 Good afternoon. Megan Triple, yes, Network. Coach, what's your overall general thoughts of this group as you guys enter this season? It's excitement. We had, I think, a great summer of working through last season's lessons. We clearly faced a lot of adversity last year. I think it put us in a position to really dig in to all the things that we can try to clean up and improve. I think we did a great job with the roster this summer. So just excitement about our team, our group, what the potential is, the optionality we have, and the personalities. So I think we're really excited to build this thing and can't wait to get on the floor tomorrow. Hey, guys. This is one for each of you. Sean, I think the last time we saw you and spoke to you, you basically said we need to make sure that the culture is right and that everybody is committed to being here and all in. Then KD requests a trade, and yet here we are. How do you, I guess, reconcile those two things, saying we have to have everybody committed to being here and your best player wants out? And in Steve's case, I'm curious whether Kevin felt the need to come to you, and I guess also to Sean, and kind of clear the air, if he's not all in and he wants either a new coach or a new GM or both, how do you reconcile coaching him or being his boss when that's the situation? I'll start. Well, first and foremost, I'm not his boss, so let me correct you there. We're partners in this. And if he wanted out and still wanted out, he wouldn't be here. So you talk about building a culture and you want people who have the conviction to be here and be part of something bigger than themselves. You heard Kevin this morning talking about the conviction that he has and his legacy at stake and wanting changes around the organization. Those are things that we addressed all summer long, and we'll continue to address those things. I mean, it's never going to be perfect. It's not a perfect situation, but it's how you have these championship characteristics and you follow those through throughout the off-season into the season and when adversity strikes, which it will, it always will. It's pro-sports. These things happen. And how you respond to those things. And I think that's something that Kevin mentioned this morning and that's something that we're going to have to work on as we continue to build this roster and continue throughout the season. Sean, a follow-up on the culture thing. What's the difference between the culture now and the culture how it was at the end of the season given all the same major players from top to bottom are here? Yeah, you know, you guys have heard me say this before. I think your culture is constantly evolving. You know, it's never going to be set in stone. It's not something that's finished. It's not done. It's not complete. It should be continually evolving with your set of circumstances, your roster, where you find yourself. And where we find ourselves now is getting back. We've got our back against the wall. You know, we know our expectations from the outside world maybe look a little different. There's plenty of naysayers out there. But again, it's part of finding those guys that want to be part of something bigger themselves. We prided ourselves six years ago on having guys that had a chip on their shoulder having something to prove that we're maybe forgotten about a little bit. Well, if we're being forgotten about it, we can fly into the radar a little bit. That's fine with us. But it's about having championship characteristics. That's what our culture needs to be about. Then you heard Kevin this morning, and that's reiterated throughout this organization. It's top to bottom. Every single person in here needs to pull their weight and do what they're expected. And it was a great opportunity for us this off season from coaching staff, front office, performance, management, ownership, everybody to sit down and honestly reflect and say, look, our process is right. Do we have the right people in place? Are we doing the right things? Are we just talking about it? Or are we actually doing it? So a little bit of a self-ordered without a doubt and forced all of us, myself for sure, look in the mirror and say, okay, where do we get back to? With the follow-up on that, you guys have been in the league a long, long time. What is it like though knowing that your star player at one point this summer wanted you guys fired? Well, that's pro sports, right? I mean, I'm sure there's plenty of things that go on behind the scenes and we've both lived on that side of the locker room as well, so we know what happens inside the locker room and that's completely fair and everybody's entitled to their opinions. And I think from us, it's not to hold a grudge against what Kevin said, but it's a little bit of say, all right, if that's the way he feels, what's going on here? Like, what do we need to change? Is it personnel-driven? Again, is it logistics, is it processes, what is it? What can we do to get back to that? And I totally understand it's a frustrating season. I don't know that there was anybody more frustrated than the two of us, you know, so we're all on this and we all know what's at stake here and what our ultimate goal is. Sean, can you just, can you give us a sense of what the discussions were like with Kairi in terms of the contract extension, the franchise's comfort level with him now just being on a one-year deal? Obviously, normally when you've got stars, you're trying to keep them under contract as long as possible and your other two are under long-term contracts. So what's the, tells about how you got to the point where he's only on the one-year deal opting in and how comfortable you are at this point with him being on a one-year deal. Sure, well, you know, obviously I'm never gonna get into the actual