The 2002–03 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 36th season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, and 27th season in

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 Unit ...

. The Nets entered the season as runners-up in the

2002 NBA Finals The 2002 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2001–02 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Western Conference champion Lo ...

, where they were swept by the two-time defending NBA champion

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in four games. During the off-season, the Nets acquired All-Star center

Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (June 25, 1966 – September 30, 2024) was a Congolese-American professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo ...

from the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

, and signed free agent

Rodney Rogers Rodney Ray Rogers (born June 20, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Early life R ...

. However, Mutombo only played just 24 games due to a wrist injury. The Nets got off a solid start with a 26–9 record, while posting a ten-game winning streak between December and January, and holding a 34–15 record at the All-Star break. However, the team played below .500 for the remainder of the season, but finished in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 49–33 record, while posting a successful 33–8 home record.

Jason Kidd Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the List of current NBA head coaches, head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regar ...

averaged 18.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and was selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, In addition,

Kenyon Martin Kenyon Lee Martin Sr. (born December 30, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a power forward, he played for the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, Los An ...

averaged 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, while second-year forward

Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jefferson playe ...

showed improvement averaging 15.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and Kerry Kittles provided with 13.0 points and 1.6 steals per game. Sixth man Lucious Harris contributed 10.3 points per game, while Rogers provided with 7.0 points per game off the bench, and Mutombo averaged 5.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. Kidd also finished in ninth place in

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

voting. In the Eastern Conference First Round of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, the Nets defeated the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

in six games, then swept the 6th-seeded

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

in four straight games in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, and then defeated the top-seeded

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

in another four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference finals. For the second consecutive year, they made it to the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

. However, they lost to the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in a six-game series. Following the season, Mutombo was released to free agency, and signed as a free agent with the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

Offseason

On August 1, the Nets re-signed Chris Childs as a free agent; Childs previously played for the Nets from 1994 to 1996. Five days later, the organization traded Todd MacCulloch and

Keith Van Horn Keith Adam Van Horn (born October 23, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. A forward, Van Horn played for five teams in a National Basketball Association (NBA) career that spanned from 1997 to 2006. Van Horn finished his ...

to the Philadelphia 76ers for

. On August 14, the Nets signed

as a free agent. On October 25, they signed Anthony Johnson as a free agent. Their final offseason transaction would come three days later, when they waived Donny Marshall.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

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Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

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Bradley Center The Bradley Center (also known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center under sponsorship agreements) was a multi-purpose arena located on the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Ave. and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United ...

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The Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly known as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Opened in 1988, it was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shock of the ...

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Player statistics

Regular season

, - ,

, 80 , 80 , 37.4 , .414 , .341 , .841 , 6.3 , 8.9 , 2.2 , 0.3 , 18.7 , - ,

, 77 , 77 , 34.1 , .470 , .209 , .653 , 8.3 , 2.4 , 1.3 , 0.9 , 16.7 , - ,

, 80 , 80 , 36.0 , .501 , .250 , .743 , 6.4 , 2.5 , 1.0 , 0.6 , 15.5 , - , Kerry Kittles , 65 , 57 , 30.0 , .467 , .356 , .785 , 3.9 , 2.6 , 1.6 , 0.5 , 13.0 , - , Lucious Harris , 77 , 25 , 25.6 , .413 , .346 , .804 , 3.0 , 2.0 , 0.7 , 0.1 , 10.3 , - ,

, 68 , 0 , 19.2 , .402 , .333 , .756 , 3.9 , 1.6 , 0.7 , 0.5 , 7.0 , - , Aaron Williams , 81 , 0 , 19.7 , .453 , .000 , .785 , 4.1 , 1.1 , 0.3 , 0.7 , 6.2 , - ,

, 24 , 16 , 21.4 , .374 , , .727 , 6.4 , 0.8 , 0.2 , 1.5 , 5.8 , - , Jason Collins , 81 , 66 , 23.5 , .414 , .000 , .763 , 4.5 , 1.1 , 0.6 , 0.5 , 5.7 , - , Anthony Johnson , 66 , 2 , 12.8 , .446 , .371 , .689 , 1.2 , 1.3 , 0.6 , 0.1 , 4.1 , - , Brian Scalabrine , 59 , 7 , 12.3 , .402 , .359 , .833 , 2.4 , 0.8 , 0.3 , 0.3 , 3.1 , - ,

Tamar Slay Tamar Ulysses Slay (born April 2, 1980) is an American basketball former college and professional player. A 6 ft 9 in (2.03 m) guard-forward, he was formerly with the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets and Charlotte Bobcats. ...

, 36 , 0 , 7.6 , .379 , .280 , .700 , 0.9 , 0.4 , 0.4 , 0.1 , 2.6 , - , Brandon Armstrong , 17 , 0 , 4.1 , .333 , .167 , .833 , 0.2 , 0.1 , 0.2 , 0.1 , 1.4 , - , Chris Childs , 12 , 0 , 8.8 , .300 , .167 , .667 , 0.4 , 1.3 , 0.7 , 0.1 , 1.3 , - , Donny Marshall , 3 , 0 , 2.0 , .000 , .000 , , 1.0 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 0.0

Playoffs

, - ,

, 20 , 20 , 42.6 , .402 , .327 , .825 , 7.7 , 8.2 , 1.8 , 0.2 , 20.1 , - ,

, 20 , 20 , 38.9 , .453 , .091 , .693 , 9.4 , 2.9 , 1.5 , 1.6 , 18.9 , - ,

, 20 , 20 , 35.6 , .476 , .000 , .718 , 6.4 , 2.4 , 0.8 , 0.2 , 14.1 , - , Kerry Kittles , 20 , 20 , 30.7 , .395 , .413 , .762 , 3.5 , 2.0 , 1.5 , 0.3 , 10.8 , - , Lucious Harris , 20 , 0 , 21.8 , .391 , .333 , .783 , 2.6 , 1.6 , 0.5 , 0.0 , 7.8 , - ,

, 20 , 0 , 17.5 , .372 , .405 , .711 , 2.8 , 1.4 , 0.3 , 0.2 , 6.7 , - , Aaron Williams , 19 , 0 , 17.9 , .472 , , .742 , 4.6 , 0.9 , 0.3 , 0.9 , 6.5 , - , Jason Collins , 20 , 20 , 26.5 , .363 , .000 , .836 , 6.3 , 0.9 , 0.7 , 0.6 , 5.9 , - , Anthony Johnson , 17 , 0 , 7.2 , .548 , .500 , .833 , 0.7 , 1.1 , 0.1 , 0.0 , 2.5 , - ,

, 10 , 0 , 11.5 , .467 , , 1.000 , 2.7 , 0.6 , 0.3 , 0.9 , 1.8 , - , Brian Scalabrine , 7 , 0 , 2.9 , .500 , .000 , , 0.6 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 0.6 , - ,

, 6 , 0 , 1.8 , .250 , 1.000 , , 0.0 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 0.5 Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

All-NBA Second Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

* Jason Kidd,

NBA All-Defensive Second Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in two ...

* Jason Kidd,

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Traditionally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

Transactions

Overview

Trades

Free agents

Player Transactions Citation:

References

*
New Jersey Nets on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 New Jersey Nets season New Jersey Nets season New Jersey Nets seasons

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

21st century in East Rutherford, New Jersey Eastern Conference (NBA) championship seasons Meadowlands Sports Complex