Tag: kevin durant

In so many ways, Bruce Reznick is one of a kind. He is 86, and nearly lives at basketball arenas. He has seen thousands of sporting events, from watching Jackie Robinson steal home to witnessing the greatness of Kevin Durant nightly. He is beloved by those he meets and many who watch from afar.

And then there is this oddity: The man known as Mr. Whammy remains a proud Nets fan who loves the organization.

The popular fixture who sits (and stands) behind the basket at Barclays Center, from where he tries to hex opposing foul shooters, is sticking by a Nets team that has invited controversy at every turn. The concern dearest to Whammy, though, surrounds Kyrie Irving, who last week used his social media to plug a movie that includes antisemitic tropes.

Whammy, as we will call him, is Jewish, and said he has written Irving a letter, which will be sent to the Nets.

“Hopefully when he reads my letter, he should understand how he should act,” Whammy said over the phone Wednesday, speaking from his day job at his Brooklyn law office. “I think it’s very important that he understand his position — and change.”

Forgive Whammy for being an optimist. The most prominent Nets fan on the planet believes his team’s star point guard — who has not spoken to the media since a Saturday night face-off in which he defended his conspiracy-laden social media posts — can learn from his mistakes, say he’s sorry and move forward.

In a statement Wednesday night jointly released with the Nets, Irving did not quite In a statement Wednesday night jointly released with the Nets and the Anti-Defamation League, Irving did not quite apologize — he did say he “take[s] responsibility,” opposes “hatred and oppression” and does not believe “everything said in the documentary” — but attempted to distance himself from this scandal.

Maybe the Nets can proceed, too, and a Steve Nash-less outfit can jell into a title contender. Whammy will be rooting for them. But he might not have much company on that limb.

In the history of sports, has there been a more difficult team to support? Teams such as the 2010-11 Heat (the first of the Big Three era), the 2007 Spygate Patriots and the “Bad Boy” Pistons teams were loathed across their respective leagues — but also loved at home.

The Nets have no such safe space. Nets fans sat courtside Sunday wearing “Fight Antisemitism” shirts aimed at one of the two faces of these Nets. Nash was the head coach then; he since has been ousted, and all indications are the Nets will bring in Ime Udoka, a head coach suspended for the year by the Celtics after an internal investigation discovered an improper, intimate relationship with a female Boston staffer.

The development must have pleased Nets superstar Kevin Durant, who this offseason requested Nash and GM Sean Marks be fired. Durant is still with a team he demanded to be removed from, mostly hearing cheers from a fan base he wants to escape.

The Nets’ least toxic star, Ben Simmons, is a marvelous talent who cannot shoot, has played in six games and found his way to Brooklyn by refusing to report to his former team.

The Post has reported the Nets are dead last in season-ticket sales. The team is unlikeable, and the play — 2-6 thus far — often has been unwatchable. Their most devoted fans are questioning that devotion.

“I am personally disgusted with the WHOLE situation,” tweeted Bob Windrem, who runs the popular Nets site NetsDaily, after reports began leaking Tuesday that the Nets would replace Nash with Udoka. “[A]nd like a lot of fans I’ve spoken to this morning, I believe it is going to take a long time for us to feel comfortable with this franchise. If ever.”

You won’t hear such talk from Whammy, who is warm to a fault and preaches lessons learned from his parents: “If you show love, you get love.”

He concedes, though, that the faces of the Nets have not embraced the face of their fan base.

Irving “doesn’t talk to me, look at me,” Whammy said, adding that Irving and Durant are still relatively new to the team, and there is plenty of time to endear themselves to the Brooklyn fans.

Whammy speaks fondly of Jarrett Allen, who was sent to Cleveland in the failed three-way trade that briefly brought James Harden to Brooklyn. Years ago, Whammy introduced himself to the young big man.

“I said, ‘Do you have grandparents?’ He said, ‘No, but now I do,’” said Whammy, a regular attendee at Nets games since they were based in New Jersey in the 1990s. “Isn’t that beautiful?”

Whammy said he taught Allen to shoot foul shots, and shaky free-throw shooter Nic Claxton will be his next project. Caris LeVert, also part of that trade with the Cavaliers, was a hugger.

“I’m a little depressed that I don’t get the reaction from this team,” said Whammy, who was close enough with Jason Kidd that he attended his 2018 induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. “But in time they will.”

Whammy, who will be in Charlotte for Saturday’s Nets-Hornets game, is not giving up on the team. At a time when much of the world and fan base have heard enough, Whammy is keeping the faith and wants to hear once more from Irving.

“He should have come forth earlier, but he’s got a chance now,” Whammy said. “It’s never too late to redeem yourself.”

It is a good thing that it is “never too late,” because it is awfully, awfully late for the Nets.

Today’s back page

Cover your bases with more coverage of Wednesday night’s World Series no-hit history:

⚾ Astros no-hit Phillies in Game 4 to even up World Series

⚾ SHERMAN: Yankees were just start of Cristian Javier’s run of domination

⚾ Astros relievers bring home the second no-no in World Series history

That’s my quarterback?

Speaking of culture issues, two wide receivers requesting trades in the same year does not reflect well on their quarterback.

On Tuesday, Jets GM Joe Douglas placed the responsibility for pacifying Elijah Moore and Denzel Mims — who both wanted out, yet neither was moved by the deadline — on head coach Robert Saleh and his staff. And sure: If the Jets re-engage Moore and Mims, it would speak highly of the people in charge.

It does not reflect well on Zach Wilson, the leader of this Jets offense, that two talented, recent second-round picks do not want to be a part of the team.

“Each situation’s mutually exclusive,” Douglas said, though that may not be completely true: If Mims and Moore caught more passes, they likely would be just fine. “We think the world about these guys, and we love them here in New York.”

Moore did not ask for a trade when Joe Flacco — a backup at best at this stage of his career — hooked up for 12 completions and 139 yards in the first three weeks of the season. And if Wilson could utilize the length of the 6-foot-3 Mims, who has been a nonfactor since landing with the Jets in 2020, the former Baylor star would have fewer difficult discussions with Douglas and Saleh.

The Jets are proud of their culture, a fact Douglas made clear: Young players are carrying the team. But it is not a coincidence that the two Jets players publicly displeased are two players reliant on Wilson, who will have to take a leap this season for the Jets to win and for offensive players to want to be a part of that culture.

In honor of Judy Coughlin

Tom Coughlin was as football coach as a football coach gets. He worked on Tom Coughlin Time, always five minutes early. He drilled. He shouted.

And then he would return home to a wife who always was the true boss.

Coughlin announced Wednesday that Judy Whitaker Coughlin had died at the age of 77.

“Judy was a remarkable woman in every way,” the former two-time Super Bowl champion head coach of the Giants said in a statement. “She lived a life filled with love and unselfishly gave her heart and soul to others. Judy made you feel like an old friend from the first hug to the last. She was a mother to all on and off the field.

“For everyone who knew and loved Judy, the enormity of her absence cannot be put into words, but the immense kindness she showed to others will always endure. Our hearts are broken, but we know she is free from suffering and at peace with our Lord.”

Last year, Coughlin came forward — in a powerful column for the New York Times — to reveal Judy had been diagnosed with a rare brain disease, known as progressive supranuclear palsy. Coughlin had become a caregiver, and Judy was slipping away.

“For the past four years, we’ve helplessly watched her go from a gracious woman with a gift for conversation, hugging all the people she met and making them feel they were the most important person in the room,” Coughlin wrote, “to losing almost all ability to speak and move.”

Wednesday was a sad day across football.