East Rutherford Tragedy: The 2004 Nets Revert to Form
By Sam Stern
December 8, 2004
I grew up in New Jersey, one of 17 die-hard Nets fans in existence. How die-hard? I led a petition drive urging the Nets to re-sign Drazen Petrovic in 1993, mailed the petition (with more than 700 signatures) to the Nets General Manager Willis Reed’s home address, and then wore a black armband over my sleeve to school for 5 days when Petrovic died in a car accident the following week. I patterned my game after Kenny Anderson’s (we were both lefty point-guards); at least until his off-court problems began impacting his on-court performance. I hoped Ed O’Bannon might finally offer salvation from losing, until his knees proved too gimpy to support more than a few consecutive games of action. If not O’Bannon, then certainly Kerry Kittles, or the great white hope Keith Van Horn or New York’s finest Stephon Marbury could save our destitute franchise. Alas, they all failed.
Finally, though, the Nets found a player who could overcome the franchise’s curse (I believe the word “curse” has now officially been released for use by other unlucky sports franchises). They traded for Jason Kidd in the summer of 2001 and haven’t looked back. I moved to Boston that same summer, and have enjoyed following the Nets in Boston as their domination of the Celtics during this time has led to increasing frustration within the Celtics fan base. Celts fans have gone from indifference to animosity as the Nets have continued their fine form. My time in Boston has corresponded with the renaissance of the Nets; 2 consecutive trips to the finals, 3 straight conference championships. They have a suffocating defense and a flowing offense. The Nets are not only good, but also fun to watch. The drafting of Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson filled the pieces in neatly around Kidd, and the addition of Alonzo Mourning last off-season has provided the physical center the Nets need to get over the hump and actually win the finals.
The only mistake in my last paragraph was that I used present tense. Truly, the history of the Nets franchise is a tragedy, so 3 successful seasons did not foretell a decade of dominance, but rather an imminent fall from grace. Mourning’s kidney relapse was the first indication that fortunes were changing in New Jersey. Even with years of experience as a Nets fan, I ignored this early warning sign, and kept the faith that the continuing maturation of Jefferson and Martin could overcome the lack of a big man, and a relatively thin bench. I won’t make the same mistake, when the Nets are again challenging for Eastern Conference supremacy in 2026.
With the Nets, there are no temporary setbacks. Bad news is always compounded with more bad news. The team’s New Jersey-based owners, committed to getting a new arena built in Newark and tying the Nets closer to the North Jersey community, sold out to a billionaire real-estate developer, whose interest in the Nets is limited to the team’s potential to anchor a giant Frank Gehry-designed development in Brooklyn.
The storyline from there has not offered much suspense. In an effort to cut costs, all-star power forward Kenyon Martin was traded for draft picks, and the trade involving sharp-shooting guard Kerry Kittles only merited a second-round pick in return. Lucious Harris and Rodney Rogers, key players off the bench, were not re-signed, and a Nets team that had come within a couple of minutes of making 3 consecutive finals appearances, was finished.
Of course, this being the Nets, lapsing to mediocrity is just the first step on the way back down. The Nets always find rock-bottom. The certainty of complete decline was confirmed when Kidd’s left knee required off-season surgery, keeping him out until earlier this week. His absence ensured that the Nets would be buried at the bottom of the standings by the time he returned. Regardless, he will probably only be with the Nets long enough to ensure the health of his knee before his request to be traded is met.
In turn, Alonzo Mourning’s miraculous return from kidney disease this season has been “Netisized” by his disgruntlement and trade demands. He too will probably be moving on before the trade deadline. The Nets will not get equal value for either Mourning or Kidd, as both now have frightening injury histories and big contracts.
All of this happened so fast, I didn’t even have a chance to get another petition together, although all the turmoil would have required at least 3 separate petitions, if not more. Frankly, I don’t think I could have gotten as many signatures this time, and I don’t have the new GM’s address.
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