contract discussions with him and, you know, his representation, but at the same time, they're very open, they're very honest conversations. We knew what he was looking for. We obviously could not find a middle ground of, you know, but at the end of the day, we're happy that Kairi is back here you know, I think I'm listening to the press conference that he had this morning. My takeaway from that is like, you know, he's committed, you know, he understands that, you know, in order for him to be a free agent and go out there and get what he rightfully wants, you know, he's gonna have to show commitment out here and we're gonna be happy to support him in any possible way throughout the season to make sure he's healthy and committed and ready to go. But there's a lot of unforeseen circumstances that led up to those contract negotiations with Kairi, you know, beginning of the summer. Yeah, I'm totally fine with Kairi being here. You know, I mean, I think we're gonna see a very determined Kairi her thing. There's no, we've already seen it this summer, so I'm excited and, you know, Steve reiterated the same thing. We're excited to see what this group looks like. Hey guys, I got one for both of you and then the follow up for Sean just, with between Kevin's trade request and the ultimatum and everything. I mean, how much of that blindsided you guys versus, you know, maybe seeing it coming and offered that how much of it could have been maybe prevented hindsight 2020? You know, were we blindsided by it? You know, not entirely, just simply looking at, you know, I think if you step back and you think about the season that was and it was a very discombobulated season. It wasn't a season that we looked back and go, gosh, like we were close. You know, we were piecing it together. You know, I think there were 200 plus games lost last season to our rotation players. I mean, that's a pretty tall order. You know, if I'm asking Steve to coach, you know, a rotation that he doesn't even know what it's gonna look like on a nightly basis. So, did I think it blindsided us? I would have hoped it would have never have got there, but at the same time, you know, I'm glad it did in one way because it's forced us to reflect on this and get back to what we, what's important. Steve's fine, not talking. Okay. And then just, it seems like after Kevin made his trade request, everyone and their mother made you guys a trade offer. Just, he knew that his own worth, obviously, you weren't gonna give him up for nothing. I mean, with all the teams you talked to me, did you ever feel like there was a day where you were close or within striking distance of some trade for him? Yeah, I think we were relatively close on several things. And you know, you have to be able to have honest conversations with my peers out there. I mean, that's my job. So, I do have to answer the phone and listen to them and hear them out. But, you know, I also heard from plenty of GMs out there after the fact and said, yeah, we wouldn't trade him either. Like there's, it's pretty difficult to get like for like. So, I think we all realize that in this room. So, it's quite either of you. You guys talked about building the culture of rebuilding a culture of reestablishing one. Yeah, one player who had a trade request, another player who's been unreliable, another player who maybe has physical or mental issues getting on the floor. How can you reconcile all of those things at once? Just get to work. You know, there's no, there's no easy way to, I can't sit here and diagram how we do that. We have to diligently everyday work, communicate, set goals, boundaries, you know, decide a direction. Like Sean said, cultures are always evolving. You know, you can, we can do all, you ask us, how's our culture? You know, ask me tomorrow. You know, it's something you have to invest in every single day. And it's basically a system of behaviors. How do you behave? What do you expect? So, that's something that we all have to invest in everyday. That's exciting part about the job. I've always loved being on teams. I always loved being on teams that got along and function at a high level. So, that's the goal. And we have some challenges that we need to overcome. You know, another group that's relatively new to one another. So, we gotta put time together on the floor. We gotta find ways to connect and form understandings. But you know, it's the daily work that gives you a culture. Hey Steve, obviously Sean spoke about reflecting when a player of Kevin's stature kinda calls for you guys' jobs. But as the person who's coaching on a day-to-day basis, what's the reflective process like that for you? Like, okay, well, he said he doesn't want me to be his coach. What does that mean about your coaching style? And how did that inform your off-season in a way? You know, Kevin and I go way back. So, you know, families go through things like this. You go through adversity, you go through disagreements. You know, this is not new to the NBA. This has happened, you know, dozens of times. You know, I'm sure every organization has faced it. So, you know, it's a part of the process. It's a part of working in this business. It's super competitive. We're all, you know, prideful. We all have expectations. And when we get dinged up like we did last year, you know, everyone's disappointed, you know. So we, you know, we cleared the air. We spoke. We got on the same page. Like I said, we go way back. And we got a lot to be thankful for and a lot to build on. So, you know, I'm glad we got it behind us. And he's been outstanding since we had our chat. He's come in and been amazing in our gym. I think he's put in a tremendous amount of work this summer as have we. And so everyone's done their part. Now it's time for us to get on the floor tomorrow and come