Rookie team?

Editor’s Note: All opinions expressed by Alex Labidou are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Brooklyn Nets or the team’s Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors.

As Nets approach the draft and free agency, one thing is clear: There’s plenty of interest from Brooklyn’s fans about what’s next. The first-ever team mailbag received dozens of questions. Not every question was answered in the first round, but don’t fret, this will be a weekly feature on BrooklynNets.com. So check in each week and I’ll try to address as many questions as I can.

Labidou: Over the past two summers since Sean Marks’ arrival, Brooklyn has extended top dollar offer sheets to players who the organization felt it can build around. I don’t think that approach will change as Marks himself alluded to it in his end of the season presser.

“We already know we have an ownership group that is ready to fork out the big money when that timing is right,” Marks said. “But again, we don’t want to skip any steps along this rebuild. I think if we skip steps and think we can do it right now or we could’ve done it a year ago, that’s when franchises end up digging themselves into a hole.”

Labidou: D’Angelo Russell has incredible potential, but he needs to work on consistency to take the next step.

The one thing that really impresses me about Russell is just how easy he makes everything look. Whether it’s a pull up jumper or a stunning behind-the-back pass, it all looks natural and instinctual with him. Russell appeared to be putting together what was a borderline All-Star campaign (averaging 20.7 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds) before his knee injury derailed him for 32 games. Once he came back, he had to readjust and couldn’t consistently find his rhythm. With another training camp and the well-known Year 2 effect in Brooklyn, I think there will be plenty to be excited about.

If he can improve his decision-making and defense, Russell can emerge as one of the top young point guards in the NBA.

Labidou: Haha…three years is a long time. What I will say is I think the target of Marks and Kenny Atkinson is to keep improving each season and developing talent. Hopefully, the team will have a young core that it can build around and there’s already several players on the roster who you can point to in that respect. Finally, there was an eight-win improvement last season, so the expectation is to keep replicating that progress each season.

Labidou: Dude, I listened to the clip an embarrassing amount of times and all I hear is Laurel. Does that make me weird? I also sparked an internal office debate about it [Pic below].

Labidou: Oh man, this is the toughest question of the bunch. Heck, in DeKalb Market, I’ve probably got like at least three options I could say. But recently, I’ve been a big fan of Ends Meat. Their BeefNeck Sandwich is legit fire and the Hog Father is what they are known for. Definitely my favorite for now.

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Brooklyn Nets Mailbag: Free Agency, D’Angelo Russell and More

Spencer Dinwiddie was preparing for a summer league stint around this time last year. At that stage, he was just hoping to prove why he deserved a spot in Kenny Atkinson’s rotation. How things can change in just a few months.

On Wednesday night, the 25-year-old was named as one of the nominees for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award – joining the Pacers’ Victor Oladipo and the Rockets’ Clint Capela. It was the culmination of a stunning turnaround for Dinwiddie, who went from essentially being cut twice in his first two years in the league to becoming one of the league’s most efficient playmakers. He is fully aware of how far he’s come.

“I think the main thing, this is some validation on the season individually which means a lot to me given the road I've traveled,” he wrote in an email to BrooklynNets.com.

Dinwiddie averaged 12.6 points, 6.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds, all career highs, and was second in the league in assist to turnover ratio (4.1). His incredible rise is well-documented. He was expected to compete for the backup point guard role after training camp, but thrived when being called on to fill in for injured starters Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell.

He averaged 13.8 points and 7.2 assists as a starter and was particularly impressive in January, where he hit three game winners and averaged 14.9 points and 6.2 assists. His success in the first half of the season resulted in a trip to All-Star weekend where he didn’t disappoint, taking home the Skills Challenge trophy. Dinwiddie is hungry to build on last season.

“I'm still fighting for a job and trying to continue to solidify myself in this league,” he wrote.

 He is also confident that his teammates can make similar strides this upcoming season.

“I want to win championships, so all my goals are still the same as last year in that regard,” he said. “I expect us as a unit to keep improving and personally I want to be the type of player that can lead his team to a championship.”

Finally, Dinwiddie reiterated his gratitude to the Nets for giving him extended minutes at the point guard position – one of the hardest roles in the NBA. He knows that his success this season wouldn’t come without the confidence of Atkinson and general manager Sean Marks.

“If I win, they deserve half the award honestly,” he wrote. “They believed in me two years ago when no one else did and doubled down this past season amidst the injuries. Without that we don't see any of these things. So I remain grateful to Sean Marks, Kenny and the rest of the organization.”

