Twenty years ago today, the New Jersey Nets were riding high. The two previous seasons, they had gone to the NBA Finals, losing to two of history’s great basketball teams, the Los Angeles Lakers of the Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal vintage and the San Antonio Spurs with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
The Nets would blow out the Orlando Magic later that night by 21. It was a team led by Jason Kidd, currently on his third head coaching gig, and his two exciting sidekicks, Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson, the latter now an analyst on the fledgling TV network that carried their games.