Before the New Jersey Nets evolved into title contenders, Kerry Kittles was navigating the chaos of a franchise still searching for an identity.
In a wide-ranging interview with NBA insider Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, the former Villanova standout reflected on his early years with the Nets, recalling how raw and underdeveloped the organization was during the mid-1990s.
“It was an interesting time to be a Net,” Kittles said. “The organization was going through a transformation… I remember working out at this trucking company on Tonnele Avenue, thinking, ‘Wow… this is our practice facility?’”
Kittles, drafted eighth overall in 1996, joined a franchise far removed from the NBA’s spotlight.
He described those early rosters as inconsistent but resilient, capable of surprising more established teams on any given night.
“We weren’t that good. Honestly, we really weren’t that good. But we started to become relevant,” he said.
Kittles also recalled the first time he crossed paths with a young Kobe Bryant while training at St. Joe’s with John Lucas and Maurice Cheeks.
“This high school kid walks in—Kobe. And we’re like, ‘Oh snap! This boy can GO!’” he said. “I’m playing him one-on-one like, ‘Bro, you’re ready for the League right now.’”
The former Nets guard noted that Bryant’s talent was undeniable from the start.
“He wasn’t a fluke from Day One,” Kittles said.
Looking back on the 2002 NBA Finals, Kittles said the Nets weren’t intimidated by the Lakers but were simply overmatched.
“We weren’t nervous… We were just overpowered,” he said. “Shaq was a handful. Kobe on the perimeter? Another problem. And a Hall of Fame coach? We had no chance.”
The next year, it was San Antonio.
“We won two games. It should’ve gone seven,” he recalled. “But look who we played: Duncan, Parker, Ginóbili, Robinson… That team won five chips in the Shaq era.”
Those Finals losses, according to Kittles, were not failures—they were lessons in elite basketball execution.
“They were experiences for all of us,” he said.
Asked about guarding Michael Jordan during the 1998 playoffs, Kittles didn’t hesitate.
“Jordan was even better than how they portrayed him in The Last Dance. Even better,” he said. “Pippen, Kerr, Rodman, Harper… They were THAT good, man. It was like watching a machine.”
Now nearly two decades removed from his last NBA game, Kittles remains a vivid link to a Nets era defined by growth, battles with greatness, and learning what it takes to win.