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Brooklyn Nets' Spencer Dinwiddie grateful for Most Improved Player nomination

Tom Dowd

The emergence of Spencer Dinwiddie was intriguing enough to make the Nets guard one of the NBA’s better stories of the 2017-18 season. Injuries to Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell elevated Dinwiddie to a starting role less than three weeks into the season, and less than a year since he was toiling in the G League. It would be an understatement to say Dinwiddie seized the opportunity.

He ended up averaging 13.8 points and 7.2 assists in 58 starts and 12.6 points and 6.6 assists overall. With just 1.6 turnovers per game, he finished second in the NBA in assist to turnover ratio, as well as 11th in assists. But the road to those final numbers was the fun part.

It started with a spot start. Dinwiddie went for 22 points and nailed a deep, dagger 3-pointer with Russell sidelined in the fifth game of the season as the Nets beat the Cavaliers at Barclays Center. By mid-November, Dinwiddie was entrenched in the starting lineup with Russell sidelined for two months by a knee injury. In his second start after Russell’s injury, Dinwiddie poured in 25 points with six 3-pointers and averaged 19.3 points and 8.0 assists in a four-game stretch. The Dinwiddie tale was off and running, but just getting started.

There was a pair of 26-point games in December, and in January came the real dramatics. Dinwiddie’s game-winner against the Timberwolves capped a 26-point, nine-assist outing with zero turnovers. It was the first of three game-winning baskets in the month, including a buzzer-beater in Detroit on Jan. 21. And that doesn’t include his wild 31-point show against Toronto, in which Dinwiddie scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime before the Nets fell to the Eastern Conference’s top team in OT.

February brought Dinwiddie further into the spotlight with his appearance at NBA All-Star Weekend. Selected for the Skills Challenge, Dinwiddie won the event. In addition, his assist numbers skyrocketed during the month, with Dinwiddie averaging 9.1 assists in February.

He moved back into a reserve role in mid-March, but continued major contributions, including a double-double with 12 points and 12 assists in a win at Miami and 20 points with seven assists in a win over Chicago.

Over the course of the season, Dinwiddie emerged as a team leader with the confidence to take and make crunch-time shots while leading the team in offensive rating.

By the end of the season, Dinwiddie had a well-earned place in conversations about the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. He finished 11th in the NBA in assists and second in assist to turnover ratio. His leadership and strong play was crucial at a point in the season where the Nets desperately needed it after the injuries to Lin and Russell. Dinwiddie was a capable scorer on a decent volume of attempts. But his overall field goal percentage was steadily in the 38-39 percent range throughout the season. After getting off to a decent start from 3-point range – shooting 38.8 percent as of December 1 – Dinwiddie’s numbers steadily declined over the season and he finished at 32.6 percent behind the arc on a career-high 433 attempts that made up 51.7 percent of his overall field goal attempts.

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Brooklyn Nets Season Review: Spencer Dinwiddie

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has an unconventional style of play when he’s on the court, but he was arguably the Nets’ most effective all-around player in the 2017-18 season.

The longest-tenured Net made plenty of strides in his third campaign in Brooklyn and it was his progress on the offensive end that was most noteworthy. National media outlets have labelled Hollis-Jefferson’s style of play on offense as herky jerky as he has a unique shot and often drives into the lane fearlessly, yet it was quietly useful for the former University of Arizona Wildcat.

The 23-year-old saw his scoring average go up by an impressive 5.2 points per game – going from 8.7 ppg in the 2016-17 campaign to 13.9 ppg last season. Considering Hollis-Jefferson came into the NBA with defense as his calling card, the improvement shown on the other side of the court proves his increasing comfort level at the four spot.

“The way the game’s going, I feel like, now, that’s definitely my natural fit,” Hollis-Jefferson said in his final media session of the season.

In his first full season as a power forward, Hollis-Jefferson’s versatility made him a handful for opposing defenses at times. His athleticism and ability to create offense for himself or his teammates showcases why he can be an ideal fit at the position in the modern NBA. He often had nights that would make fantasy players gush.

Take Brooklyn’s April 5 win against Milwaukee for example. The forward had an incredible stat line of 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Hollis-Jefferson had 12 double-doubles last season, he had 10 total in his first years in the league. It isn’t surprising that the Nets struggled mightily in the 14 games he missed.

