Failing With Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kevin Durant, $7.8 Billion Worth Owner Might Find Success With Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Co

The Brooklyn Nets have unquestionably garnered a lot of media interest in the world of professional basketball, and not only for their skills on the court. The team has been a magnet for turmoil in recent years. The primary owner, Joseph Tsai, who purchased the team for an astounding $2.3 billion in 2019, is in charge of this rollercoaster ride. Tsai has had to steer through a turbulent sea of celebrity egos and off-court conflicts ever since he seized the reins. It’s no secret that managing basketball players can be a difficult undertaking. And Tsai openly admits this fact, stating basketball “players are very difficult to manage.”

However, the Brooklyn Nets aren’t the only basketball team he owns. He is also an owner of the New York Liberty. Having ‘failed’ with the Brooklyn Nets, Joseph Tsai might find success with Breanna Stewart’s Liberty.

The New York Liberty is making great strides under Joe Tsai

The Madison Square Garden Company owned the New York Liberty for a remarkable 22 years. However, in 2019, the company surrendered ownership of the team in 2019. The team has since found new ownership. According to the league, the ownership baton was officially handed off to “an entity owned by Joe Tsai and his family.”

Joe Tsai, a well-known Canadian-Taiwanese businessman is no stranger to the world of mega-deals and investments. As a co-founder of the Chinese online juggernaut Alibaba Group, he gained notoriety and amassed a fortune that places him among the world’s elite. According to Forbes, his net worth stands at a staggering $7.8 billion.

While Joe Tsai may not have found considerable success with the Brooklyn Nets, he’s making great strides with the New York Liberty. And here’s why:

The New York Liberty has advanced to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2002. Stewart, a 2x WNBA and a 4x NCAA champion played a crucial role in this. The New York Liberty built a “superteam” by bringing Courtney Vandersloot, the 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart to Sabrina Ionescu’s Liberty in 2023. The addition of these players completely changed the game for the Liberty.

This team’s overhauled roster didn’t take long to demonstrate their skill on the court. The Liberty improved dramatically from a 16-20 record the season before to an astounding 32-8 record, winning the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Breanna Stewart ultimately proved to be the team’s mainstay. In addition to playing the most minutes per game, Stewart also set team records for points, rebounds, steals and blocks.

A remarkable average of 7,776 people watched regular season games at the Barclays Center, a startling 46% increase from the previous year. The team’s popularity soared to unprecedented heights as five of its past six games attracted crowds larger than 8,000 passionate fans. Additionally, the Liberty’s accomplishments carried over into the postseason. The team hosted an astounding four playoff games in 2023, in stark contrast to the one home playoff game in 2022. There were 9,374 spectators per game on average during these playoff games. This year saw a remarkable 86% increase in overall attendance, which is evidence of the Liberty’s revival under the ‘Stewie Effect.’

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A major factor that lured Stewie toward Liberty was charter flights. The league had forbidden individual franchises from chartering, as it may cause disparity among teams. However, according to the Insider, the Tsai family was willing to go the extra mile for their players by flying their team privately in charter planes. Unfortunately, while doing so, he also inflicted a $500,000 fine upon the team.

Meanwhile, if the New York Liberty end up being crowned the 2023 WNBA Champion, it would be a historical moment, both for the Liberty and its owner, Joe who hasn’t seen much success with the Nets.

Why hasn’t Joe Tsai found success with the Brooklyn Nets?

The acquisition of superstar talent is often considered the key to winning championships. After joining the Nets in the summer of 2019, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant gave the franchise hope and made it seem as though a title was within reach. However, things didn’t go quite as planned.

The Nets’ road to a championship wasn’t easy; there were many challenges and detours along the way. Although it came at a steep cost in terms of draft selections and young talent, they made key moves by trading for James Harden to establish a formidable trio.

James Harden’s acquisition by the Nets in a well-publicized deal was at first viewed as a triumph. They forged a trio of enduring All-Stars with Durant and Irving, prompting speculation that this could be the best basketball team ever put together. In the conference semifinals of 2021, they forced the Milwaukee Bucks to a seven-game series, demonstrating their potential domination.

However, Irving’s anti-vaccination stance forced him to miss a large portion of the 2021?22 season, which negatively impacted team dynamics. In an interview, Harden acknowledged that the organization’s lack of structure contributed to the difficulties they encountered. Ben Simmons eventually replaced Harden in a trade for him in February 2022, although Simmons had trouble having an impact.

The Nets’ star-studded roster was unable to live up to its potential as a result of this rollercoaster of circumstances. The team was consequently eliminated from the playoffs in 2022. Even Kevin Durant, a crucial member of the team’s hopes, demanded a trade. The Nets sent Durant to the Phoenix Suns for Mikal Bridges.

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Many questions remain unanswered due to the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Nets. Will Ben Simmons and Mikal Bridges be able to keep the Nets afloat? The team’s pursuit of a championship remains elusive, leaving many wondering about the future of the franchise under the ownership of Joe Tsai.

Do you think the Liberty will be able to clinch the WNBA Championship title this year? Let us know in the comments below!