2. Opening Night 2002-03
C – Dikembe Mutombo, PF – Kenyon Martin, SF – Richard Jefferson, SG – Kerry Kittles, PG – Jason Kidd
Now’s where things get fun. Which Kidd team do we pick? Do we include Vince? Should they be ahead of the ABA team? Let’s go with the opening night team from 2002, when the Nets entered the season with the swagger of having made an NBA Finals that most people, including Nets fans, never expected them to reach.
Reigning NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo replaced pinball wizard Todd MacCulloch as the season opening starter at center. The Nets killed two birds with one stone in the offseason, acquiring Mutombo by sending away MacCulloch and 2002 Finals scapegoat Keith Van Horn — which in turn opened a starting spot for the budding Richard Jefferson. Sure, I called this one of the worst Nets trades ever, but that’s because Mutombo barely played in a Nets uniform. As I said then, this trade worked in theory, and on opening day we are at least working partly in theory.
Add to Mutombo a Hall-of-Famer at the top of his game (Kidd), a vet that knew his role (Kittles), and two emerging talents (Jefferson and K-Mart), and you have the best Nets opening night roster, top to bottom, of the aughts.
The Nets won the October 30, 2002 contest 105-94, against an Atlanta Hawks team that started current Nets Bench Mob member Jason Terry. As for the season, the Nets went on to make their second straight NBA Finals appearance and secured their only two NBA Finals wins in franchise history, losing the series in six games to the San Antonio Spurs.