Hollis-Jefferson offers tremendous value as a player who can influence the game on both sides. He can take the next step in his development as he gets more comfortable in guarding fours and more efficient on the offensive end.  The forward is solid at playing perimeter defense and an impressive rebounder considering the size advantage he gives up each night. The challenge will be finding ways to use his athleticism and speed to excel in using positioning to contain bigger opponents.

“For the most part it was tough because most of the fours have been in the league for a while. They pretty much all have 15 plus pounds on me,” he explained before adding. “I think it’s about how hard you compete at the end of the day and coming out being ready to match that physicality, to match that energy.

“You’ve got guys like Paul Millsap who plays more than me, he’s strong, skilled, a veteran, you’ve got to know how to compete. Be ready, know his motor, know his game, know his tendencies, which I’ve done. I felt like I’ve done a really good job.”

Offensively, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson aims to improve his downtown shooting, as he converted 24.1 percent of his attempts on three-pointers last season.

“Shooting less mid-range and adding three’s,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “I would say just adding that to my game, I feel like would be better for our team and for myself…You want to do what’s best at the end of the day to make your team better. Coaches want it, staff wants it, teammates want it, so I’m all for it.”

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Brooklyn Nets Season Review: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

The Nets point guard is included in a new exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum that opens Friday and runs through October 21. The exhibit, One Hand Clapping, is the third in a series focused on contemporary Chinese culture.

“One Hand Clapping is an exhibition of five artists exploring our different notions and understandings of the future,” said curator Xiaoyu Weng. “Future here is not really by saying, ‘oh the artist is going to give us a vision of what the future looks like.’ Future is more like a static and philosophical pondering and really asking the question of humanity, where we’re going and where we’re coming from.”

Lin attended a reception at the museum on Thursday evening to get a look at the finished piece and meet the artist, Lin Yilin, for the first time.

“I definitely have started to think a little bit more about it as people are talking to me about it, being a part of this,” said Lin of his cultural impact. “What is my legacy, or even recently being in ESPN’s top 100 most influential players ever. But honestly, I feel like when it’s all said and done, when my career is over, I’m going to have done a lot more. So on the one end I do appreciate and can appreciate where I am today and what my legacy would be today. But I feel like in my mind I’m far from done, and that’s kind of how I try to approach all of these types of things.”

The artwork is entitled “Monad,” a three-piece work that features a representation of Lin in one section. Two of the pieces are video presentations that play on a loop on the arena walls, including one that features a basketball carried by a drone being dropped from the top of the museum’s atrium and filmed from multiple angles. The crucial third part is a 90-second virtual reality experience that museum-goers can partake in one at a time.

The viewer in the 360-degree VR experience has the point of view of the basketball, which is approached, picked up and handled by Lin. A sculptor and performance artists who embraces an interdisciplinary approach, this was Lin Yilin’s first original VR piece, having previously worked with a collaborator to transform an earlier piece for VR. After originally considering filming Lin with more traditional equipment, he opted for virtual reality.

“We’re really excited,” said Xiaoyu Weng of Jeremy Lin’s inclusion. “First of all, I think he’s really a heroic figure among Chinese Americans, Asian Americans. Second of all, it’s really fun just to involve people from different fields in an art exhibition at the Guggenheim. Thirdly, I think Lin Yilin, the artist, is really a big fan of Jeremy, like many other people. I’m very happy to help him fulfill this big dream in a way.”

“The Jeremy Lin story in New York is very inspirational. Lin Yilin is also in New York and he was watching TV and watching the Jeremy Lin story,” said an interpreter for the artist. “He’s interested in Jeremy Lin not only because he’s an NBA player but because he has many elements coming together, like he’s a Christian, he’s a Harvard grad, he has a very interesting, weird hairstyle. Everything coming together, and he wanted to incorporate this into his work.”

Jeremy Lin was filmed for the piece several months ago in Vancouver, surrounded by cameras from floor to ceiling in a small room for about an hour to 90 minutes. He got his look at the finished product on Thursday evening.

“I thought it was really cool,” said Lin. “Their whole concept of each person and being self-sustainable, I never really thought about what it’s like to be the ball and to kind of take that vantage point. But it was really interesting. I’m thinking about it right now. Even when you’re dribbling, the ball’s constantly spinning. What I was able to see as the ball, it was crazy because all of a sudden, you’re looking at the floor. I never really thought about that. I like things like that. I like artwork that causes you to think at a different level where it maybe gives you a glimpse into the artists’ mind and how he thinks.”