Tag: New Jersey Nets

Nets joined by Celtics in hallowed list for NBA postseason success

The Brooklyn Nets were one of the franchises that achieved a feat that the Boston Celtics after beating the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.

The Brooklyn Nets have not played a basketball game since April as they did not qualify for the NBA playoffs following a disappointing 32-50 finish to the 2023-24 season. However, after Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks, Boston found themselves amongst a hallowed list of great teams, including the Nets.

Per NBA History on X, the Celtics became the ninth team in league history to win 10 consecutive games in the playoffs after their 106-99 win at the Mavericks on Wednesday. One of the teams that accomplished this rare feat of playoff success was the New Jersey Nets during the 2003 postseason.

The 2002-03 Nets, then playing in New Jersey, was led by Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, and Richard Jefferson and was coached by Byron Scott on their way to finishing the regular season with a 49-33 record. The Nets faced the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and after going into Game 5 tied 2-2 for the series, New Jersey took off from there.

The Nets won the next two games to win the series over Milwaukee 4-2 and then proceeded to sweep the Celtics and the Detroit Pistons on their way to the NBA Finals. However, their streak was ended by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 and from there, the Nets were only able to win two of the next five games before losing to the Spurs in six games.

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Former Net Vince Carter had some advice for Timberwolves’ Mike Conley

Former Net Vince Carter had some important advice for Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley in terms of continuing to play.

As most fans of the Brooklyn Nets know by now, Vince Carter’s jersey will be retired at some point during the 2024-25 season. While many have wondered for a long time whether Carter’s jersey was going to be retired at all, what didn’t take long was Carter’s impact on a current NBA player just trying to keep going.

“One piece of advice I got from Vince Carter was not to put a number on it, man. Go until you can’t,” Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley said of Vince Carter to Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Conley spoke to Spears during Minnesota’s Western Conference Finals series against the Dallas Mavericks after the Timberwolves won Game 4 to bring their series deficit to 1-3.

“And obviously, I’d like to achieve certain milestones. You want to get to 20 (seasons). If you’re this close, why not? But at the same time, you just try to get as many as you can,” Conley said. Like Conley, Carter felt the same way about his career and has recently spoken about how Kobe Bryant helped him come to grips with retirement while in his final years in the league.

Granted, what Carter did for Conley was convince him to keep playing until he can’t anymore, it still highlights the impact that Carter had on the NBA and that impact is still felt by players in the league right now. Carter played 22 years in the NBA, including roughly five seasons for the Nets when they were in New Jersey, as he had the same wish that Conley has right now.

For someone as great as Carter was during his playing days in the league, he will also be remembered for the things that he provided outside of his play. In fact, he even imparted his wisdom on some member of the Nets earlier this season as he still carries the respect of one of the basketball greats.

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Could John Calipari’s time with the Nets be a reminder for Dan Hurley?

With UConn’s Dan Hurley reportedly set to be the head coach of the LA Lakers, could he learn from John Calipari’s time coaching the Nets?

The Brooklyn Nets are one of the teams in the NBA that have entered the waters of bringing a coach from college to replicate their success in the pros. For someone like UConn’s Dan Hurley, reportedly the favorite to be the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, he may need to learn from when John Calipari tried to coach in the NBA.

While Calipari is most known for the work that he’s done in college basketball, essentially being the face of the University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball program for the past 15 years, he is someone who tried to see if his coaching acumen could translate to the professional level. Calipari became the head coach of the Nets (then known as the New Jersey Nets) heading into the 1996-97 season and it’s safe to say that he did not have the success that he was hoping for.

After leading the University of Massachusetts to five NCAA Tournament appearances in eight seasons, including the Final Four during the 1995-96 season, Calipari turned his sights towards replacing Butch Beard as the head coach of the Nets. The Nets went 26-56 in Calipari’s first season as the head coach despite getting some strong performances out of players like Kendall Gill and a young Kerry Kittles.

After trading for Keith Van Horn heading into the 1997-98 season, the Nets went 43-39 and made it to the playoffs before being swept in the first round  by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. However, the Nets began the 1998-99 season poorly and Calipari was fired after a 3-17 start.

Calipari finished his stint in the NBA with a 72-112 (.391) record and never was a head coach at the NBA level again despite being an assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 1999-00 campaign. After that, Calipari became the head coach for the University of Memphis heading into the 2000-01 season and hasn’t looked back.

