The late 1990s New Jersey Nets were one of the most intriguing, unpredictable, and explosive franchises in professional basketball. On The Pull Up with Scoop B, 15-year NBA veteran Kendall Gill joined me for a raw, unfiltered deep dive into his tenure in New Jersey—taking fans inside the locker room during draft night bluffs, executive tanking orders, and a memorable postseason clash against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
The Kobe Bryant Draft Bluff
In 1996, the Nets held a high pick in one of the most talent-rich drafts in NBA history and were locked in on high school phenom Kobe Bryant. However, high-stakes threat tactics from Bryant’s agency drastically altered the franchise’s trajectory.
“I was right there when they were thinking about drafting Kobe,” Gill recalled. “Arn [Tellem] is on the phone with John Calipari and he’s saying, ‘Look. We’re going to take Kobe at the pick…’ Arn was saying, ‘Look, if you draft him, he’s going to go to Italy and play!'”
Despite knowing the threat was a calculated bluff to steer Bryant toward the Los Angeles Lakers, the front office ultimately blinked and selected Kerry Kittles instead.
“Kerry turned out to be great and a great player for the franchise,” Gill explained. “But that’s not what the New Jersey Nets wanted to do at that time.”
Willis Reed’s Tank Command
Beyond draft night drama, Gill shared an unforgettable story about navigating front-office politics and executive orders prioritizing lottery positioning over on-court wins under General Manager Willis Reed.
“Willis Reed comes out on the court and he goes, ‘Kendall, what are you doing?'” Gill recounted, revealing how Reed made it clear that winning late-season games ran counter to the franchise’s draft strategy.
For a fierce competitor like Gill, adjusting to top-down directives focused on losing was a jarring psychological hurdle—highlighting the tension between a veteran’s competitive drive and organizational tanking directives.
Colliding with the ’98 Last Dance Bulls
Despite administrative turbulence, the Nets built a dynamic, fan-favorite core around Gill, Sam Cassell, Kerry Kittles and Jayson Williams, breaking through to qualify for the 1998 Eastern Conference Playoffs.
Their reward was a first-round matchup against Michael Jordan and the 62-win Chicago Bulls during their final championship run. Although New Jersey was ultimately swept in three games, the series was far more competitive than the stat sheet indicates—stretching the legendary Bulls to overtime in Game 1 and proving the grit of a rising Nets core that refused to back down from basketball royalty.
