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WARNING: This Off-Season Report contains barely warranted enthusiasm and optimism. Proceed at your own risk.
There’s always anniversaries to speak of. And this month marks an important one for Nets fans trying to figure out where the organization stands and more importantly, where it’s headed. Twenty-five years ago, in August 2001, annual previews for the upcoming 2001-02 season hit the stands. You know those glossy magazines published by companies like Athlon Sports and Street & Smith’s. All but one of the four big publications that year projected the then-New Jersey Nets wouldn’t even make the playoffs … even with new addition Jason Kidd. The lone holdout had them barely making the post-season as the East’s eighth seed.
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The annuals were not alone. Only one prominent pundit thought much of the combination of Kidd, KMart, KVH and Kerry. His name was Charles Barkley. Sir Charles thought Kidd would get them to the playoffs. No real surprise.
After all, New Jersey had won only 26 games the year before behind Stephon Marbury, a 24-year-old wunderkind from just across New York Harbor in Coney Island. Kidd was Kidd, a four-time All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selection, former Rookie of the Year but he had baggage … a lot of it. He had been arrested in January of that year for assaulting his wife in front his children. He was dispatched to East Rutherford for Marbury in July.
Of course, the Nets stunned the NBA that season behind the MVP runner-up, winning a franchise record 52 games, a mark that unfortunately still stands, getting to the NBA Finals the first of two straight times and sending beleaguered Nets fans into the basketball equivalent of Nirvana. They got swept by the Lakers but who cared? Been down so long looked like up to us.
No, we are not saying history will repeat itself in 2026-27. Nor are we comparing anyone on the current roster to JKidd. Few players to ever don an NBA uniform had his charisma, his toughness or his skillset. But to invoke Nets history again, we want to echo Joe Johnson’s famous preseason quote after the departure of Deron Williams a decade ago: “It ain’t that bad…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/netsdaily-off-season-report-no-045051723.html
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Publish date : 2026-08-25 04:50:00
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