[box]YAHOO – Nets retire Jason Kidd’s No. 5 jersey

”He was the catalyst that made us what we were,” said NBA president Rod Thorn, who was the Nets’ general manager who acquired Kidd from Phoenix.

Kidd retired last season after spending one season, his 19th, with the New York Knicks. He ranks second in NBA history in assists and steals, and is third in 3-pointers made. He won a pair of Olympic gold medals and helped Dallas win the 2011 NBA championship.

”One of the best point guards to ever play the game, I mean, from my perspective,” said Miami’s LeBron James, Kidd’s teammate on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.[/box]

[box]NY DAILYNEWS – LeBron James remains a royal pain for Nets

This much is clear: If Kidd is going to do something special as coach of the Nets, he will have to go directly through or over James, and the superiority complex that comes with the Heat forward. The preseason game was a nice start, an 86-62 victory for the Nets built on a hearty defense that held the Heat to 32% shooting. Still, James has good reason to feel better than everyone else. He happens to be better. His disregard for the Nets over the years has bordered on arrogance, and at times has been downright provocative.

By Thursday, before he scored 16 points in 28 minutes on 7-for-15 shooting, James was done mocking and ripping the Nets. “I’m not commenting on any more teams or players,” he said. Asked if Brooklyn were a title contender, he said, “I have no idea.”[/box]

[box] ESPN – Thorn made the deal that changed the Nets

Turns out the deal worked out just fine for Thorn and the Nets.

“Our feeling was after our first year was we had some talent on the team but we lacked defense, rebounding and chemistry,” Thorn explained of his thinking. “We didn’t share the ball real well with each other, defensively, we just weren’t very good at all and rebounding-wise we were below average.”

Thorn said he and the Suns were talking trade at the Chicago pre-draft camp in June of 2001 but talks stalled. Then a few days before the NBA draft in late June, the two teams began discussing a trade again. [/box]

[box]NYPOST– Kevin Garnett to LeBron James: Buzz off

“Tell LeBron to worry about Miami,” Garnett said after the Nets beat the Heat 86-62 in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732 at Barclays Center Thursday night. “He has nothing to do with Celtic business.”

As for Pierce, when the question was posed to him, he answered with one of his own: “I left Boston?”

“They’re the champs, they’ve got what we want, and we have to go through them to get it. We’ve got to just help everybody understand that it’s not going to be easy, and we’ve got to win.”[/box]

[box]YES NETWORK– Top five moments of Jason Kidd’s career

Nets fans may remember Jason Kidd’s circus shot against the Bulls during the 2007 regular season. Not only was the behind-the-back shot impressive, but his numbers from the game were classic Kidd: 17 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

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Kidd was never known for his jump shot, but one of the biggest shots of his career came on one. Defended by Chauncey Billups and the Pistons, Kidd hit the game-winning shot with 1.2 seconds remaining. The Nets went on to sweep the Pistons on their way to the NBA Finals..[/box]