This was early in the remarkable Nets winter of 2001 and 2002, shortly after Jason Kidd arrived from Phoenix and changed everything. The Nets raced out to a nice start, mostly before friends and family at old Continental Arena because the new boss of bosses, Lou Lamoriello, declared attendance padding was a thing of the past in Jersey.
So as the Nets began putting together the best basketball show we’ve seen around here since the fabled old Knicks, there were 5,000 people watching most nights. Kidd and Kerry Kittles and Kenyon Martin and Keith Van Horn were playing breathtaking ball, and it seemed like nobody knew or cared.