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The Lakers are heavy favorites for the NBA title, but New Jersey won't give in easily.
By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 5, 2002
Let's not mince words on the eve of the 2002 NBA Finals. New Jersey certainly isn't.
"I know we're the biggest underdogs in the history of the NBA Finals," Nets coach Byron Scott said Tuesday.
Few are picking New Jersey to keep Los Angeles from a third consecutive title when the best-of-seven series begins tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Is anybody picking the Nets? Well, there's Celtics coach Jim O'Brien, to name one.
"I think (the Nets) will bring the NBA championship back to the East," he said after the Eastern Conference final. "Jason Kidd is the best guard in the league, and they're that good of a basketball team. The West is in for a rude awakening."
And then there's the Nets themselves.
New Jersey has relished its underdog role this season, in which the Nets went from the draft lottery to the Eastern Conference title.
"They're excited about it," Scott said. "It seems we've been the underdog the last two series. It seems like everything we did in the regular season didn't matter. I don't think anybody really looked at us as the No. 1 in the East, and I think now that we're here it hasn't changed.
"When the guys heard (that the Nets are underdogs) they started smiling, they enjoyed it. It's time to prove everybody wrong again."
New Jersey must find a way to do what no team has done in two seasons: overcome one of the most talented tandems ever in Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant; outcoach Phil Jackson, who has eight NBA titles; steal four games from a team that hasn't lost a postseason series in two years; and knock off a two-time champion that has lost three games in the past two finals.
Reggie Miller and Indiana won two games against Los Angeles in the 2000 title series. Allen Iverson and Philadelphia won one in 2001.
Does Jackson believe Kidd and New Jersey have a chance? To put it politely, no.
"I think the Nets are a terrific team," Jackson told reporters after the Western Conference final. "They play team basketball. It's pleasing to watch. It's aesthetically pleasing to watch them. ... But we felt confident that the winner of the Western Conference is going to win the championship, and we still believe it."
NBC analyst Bill Walton has heard about New Jersey's grievances throughout the postseason. New Jersey has its chance to prove the naysayers wrong, he said, on the NBA's greatest stage.
"All this whining that we've heard from the Nets about no respect, no media coverage, the MVP going to the wrong guy, the coach of the year going to the wrong guy, Richard Jefferson getting snubbed for the All-Star weekend: The Nets have a chance right here in the next two weeks to prove everybody wrong," Walton said. "What more could you ask for in life?"
To hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy, Kidd said.
"Nobody's giving us a chance, and we understand that," Kidd said. "We're playing against the best team and by far the two best players in the world, but unfortunately we have to play the games, and that's how we're going to approach it. We have nothing to lose.
"It's destiny versus dynasty, and hopefully destiny will overcome the dynasty."
As for stopping O'Neal?
"He's the Wilt Chamberlain of our time," Kidd said. "The best thing is to give him a detour to San Diego on Highway 5 or something."
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.