I Loved the 1997-98 New Jersey Nets

Every few seasons there is an NBA team that I'm drawn to beyond any explanation. This year, it appears to be the Grizzlies for whatever reason. However, back in my sophomore year of high school I was obsessed with the New Jersey Nets. Never mind the fact that I was a Bulls fan living in Illinois during the last year of the Jordan Dynasty; forces unknown to me pushed me to follow the exploits of an average east coast team for the better part of 2 years.



It took me 15 minutes of intense Googling and address modification to even recover this absolutely ridiculous Slam magazine cover, and with good reason. If you were the editors of Slam, would you want to prominently display the fact that you predicted the Nets would win a title by 2001?

Looking back, that roster was an absolute disaster. I'm not even sure who you could call the centerpiece. Van Horn was the #2 pick, but he wasn't ready then (or ever, as we would learn) to be a go-to guy. Sam Cassell was a winner back then too, but you couldn't really consider him a first option. Kittles, JaYson Williams, and Kendall Gill were all guys who would have been fantastic bench players. But then you look at the stats and see that 6 guys averaged double figures and it isn't that crazy that a high school kid could love this team.

When I really examine it, I guess the main reason that I was attracted to the Nets was that they were very different from most other teams stylistically. Kittles wore one sock up at Villanova, which was just about the coolest thing a kid from the far, far south suburbs could imagine. Van Horn was the benchmark for moderately athletic big men like myself. A smooth, mobile, white guy who could pass and score; he is/was the NBA player I liken myself to the most. And then you had characters like Chris Gatling, Sherman Douglas, and Luscious Harris off the bench, filling in the sketch of a 14 year old's basketball dream.

Finally finding that picture really helped me understand just what I enjoy about the NBA. Yes, the Bulls titles were mind-blowing, but back then you knew the post-MJ years would be a tundra. Needing something to fall back on, entertainment hooked me. The Nets were never great, and they never would be. But for those 2 years, they were a team I admired from afar and appreciated any way I could. They ran, they scored, they didn't play much defense, and they were fun. When you're trying to find something to keep you interested, there isn't anything better to ask for than that. Plus they were awesome in NBA Live '97.