HANDLE WITH CARIS!
LeVert will have to do it all for depleted Nets
When the Nets take the floor for their first of eight games in the NBA’s 22team restart in Orlando, the ball is going to be in Caris LeVert’s hands. There’s no doubt about it.
Brooklyn’s point guards have evaporated. Kyrie Irving underwent shoulder surgery and will not travel with the team to Orlando. Spencer Dinwiddie tested positive for the coronavirus and began exhibiting symptoms of chest tightness and a fever. His status for the Orlando bubble is undecided.
G-League call-up and thirdstring point guard Chris Chiozza impressed in the games leading into the coronavirus hiatus, averaging 10 points on 52% shooting from three in the season’s last five outings, but he’s only played 28 career games. The Nets also waived Theo Pinson and signed combo guard Tyler Johnson during the NBA’s transaction window.
Then there’s LeVert, who has played a fair amount of point guard over the course of the past two seasons, especially this year as Irving missed the majority of the year with a right shoulder impingement. He is a play-maker, a perimeter scorer, and with his team missing each of its two stars and its fill-in starting point guard, the offense will run through No. 22.
“I think for me, it’s just taking on that challenge of being a leader, being a leader of that group,” LeVert told reporters on a conference call on Friday. “Going down there with some of the most experience on the team, playoff experience. I feel like I relish in these types of opportunities and situations. I’m looking forward to, you know, going down there and seeing what we can do.”
What the Nets can do will largely depend on what LeVert can do. He’s in the midst of a career year, averaging just under 18 points and, four rebounds and four assists per game. He’s shooting a careerbest 38% from three-point range, and has already exploded for a personal record 51-point game in a March 3 win over the Boston Celtics.
In his last five games prior to the NBA’s coronavirus hiatus, LeVert averaged 27 points, six rebounds and six assists on just under 50% shooting from the field and 44% shooting from three.
The challenge for LeVert, as it’s been for many players during the NBA’s adjustment to the COVID-19 pandemic, was staying focused while things closed around him. Most notably, the league shut down their practice facilities in midMarch to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
“I feel good right now. I haven’t played in games since March so that’s the question I really don’t know but I feel good in my workouts though,” admitted LeVert, who also said he returned to Brooklyn two weeks ago. “And if I didn’t, I honestly wouldn’t be going down there to play. So I’m looking forward to getting out there.”
Another challenge across the league has been players balancing a return to play against the country’s awakening on police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer. LeVert says he attended four or five protests and marches over the past few months.
While he’s not sure what message he wants to sport on the back of his jersey when the Nets resume their season in the Orlando bubble, Floyd’s death hit home for Brooklyn’s budding star.
“His story kind of resonated with myself or my family because that definitely could have been me out there. It could have been one of my family members off of there,” LeVert said. “Myself, my little brother and my cousins have all been victims of racist police or prejudice, getting pulled over in a car and having to search the car for no reason.
“That easily could have been myself or someone that I know. So I think that kind of put everything into perspective.”
Nets general manager Sean Marks made it clear on a Wednesday conference call that the organization supports the Black Lives Matter movement. Barclays Center had become the epicenter of protests in Brooklyn, with Nets governor Joe Tsai signing off on peaceful protests outside of his team’s arena.
But the Nets can only promote social awareness on the court for as long as they are alive in the playoff hunt. Brooklyn will enter the bubble seventh in the Eastern Conference, just a half-game ahead of the Magic and six games ahead of the ninth-place Wizards.
Every game counts. One too many losses and Brooklyn could find itself in a play-in tournament for its playoff livelihood. The Nets are shorthanded a number of starters, including DeAndre Jordan (coronavirus), Wilson Chandler (opted out for family reasons) and potentially Dinwiddie, as well.
Those who are healthy, LeVert says, are ready to compete.
“Obviously with new personnel, I feel like everyone’s role is going to be a little bit different, everyone’s going to be asked to do a little bit more on the court,” he said. “It will definitely be a challenge, it will be fun to go down there and compete. But everyone’s role will be a little bit different. Hopefully everyone is ready for that task.
“It’s next man up. We have guys on the roster who are eager to play. I think whoever’s on the court is going to give their all.”