The Brooklyn Nets have had a number of great players play for the franchise from the time the team played in New Jersey to where it plays now in Brooklyn. Brooklyn may not be expected to be a good team for the foreseeable future, but in the midst of an active offseason, it’s time to ponder who was the best player in the history of the organization.
In Bleacher Report’s top-100 NBA players of all-time list, forward Kevin Durant was the highest-ranked player on the list that suited up for the Nets at some point during his career. However, when B/R put together a separate list of each team’s greatest player in franchise history, the outlet decided on guard Jason Kidd as the greatest player in Nets history.
Kidd spent seven seasons as a member of the Nets while the franchise was in New Jersey and he averaged 14.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 9.1 assists per game while shooting 39.7% from the field and 34.2% from three-point land. From a historical context, Kidd is sixth in Nets history in games played, fifth in total points scored, and is first in total assists and steals.
Kidd’s time in New Jersey coincided with the best era in franchise history as the Nets made to the playoffs in every season that Kidd was on the team, including two consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. The Nets haven’t made it past the second round of the NBA playoffs since Kidd was in New Jersey and while Kidd and company did not win a title in either appearance, he brought the kind of success that the franchise hadn’t seen since its ABA days.
While players like Durant, Kevin Garnett, and Julius Erving could plausibly be considered better players when looking at the entirety of the league’s history, it’s hard to argue that anyone has done more for the Nets than Kidd has done. Granted, Erving was playing for the franchise the last time it won a league title, he played for the franchise for just three seasons. It’s hard to argue against Kidd being the greatest Net of all-time.