together. Obviously, well, I guess the question is, you know, do you worry about the perception of the organization and the ability to build a team after last year? You know, James Harden wants to leave. Kevin Durant wants to leave. And then you're in the headlines every day being sort of, you know, considered a sort of a chaotic situation. You know, when you're trying to then go forward and build a franchise, do you worry how you're going to convince people that none or no, it's really not that bad here. And you do want to come play for this team. I factor everything in, right? Like I don't really worry too much about the hearsay because I know what happens within these walls here. I know the people here. I know the quality of the people that are here, top to bottom. I know the work that's being put in. If I was concerned about that, it would be a different discussion. But I also think when people leave here and we hear them, they come back into town or we hear what they've said, whether it's in the media and so forth. And they've spoken so highly about whether it's, you know, coaches performance, just the way, you know, the Brooklyn way, what we do. I think that speaks volumes because my best recruiting tool is the players that come through here. So everybody can onboard somebody. Everybody can send flowers. Everybody can say, welcome to the franchise. But the offboarding starts the minute somebody gets here. That's pro sports. So the second they're here, from the minute they're not here, that's when you're offboarding somebody. So when they leave here and they say, wow, my time there was pretty special. They were honest with me. They were up front with me. They treated my family the right way. They did all that. That's what I pride myself on. And that's what this organization prides itself on. I'd like to hear from both of you on this. You have had over your career as extensive experience in winning cultures and in building cultures and occasionally cultures that go sideways, both as players for your national team, management, Steve, you're an owner. I wonder what you lean into when things have gone sideways over your careers and how do you kind of retract everybody or try to do your part to retract everybody to kind of get back to where you were before? I think for me, it's fundamental to simplify. So you go through a review process. You communicate, you look back on what expired and what happened, and then you start to simplify. I think you want clear and simple actionables coming out of disappointment or coming out of adversity. So I think that's been the foundation of this, is to look back and try to figure out what happened and then don't overcomplicate it. Don't overthink it. Don't make grandiose plans. Get back to the basic fundamentals that are clear, simple, attainable that we can work at every single day. Once you lay the foundation, you get to work under those parameters and you start to build something, then you can start to get a little more sophisticated, but all great things usually are built on simplicity. Yeah, I agree with Steve. I mean, that's probably been one of the fun things this summer to go back and do a deep dive and sit there and have conversations with one another and with our respective groups and sit there and go, all right, let's see where our hulls were. But I won't speak for Steve, but I think both of us have been around some pretty high level players, coaches, staff members, me for sure. I mean, Steve is one of those players I'm talking about, but to see how people lead their franchises and to take a little bit from whether it's Pop or Aussie or Pat Riley in my minds and say how they would have handled this and what their franchises have gone through, I mean, that's all I can do is reflect on and say, okay, what they would have done and try to implement a little bit of that here. It's gotta be honest and true to what we're trying to do here in our culture. I can't make this the heat culture. I don't wanna make this the spurious culture. I have utmost respect for there, but this is Brooklyn and we're gonna do it true to us. Right here in the middle. Sean, one of the things that Kairi said earlier today was that coming out of contract negotiations with you guys this summer, he, sorry, he felt that he carried a stigma that there was a lack of reliability with him there. He said stigma that you couldn't commit on him whether he could be committed to the team, whether he wanted to play or not. Was that something that you conveyed to him during your contract negotiations and was a factor in whether or not you ultimately re-signed him to a multi-year deal and do you find him to be reliable for this team going forward for this next season? Yeah, well, again, I won't get into the actual details of the contract negotiations. I mean, that's private. That's between myself and Kairi and the group that was in the room there, but you weigh everything when you're looking to spend that type of money or to be quite frank, any money where we find ourselves right now, you're looking to bring in those right pieces that are gonna fit long-term, short-term, plug a hole for us. So we're looking at everything and everything goes in there. Like, for instance, how reliable is the guy? Is he healthy? What position does he play? Are there the needs that are met there? So I can't tell you what was going through Kairi's mind as to whether or not he is reliable or not, but all I can tell you is the work that he's put in this summer. I mean, you see him, he looks fit, he looks ready to go and that's exciting. When Knock On Wood, our guys are healthy. We mentioned before having missed all these games as a collective unit, not just Kairi as an entire group. Yeah, that's hard. That's almost impossible to have the success that you want and to reach your goals