For someone like Hurley that has led UConn to a 141-58 (.709) record and two National Championships since 2018, he should be able to replicate his success if he chooses to become the head coach of the Lakers. However, he should keep in mind the journeys of other coaches that have transitioned from college and the NBA and remember that the journey can go either way.

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Former Net Richard Jefferson had an historic moment with Bill Walton

Former Net Richard Jefferson had a special moment with the recently deceased Bill Walton, who passed away on Monday at 71 years old.

The Brooklyn Nets are coming off a 2023-24 season in which they finished with a 32-50 record despite beginning the year with a 13-10 record while dealing with some injuries. As Brooklyn looks to improve in the hope of making back to the playoffs next season, there is something to look back at to remember a nice moment in franchise history.

In a recent post on “X” by NBA History, there is a video between Richard Jefferson during his time with the Nets, in New Jersey, and the recently deceased Bill Walton. Walton passed away on Monday at 71 years old after a “prolonged battle with cancer” as described by the NBA during their announcement of his passing.

In the video, Walton, who was working for ESPN at the time in 2002, is asking Jefferson what he expects to do in the upcoming matchup against the San Antonio Spurs. Walton starts off by saying that he wants to “hear some substance” from Jefferson and Jefferson obliges by saying that the Nets were going to win that game.

A funny moment that came up during their conversation was when Walton asked Jefferson if he was going to “throw one down” on Spurs big man David Robinson to which Jefferson said that he’ll probably dunk on Tim Duncan given that Robinson “is getting a little older.”

This video is a testament to what Walton was like as a person, especially when he began his media career following his Hall-of-Fame playing career. Walton touched so many people’s lives during his time in the NBA and in the media and Jefferson is one of the many people who have had a special moment with him.

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Report: Former Net Vince Carter elected to 2024 Naismith Basketball HOF

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Wednesday that former Net Vince Carter has been elected to the 2024 Naismith Basketball HOF.

The Brooklyn Nets are fighting to the last breath for the hope of making the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference. While Brooklyn making it to the postseason is unlikely right now, the franchise has a reason to be happy amidst a disappointing season.

On Wednesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that former New Jersey Net Vince Carter was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 2024 class. Charania cited what sources told him given that the official announcement of the 2024 class will be at the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four on Saturday.

Carter, the fifth overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, came to the Nets in a mid-season trade during the 2003-04 season from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Alonzo Mourning, Aaron Williams, Eric Williams, and two first-round picks that later became Joey Graham and Renaldo Balkman.

During his time with the Nets, Carter has some of his best years in the NBA as he averaged 23.6 points per game and also helped the franchise get to the playoffs in three straight seasons from 2005 to 2007.

Carter was named an All-Star eight times in his career and three of those appearances happened while he was with the Nets. Carter had also reached an agreement earlier this season with YES Network, television home of the Nets, to call some of the games as a color commentator.

As Brian Lewis of the New York Post wrote back in Dec. 2017, Carter made it known that having his jersey retired by the Nets would be a “dream come true.” When it comes to Carter and the Nets, the only matter that remains is if/when Carter’s jersey will be hanging up in the Barclays Center rafters.

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3 best players in Brooklyn/New Jersey Nets history

Here are Nets Wire’s three greatest players in franchise history.

The Nets have been in the NBA for the past 48 years and in that time, plenty of players have been part of the organization to showcase their specific talents in hopes of winning a championship. Players like Vince Carter, Brook Lopez, and even Kevin Durant have won a Nets uniform over the span of the franchise.

One of the interesting questions that gets asked about every team, especially one that is transitioning out of an era that was dependent on superstars like Durant and Kyrie Irving, is who were the best players that a franchise has seen over its lifetime.

For the purposes of this piece, the three players listed as some of the greatest players in Nets history will be based on a number of factors, mostly their career with the franchise. For example, Durant is arguably the best player that has played for the Nets, but he played just 2.5 seasons with the organization.

Without further ado, here are the three greatest players in Nets history:

Willis Reed, NBA HOFer, former Nets coach and GM, dies at 80

The world lost a great as former Nets head coach and general manager Willis Reed passed away on Tuesday at 80 years old.

NEW YORK — Former New York Knicks legend as well as former Nets head coach and general manager Willis Reed died on Tuesday at the age of 80, according to Don Burke of the New York Post. Reed played 10 seasons in the NBA, all for the New York Knicks.

