Dating back to about one week after the Big Bang created the universe, New Jersey’s NBA reputation placed it roughly as the armpit of the cosmos. There was hell, purgatory and New Jersey, though not in that order. But to Jason Kidd, after the “negativity” of Phoenix, New Jersey is a fresh-air Eden.
“No doubt about it. Sometimes things change. Things aren’t always in concrete [or] permanent. I think the tide has turned,” said Kidd, leading the renaissance on the west bank of the Hudson. “I’m just happy to be out of the negativity. I’m happy to be here in New Jersey, where things are positive and everybody competes.”
Hold on. This is New Jersey. The Nets. The Swamp. Curse of Dr. J and all that, right?
“You just never know what the future holds. I’m excited. Nobody probably would ever say they’re excited to come to New Jersey, but this is a different situation, this is a great opportunity, so you’ve got to take full advantage of it,” said Kidd, who has made no attempt to veil his unhappiness with the Suns.
“I’m not there, so I don’t have to deal with it,” Kidd said of the “negativity” surrounding the Suns. “It was just my opinion and my opinion can probably be way off-base, but everybody has the right to their own opinion and that’s the way I felt. I’m not speaking on behalf of anybody else, but there’s a lot of other people who felt that way, too, not just basketball players.”
And so Kidd thoroughly enjoyed last night’s 106-87 rout of the Suns.
“Great game, great atmosphere and it was great to kick their butts,” he said after his 13-assist performance.
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Don’t worry Reggie Miller. Kenyon Martin isn’t trying to take your 3-point shooting rep. Even if he did bag two of them last night.
“I missed my first,” said Martin, who scored 22 points in the rout. “I passed the ball to Steve [Goodrich] so he could shoot. He passed it back. I figured if he didn’t want to shoot, I would. That’s all. Reggie doesn’t have to worry.”