if you're gonna miss 200-plus games as an organization in one year. Sean, to that, I realize you don't wanna go into specifics about the contract stuff with Kairi, but this is the first time publicly he said, look, the organization said before last season, if I got the vaccine, my extension would be there. He made that choice. As an organization, a year later, how surprised are you guys that Kairi made that decision, turned down all that money and everything unfolded the way it did the last year? Well, so, clarify this, so two summers ago when we were talking about contract negotiations, that was pre-city-wide mandates that went in. So once the vaccine mandates came in and we knew how that would affect playing home games and so forth, then that was, that's when contract talks stalled, right? So it didn't get, here's the deal, now take it back. That never happened. Am I surprised that Kairi turned down that type of money or what have you this summer? I mean, not necessarily with Kairi. I mean, Kairi has shown that he's his own man. He has his own beliefs. He has his own conviction for that. So I totally respect that to use his words. I mean, he said he's honored that and we've honored that with him. So I respect that. And our whole mission is when the guys are on the court that they're competing at the highest level and that's all we hope for Kairi and one through 15, all of our guys. I have a two-ported for Steven, one for Sean, if I could get it. Just Steve, do you have any reaction to the Robert? Is that a three-parter then? No, no, it's two for you, one for him. Double divan. Steve, do you have any reaction to the Robert Silver investigation findings and his decision to sell his steak in the suns? You know, really, it's a awful situation. You know, my basic comment is that I trust the league in this process. You know, it's really hard for me to make, you know, really in-depth comments on an investigation that I'm not, I wasn't, you know, privy to everything that was gathered and collected. But clearly from the outside, it was, you know, there's a lot of growth that needs to be made and the process the league has undertook is one that I believe in and trust in and then we'll see where it nets out. You're part of an ownership group with him over in Mallorca. I mean, has the situation with the suns come up at all with the people over there? You know, I'm not over there. So, you know, for me, I'm so focused on the nets that I haven't served. But you know, at some point there will obviously have to be a movement on one way or the other from the league. But you know, I'm not really privy to that insight yet. And Sean, you just talked about last season and filling holes in the roster. I mean, it looks like you have 12 guaranteed spots and there's some options, I guess, in the coming weeks as to how to fill those final ones. Just it seems like you've built the roster expecting everybody back. You know, what did you look to address and are there any last minute ads or last minute holes, I guess, you still think need to be addressed? Yeah, I think we're excited to see these young guys come in and fight for opportunities in camp. I think there's a level of competition we'd like to instill throughout camp. Throughout the season, to be honest, even on this court, not just on the court of Barclays. So again, I mentioned these guys have all come in with a chip on their shoulder, whether it's the Edmund Sumner, my Keith Morris, TJ Warren, they've all got something to prove. I think for us, it's going to be exciting to see the development that's taken place over the summer. I'm looking forward to seeing Nick and Daeron out there and seeing what they can do. I mean, they've put in the time and the cool with our coaching staff this summer and really putting in long hours. So if you notice, you just look at their bodies, they've changed, they've matured, you know? And again, I don't know if there's gonna be last minute changes, it's pro sports, things change pretty quickly, but then the day, I'm excited to give Nick and Daeron a shot out there and see how they perform, but so far, so what we've seen, the work they've put in this summer, that's exciting for me. I just had one for each of you, right? Sean, I think you just asked about this, but I was just trying to clarify, I really kind of said earlier that he felt like he had been given somewhat of an ultimatum between choosing between the vaccine and his job for the decision. Are you saying, I just didn't hear you crazy last time, are you saying that's not how it went or what were you saying? No, there's no ultimatums being given here. I mean, again, it goes back to wanting people who are reliable, people who wanna hear accountable. All of us, staff, players, coaches, you name it, so I mean, I'm not giving somebody an ultimatum to get a vaccine, that's a completely personal choice and I stand by Kyrie and if he's made that choice, that's his prerogative completely and I totally understand that. And Steve, when you hear, Kevin, questions about culture and accountability last season, how do you make adjustments and what are you doing to combat his concerns about last season? Like I said, we just try to work every day and improve on the simple things that I believe in, that not only, it's similar for an individual that is as a group. It's about how we all individually behave, what are our expectations, what's expected of us. Nothing's really changed from last year other than we face too much turmoil, too much adversity to really continue to behave in that way. You're changing 45 starting lineups, guys are injured at the end of the year. I think it gets blown a little out of proportion because you lose, so then everything is heightened. Everyone's emotional, everyone's frustrated. Looking back, we did a lot of great