The 1998–99 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 32nd season in the National Basketball Association, and 23rd season in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.
Season summary
Off-season During the off-season, the Nets signed free agents Eric Murdock and Scott Burrell, and acquired Jim McIlvaine from the Seattle SuperSonics.
For the season, the Nets revealed new gray alternate road uniforms, which featured a V-shaped collar, a red, silver and dark navy blue trim, and dark navy blue side panels on their jerseys and shorts. The new alternate uniforms would remain in use until 2005, although they would be slightly redesigned in 2000, where the team would change the state name New Jersey, and the jersey number from dark navy blue to white.
Regular season Despite the addition of Murdock, Burrell and McIlvaine, the Nets struggled losing 18 of their first 21 games of the regular season, which included an eight-game losing streak in March. Head coach John Calipari was fired after a 3–17 start to the season, and was replaced with assistant coach Don Casey. At mid-season, Sam Cassell, who was out due to an ankle injury after four games, was traded along with Chris Gatling to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team trade, as the Nets acquired Stephon Marbury from the Minnesota Timberwolves, and acquired Jamie Feick from the Bucks. As the season progressed, Jayson Williams suffered a severe knee injury in April, and was out for the remainder of the season after 30 games. Near the end of the season, the team signed free agent and 7' 7" Romanian center Gheorghe Mureșan, as the Nets finished in last place in the Atlantic Division with a disappointing 16–34 record.
Marbury averaged 23.4 points and 8.7 assists per game in 31 games after the trade, while second-year star Keith Van Horn averaged 21.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. In addition, Kerry Kittles provided the team with 12.9 points and 1.7 steals per game, while Kendall Gill contributed 11.8 points and 2.7 steals per game, and Williams averaged 8.1 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Murdock contributed 7.9 points, 4.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game, but only played just 15 games due to a groin injury, Feick averaged 6.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in 26 games, Burrell provided with 6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and Lucious Harris contributed 5.4 points per game.
The Nets finished 21st in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 400,387 at the Continental Airlines Arena during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, Murdock was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, and Rony Seikaly was released to free agency and then retired.
Offseason
Draft picks
The Nets had no draft picks in 1998.
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot
Game log
Player statistics
Regular season
|Stephon Marbury |31 |31 |39.8 |.439 |.367 |.832 |2.6 |8.7 |1.0 |0.1 |23.4 |- |Keith Van Horn |42 |42 |37.5 |.428 |.302 |.859 |8.5 |1.5 |1.0 |1.3 |21.8 |- |Sam Cassell |4 |3 |25.0 |.429 |.143 |.935 |1.5 |4.8 |0.8 |0.0 |18.0 |- |Kerry Kittles |46 |40 |34.1 |.370 |.316 |.772 |4.2 |2.5 |1.7 |0.6 |12.9 |- |Kendall Gill |50 |47 |32.1 |.398 |.118 |.683 |4.9 |2.5 |2.7 |0.5 |11.8 |- |Jayson Williams |30 |30 |34.0 |.445 |.000 |.565 |12.0 |1.1 |0.8 |2.0 |8.1 |- |Doug Overton |8 |1 |21.8 |.439 |.500 |.857 |2.1 |2.0 |0.4 |0.1 |8.0 |- |Eric Murdock |15 |8 |26.7 |.395 |.364 |.808 |2.3 |4.4 |1.5 |0.1 |7.9 |- |Jamie Feick |26 |16 |32.7 |.504 | |.717 |11.0 |0.9 |1.0 |0.7 |6.8 |- |Scott Burrell |32 |10 |22.1 |.361 |.389 |.810 |3.7 |1.4 |1.3 |0.3 |6.6 |- |Chris Carr |28 |2 |13.0 |.374 |.379 |.694 |2.1 |0.6 |0.3 |0.0 |6.6 |- |Mark Hendrickson |22 |6 |18.1 |.443 |.000 |.840 |3.1 |0.6 |0.5 |0.0 |5.5 |- |Lucious Harris |36 |5 |16.7 |.403 |.220 |.750 |1.9 |0.9 |0.5 |0.2 |5.4 |- |Chris Gatling |18 |2 |15.6 |.371 |.000 |.500 |3.6 |0.7 |0.4 |0.2 |4.7 |- |Damon Jones |11 |0 |11.9 |.318 |.345 |.846 |1.2 |1.2 |0.6 |0.0 |4.5 |- |Earl Boykins |5 |0 |10.2 |.476 |.200 | |0.8 |1.2 |0.2 |0.0 |4.2 |- |David Vaughn |10 |0 |10.3 |.542 | |.800 |3.4 |0.1 |0.2 |0.8 |3.4 |- |Brian Evans |11 |0 |11.0 |.324 |.364 |1.000 |1.5 |1.3 |0.3 |0.3 |2.7 |- |Elliot Perry |30 |0 |8.1 |.349 |.391 |.750 |0.9 |1.2 |0.5 |0.0 |2.6 |- |Jim McIlvaine |22 |1 |12.2 |.431 | |.667 |2.5 |0.1 |0.4 |1.5 |2.2 |- |Rony Seikaly |9 |0 |9.8 |.200 | |.389 |2.3 |0.2 |0.4 |0.7 |1.7 |- |William Cunningham |15 |6 |10.7 |.167 | |.000 |1.9 |0.1 |0.1 |0.7 |0.4 |- |Gheorghe Muresan |1 |0 |1.0 |.000
|0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Player statistics citation:
References
See also 1998–99 NBA season