Brooklyn Nets

Nets GM Billy King subtly knocks Knicks and 'local management'

Published Sep. 23, 2015 5:01 p.m. ET

foxsports

Remember when the Nets first moved to Brooklyn a few years ago, and everyone jumped on the bandwagon of what was the next big rivalry in the NBA, Knicks vs. Nets? Well, that didn't really materialize, did it?

The Nets progressively got worse ever since coming from Jersey, possibly readying for what could be their worst season in Brooklyn this year. The Knicks, meanwhile, won 17 games last year, becoming a national afterthought and local punchline.

Still, they remained relevant locally. Local. Remember that word, because Brooklyn general manager Billy King certainly did when he threw some gasoline on the dying out fire that is the Knicks-Nets rivalry. Here's what King had to say, via Devin Kharpertian of The Brooklyn Game:

“We don’t want our guys out to prove something to someone else,” King said. “Just play what you’re able to do and prove to yourself. Don’t worry about the outside. We have a lot of guys that have so-called been knocked around by local management in other organizations but they don’t have to prove it to them.”

King is presumably referring to the run Knicks president Phil Jackson has had over the summer, contributing to ESPN's "The Phil Files," a series of tell-all interviews conducted with Jackson and released in multiple parts, with what some might say is far too much honesty.

Jackson compared fourth-overall pick Kristaps Porzingis to Shawn Bradley. Then, there are the former Knicks who are now Nets. Jackson called Andrea Bargnani "a big tease" and criticized Shane Larkin for his "tiny hands among other things."

This will probably blow over. It's not Jackson's style to swipe back at something as subtle as this. But it's fun to see a little front-office trash talk heading into training camp, no matter how cryptic it might be.

(h/t The Brooklyn Game)