things last year. We survived a stretch of the season without our three stars. A lot of teams implode, so there was a lot of building blocks in that stretch, which a lot of groups don't make it through. We made it through. I think you get put under a microscope because you lost, but you don't realize a lot of the growth and a lot of the important things we invested in. Having said that, we also look closely at ourselves at what we can control, what can we work on, what can we improve, and how can we be prepared for more adversity? Because I think sometimes you get an unforeseen and compounded situation, vaccine, injury. We make a trade and Ben's not available and Joe Harris is up for the year and now you're in a position where you couldn't foresee, you couldn't plan for, so what can we control? What can we do, not what happened to us? And so that's a big part of our process this summer is continually simplify, work, get after it every day with our guys, reaffirm what's important to us. Work ethic, sacrifice, fight, togetherness, all those things, and those are simple things that happen on your behavior by being in here every day during the summer, working with our young guys when the vets came back in September, I think they feel it, they feel the gym's different. So we just try to focus on, like I said, clear and simple attainable characteristics and I thought this summer we controlled what we can control and now it's a matter of us with the whole group doing it every single day and the more days you stack on top and you give yourself a chance to come together and have a great team. Just working a little bit off of what Steve said, the idea of culture can be a little bit of a nebulous concept, when you did do that culture audit over the summer, was there one specific aspect, whether it be collaboration or work ethic or communication where you felt you guys were a little bit deficient last year? No, I think if we're gonna be honest about those, you can always improve on all of those things you just said for sure. I mean, I think the communication piece is huge. I mean, anybody that knows me knows how important that is, I hate surprises. I mean, you can avoid a lot of them so when you're surprised by things that we should have already known or should have prepared for, that's tough. But I think the biggest proof is gonna be, look how the guys come out here and play, how they perform. You'll get to ask them three weeks into the season, a month into season, three months into the season and you'll get a sense of, this is the identity of the Nets, this is who we are, this is how we play. Is there a collective unity for the whole group? That's what we hope. Steve has said throughout this summer, teams win and it's about being a team. Quick question for each of you, Steve. It looks like we're past the time of asking if Ben is available on a day-to-day basis. He's gonna play, he said he's got some run with Kyrie and Kevin this week. Just what does that look like and how do you envision using him now that you finally get to see him on the floor? Well, it's a lot of fun to see Ben on the basketball court. He's such a unique player, unique talent. He's such a special player because of the amount of things he can do on the court. So defensively, so versatile. He rebounds, he's a tremendous playmaker. He's big and athletic enough to get on the rim. He makes the game easier for his teammates at both ends. So that's the sign of a great player. So I think he's a great fit for our group. He's gonna handle the ball a lot for us, create for his teammates a lot. He's also gonna take the toughest assignment defensively more times than not. And so you add all those characteristics up and we're just here to push and support him. He's got so much to give for our group and we just wanna help support him to get to his best level and have the big impact that we know he can have. He's an amazing player. Mark, you've joked and said that he felt like he should have been here a couple of years ago as opposed to just getting here now. Just what's that relationship like with you two and what do you see his impact being on the team? Well, I think what he's done in the past sort of speaks for himself with the toughness that he's gonna bring to our group. We need a veteran leadership. He's vocal, you know, I love that. Somebody who's not afraid to not just hold people accountable but bring the group together. You know, I mean, I don't think we're asking for somebody who's gonna point at people and point out people. It's more about how do we rally the crew and put your arms around each other and get a close in that group. And, you know, again, I would be honest, I like adding people that have come from franchises that are doing something right. So what can we learn from them? You guys mentioned that you're not holding any grudges with Katie over anything that happened this summer and you understand it's post sports, but is there a concern that when you do reach these rocky points of a season, unforeseen circumstances, injuries, whatever may have you, is there a concern that he will still be as bought in and won't be looking to maybe reissue the trade request? You know, personally, I don't think that's something we should be concerned about now. It's about how we manage this on a daily, minute by minute basis. Like, did we communicate in practice? I mean, Kevin doesn't want to be surprised either and neither do we. I mean, he knows there's gonna be ups and downs, but do we, how do we, you know, how do we combat that, you know, whether it's that anxiety or the ups and downs, the pitfalls that happen with pro sports and so forth. And so as a collective unit, you know, how we manage those, hopefully there won't be surprises on Katie's front, our front or anything, but thanks guys. Thank you.