NBA Mailbag: Next for Kyrie? Thibs on the Hot Seat?

Answering questions on the Nets star and Knicks coach, plus thoughts on the strong starts by the Celtics and Jazz.

Opening up the Mailbag while wondering whether this is the beginning of the end of Utah’s Cinderella story …

What’s going to happen with Kyrie? —Sam, Richmond

We are now seven games into the Kyrie Irving suspension and there’s no clarity from Brooklyn as to when it will be over. The closest thing to a real update came over the weekend when Nets owner Joe Tsai told a New York Post reporter in Los Angeles that Irving “still has work to do” before he can return. That drew a strong rebuke from Celtics guard Jaylen Brown—an NBPA vice president—who told reporters this week that “our society has more work to do, including Joe Tsai.”

Look, Irving needed to be disciplined. He tweeted a link to a film with deep antisemitic positions and refused to denounce them when given multiple opportunities to do so. But he has been disciplined. He has been suspended. He has lost money—$1.8 million after Tuesday’s game, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Nike is likely done with him, potentially costing Irving millions more. Meanwhile Tsai and commissioner Adam Silver, who both met with Irving in recent weeks, have publicly said that Irving is not antisemitic.

At some point this becomes less about discipline than just being punitive. Or maybe the Nets—who are 4–3 since Irving’s exit—want to see how long they can ride this hot streak before making a decision on bringing him back. Several league executives told me Sunday’s game against Memphis is the one to watch. It’s the first home game after the road trip, and it will be followed by another three-game Eastern Conference swing. If Irving isn’t allowed to return then, don’t be surprised to see the calls from those that support him—particularly within the NBPA—to grow significantly louder.

What about Amazon? It still has not taken down the movie. Is the NBA going to hold Irving to a different standard than a broadcast partner? —Marc, San Antonio

I was glad to see Silver address this in an interview with The New York Times last week, saying, “I think Amazon needs to make some decisions as well.” He’s right. That Amazon has largely skated on criticism is astonishing. It knows what this film is. And it has yet to take it down. It has remained silent, effectively waiting for people to move on.

But Silver and NBA owners could have some decisions to make, too. The NBA is already in bed with Amazon, having recently cut a deal for the streaming platform to distribute games in Brazil. And there is widespread speculation that Amazon, which has established a foothold in the NFL, will be among the bidders for NBA rights over the next few years.

What will the NBA do? Will it hold Irving to a higher standard? Remember, as poorly as Irving has handled all this, he didn’t make any antisemitic comments himself. He tweeted a link to a film that did, a film that is still available on Amazon. The NBA established a precedent when the Nets suspended Irving. I’ll be curious to see whether they gleefully accept Amazon’s money without holding it to the same standard.

Will Lauri Markkanen win Most Improved Player? —@oddnoell

With the caveat that it’s way too early to start projecting award winners, Markkanen is in the mix. He’s scoring (21.8 points) and shooting (52.6%) at career-best levels on a team that is having a shockingly successful season in large part due to him.

Here’s where I struggle with the Markkanen/MIP debate. For starters, Markkanen was a high lottery pick, seventh in 2017. He averaged nearly 19 points in his second season. He went to Cleveland last year and averaged 15 points, starting 61 games for a team that, before a rash of injuries, was playing like a mid-level playoff contender.

My point is I don’t know whether he should qualify. My MIP ballot is regularly populated by unheralded breakout stars. Jordan Poole was an easy pick for me last season. In 2020, Bam Adebayo edged Dāvis Bertāns on mine. I voted for Julius Randle—the seventh pick in ’14—in ’21 because he made significant strides, particularly from three-point range, in his breakout season in New York.

I think Markkanen has a chance to become an All-Star this season. Most Improved, maybe not.

Will Joe Mazzulla be able to bring out the defensive intensity the Celtics need to win the title? —@shaunuloloa

There’s a lot to be happy about in Boston. The Celtics have the NBA’s top offense. Jayson Tatum is playing like an MVP. Jaylen Brown looks like an All-Star (again) and Marcus Smart continues to grow into the lead playmaker role. But you’re right—the defense, the backbone of last season’s Finals team, has been bad. Bottom third in the NBA bad.

The easy answer is that everything will be fine when Robert Williams III returns from knee surgery. Williams is Boston’s defensive anchor. He’s one of the NBA’s top weakside shot blockers. A healthy Williams can single-handedly transform a defense, especially one that has been leaning heavily on a 36-year-old Al Horford and elite three-point-shot contester Luke Kornet.

But you watch Boston, and it’s clear there are stretches, even full games, where the intensity isn’t there. It’s similar to what we saw at the start of last season, where the Celtics’ defense had a tendency to fall apart. By January they figured it out and started posting some historically stingy numbers. Perhaps when Williams comes back they will do it again. Because as well as this team is playing offensively, Mazzulla & Co. know they won’t go anywhere in the playoffs unless they get back somewhere close to that defensive level.

How much rope does Tom Thibodeau get in New York? That Thunder loss was ugly. —Marcus, Westchester, N.Y.

The Knicks have been disappointing, and surrendering 145 points at home to Oklahoma City was a disaster. But Howard Beck made this point on the podcast this week, and I think I agree with him: New York was a 37-win team last year. It added Jalen Brunson in the offseason and is now hovering around .500. Isn’t that kind of exactly where you expected the Knicks to be?

Knicks fans will probably say no, but this is just not a great roster. Randle and RJ Barrett are scoring, but neither is much of a threat from three-point range. They are not very good at defending that area, either. Brunson has been good, but he was pulled late in the Oklahoma City game, a decision, to his credit, that he says he understood. If you want to criticize Thibodeau for something, it’s Evan Fournier’s continued role. Fournier played 20 minutes in the loss to the Thunder. He missed all five of his shots. If he isn’t making them—and Fournier is shooting 19.4% in November—what is he doing on the floor?

I don’t sense Thibodeau is on the hot seat—yet—but this is an important season. The Knicks did not build on the 2020–21 playoff season. In fact, they regressed. If this one goes in a similar direction, Thibs likely won’t survive to coach another.