2001–02 New Jersey Nets season

The 2001–02 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 35th season in the National Basketball Association, and 26th season in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This season is notable for the Nets acquiring All-Star point guard Jason Kidd from the Phoenix Suns during the off-season. The team selected Eddie Griffin out of Seton Hall University with the seventh overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft, but soon traded him to the Houston Rockets in exchange for top draft pick Richard Jefferson from the University of Arizona, and rookie center Jason Collins out of Stanford University, and signed free agent Todd MacCulloch.

The Nets won nine of their first twelve games, held a 26–11 record as of January 16, 2002, and then held a 32–15 record at the All-Star break. The team finished first place in the Eastern Conference with 52 wins and 30 losses, their best record since joining the NBA after the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. As of the 2024–25 NBA season, this was the only season where the Nets won 50 or more games.

Kidd was credited for most of the turnaround, as the Nets had finished 26–56 the previous year; Kidd averaged 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 9.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game, as he finished second to the Spurs' Tim Duncan in Most Valuable Player voting, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, NBA All-Defensive First Team, and selected for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in Philadelphia, with head coach Byron Scott coaching the Eastern Conference.

In addition, second-year star Kenyon Martin averaged 14.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, while Keith Van Horn provided the team with 14.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and Kerry Kittles, who returned after missing the previous season due to knee injuries, contributed 13.4 points per game. Jefferson averaged 9.4 points per game off the bench, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, while MacCulloch provided with 9.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and Lucious Harris contributed 9.1 points per game off the bench. Jefferson also finished in second place in Rookie of the Year voting, while Scott finished in third place in Coach of the Year voting.

Under the guidance of Kidd and Martin, the young Nets team prospered through the playoffs, and ended up advancing all the way to the Eastern Conference title and the franchise's first-ever appearance in the NBA Finals. In the Eastern Conference first round, they defeated the Indiana Pacers in five games, then defeated the Charlotte Hornets four games to one in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Then after trailing 2–1 to the third-seeded Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, the Nets would win the series four games to two. However, New Jersey's season would end without an improbable NBA crown, as the Nets were swept in four games by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Following the season, Van Horn and MacCulloch were both traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, whom MacCulloch had previously played for.