The Nets are used to losing. They’ve done it more than 60 times in each of the past two years, and are on pace to top 50 losses again this season.
It is the result of a since-ousted regime, which sacrificed the future for a narrow window of potential success, and forced others — ultimately, general manager Sean Marks, and coach Kenny Atkinson — to deal with the fallout.
Slowly, the Nets have rebuilt, gathering assets, developing young talent, and building an uncanny work ethic, understanding losses are part of the long-term process.
But with six losses in their past seven games — four by 14 points or more, including Sunday’s blowout loss to the Bucks — Atkinson has become incensed with what his young team has inexplicably, and inexcusably lost — the defining characteristic of its culture.