1996–97 New Jersey Nets season
NBA professional basketball team season
The 1996–97 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 30th season in the National Basketball Association, and 21st season in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Season summary
Off-season
The Nets received the eighth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Kerry Kittles out of Villanova University. During the off-season, the team signed free agents Robert Pack, Tony Massenburg, David Benoit, and Xavier McDaniel, who played overseas in Greece during the previous season, and acquired Vincent Askew from the Seattle SuperSonics. The Nets also hired John Calipari as their new head coach. However, Benoit would miss the entire regular season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, while after only just one game with the Nets, Askew was traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Reggie Williams.
Regular season
Early into the regular season, the Nets traveled overseas to Tokyo, Japan to play two games against the Orlando Magic at the Tokyo Dome. In the first game on November 7, 1996, the Nets were the home team and lost to the Magic by a score of 108–95; Kendall Gill led the team with 22 points and 7 assists, while Shawn Bradley finished with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Jayson Williams also had a double-double, contributing 13 points and 16 rebounds. In the second game on November 8, the Nets were the road team and lost to the Magic by a score of 86–82; Pack led the team with 13 points, while Jayson Williams finished with a double-double of 12 points and 18 rebounds. Both games had an attendance of 38,639 fans at the Tokyo Dome.
Under Calipari and with the addition of Kittles, Pack, Massenburg and McDaniel, the Nets continued to struggle losing their first five games of the regular season.
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