While with the Knicks, Reed was the catalyst for the franchise winning its only two championships (1970 and 1973) and he won numerous awards in the process. Nicknamed “The Captain”, Reed won the MVP award for the 1969-1970 season and made the All-NBA team five times. Not to mention that he won Rookie of the Year for the 1964-1965 season and was named to the 50th and 75th NBA anniversary teams.

Reed most famous moment is arguably Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals when Reed played despite missing Game 6 with a torn muscle in his thigh. After Reed’s playing career ended with the 1973-1974 season, he came a coach for various teams until the 1988-1989 season when he became head coach of the then-New Jersey Nets.

After two seasons, Reed became the general manager of the Nets and drafted franchise greats like Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson. Reed had his number 19 jersey retired by the New York Knicks and will forever be known as one of the greatest to ever do it.

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Kobe Bryant’s top 100 games: No. 54

Kobe Bryant prevented the New Jersey Nets from making the 2002 NBA Finals competitive with a big game and big clutch shot in Game 3.

After the seven-game war between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference finals, the 2002 NBA Finals seemed anticlimactic.

The Lakers had the New Jersey Nets, the Eastern Conference champs, seriously overmatched, and they jumped to an easy 2-0 series lead.

But in Game 3 in Bergen County, New Jersey showed some fighting signs of life, and L.A. suddenly had to work in order to get another win.

It was one of those games where it had to lean on its dynamic duo of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant to get through the night.

O’Neal had 35 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots while Bryant put up 36 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the field, two blocks and four assists.

With 19.1 seconds left and the Lakers clinging to a two-point lead, Bryant converted a tough jumper after being hounded by Jason Kidd, a perennial All-Defensive team selection.

L.A. went up 3-0 with a 106-103 win, and it turned the Nets into flotsam in the Hudson River by taking Game 4 and the series.

O’Neal and Bryant were once again on top of the world with their third straight NBA championship, and it looked like more were on the way.

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Kobe Bryant’s top 100 games: No. 78

Going head-to-head with All-Star Stephon Marbury in 2001, Kobe Bryant delivered a big game and the game-winning shot for the Lakers.

One thing Kobe Bryant lived for was the opportunity to go head-to-head with some of the best players in the NBA, especially those who were guards or wings.

On Feb. 13, 2001, with the Los Angeles Lakers trying to build momentum, they visited the New Jersey Nets, which meant Bryant would go toe-to-toe with Stephon Marbury.

Back then, Marbury was an All-Star point guard who had been named to the All-NBA third team the previous season. In the 2000-01 campaign, he averaged 23.9 points and 7.6 assists per game.

On this night, Marbury lived up to his “Starbury” nickname. He erupted for 50 points while dropping 12 dimes.

But Bryant held him off, scoring 38 points while adding eight rebounds and five assists.

With just over 10 seconds remaining in overtime and the score tied at 110, he delivered the game-winning bucket while getting fouled.

It was another reminder that Bryant had become the best all-around player in basketball.

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On this date: Lakers claim third straight NBA championship

The Lakers reached a lofty stratosphere by winning their third straight NBA championship in 2002 versus the New Jersey Nets.

When Phil Jackson took over as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 1999, the franchise’s legacy and mystique were intact, but it had gone 11 years since winning the NBA title and eight years since appearing in the championship series.

By instituting his famed triangle offense, bringing the team’s factions together and getting it to believe in its destiny, Jackson drove the Lakers to the championship in 2000, then followed it up with another the following year.

By the 2001-02 season, they looked so invincible that they found themselves bored with the regular season.

But they got past their chief rivals, the Sacramento Kings, in the Western Conference Finals and took a 3-0 lead over the overmatched New Jersey Nets in the 2002 NBA Finals.

In Game 4, the Lakers reached a rarified air that not even the Showtime teams could attain by claiming their third straight world championship.

The Nets showed fight throughout, but they just didn’t have the firepower to prevent Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and company from taking a 113-107 decision in East Rutherford, N.J.

O’Neal finished with 34 points and 10 rebounds while averaging 36.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots per game in the series. He also set a playoff record for most points in a four-game sweep with 145.

It all earned the big fella his third straight Finals MVP award. He joined Michael Jordan as the only other player to achieve that feat.

With three straight titles, the Lakers had laid down the foundation for a dynasty. At the time, it looked like more titles were inevitable, as Bryant was just 23, and although O’Neal was 30, it was presumed that he had many more productive years left in him.

The team would get to five rings in the era, but it wouldn’t happen the way it envisioned back in 2002.

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