ESSAY: The Brooklyn Nets are who we thought they were

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty ImagesIt has not been an inspiring holiday season for the Brooklyn Nets. Over their last nine games, they’ve only managed to defeat the worst team in NBA history, and are quite fortunate to have played them twice in a row. Any good vibes that could have possibly emanated from that mini-winning streak were shredded and burned by a give-up home game against the Milwaukee Bucks followed by an outright failure that was Friday night and an ignominious loss to the 5-25 Washington Wizards.

I was probably the biggest apologist for Brooklyn’s blatant load management on Wednesday night. The season is an 82-game trek, with every team pulling a stunt like this…