“Then you have the other animal that one-on-one was destroying us” - Kenyon Martin recalls Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant’s dominating presence
Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were going for a three-peat with the LA Lakers in 2002. Standing in their way was the best team in the East, the New Jersey Nets, led by Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin.
Despite putting up a good fight, the Nets, who had the best record in their conference that season, couldn’t get a win over the dominant Lakers. On the “All The Smoke” podcast, Martin recalled what it was like to face that historically great Lakers team:
“I can do nothing with that dude [Shaq]. If I get caught on him, all I try to do is front him and he just pushed me up the lane. Impossible to guard. You pick your poison. Do you try to play him straight up? You know what he gonna do.
"Do you double? Now you got Derek Fisher going 4-7, Robert Horry going 2-5. What do you do? Then you have the other animal [Kobe] that one-one-one was destroying us. Shaq averaging 36, he averaging 26. Dude, it was impossible.”
Shaquille O'Neal was on his way to a third straight NBA Finals MVP in that series. He averaged 36.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 blocks. The Nets, like the rest of the league, had no answer for the 320-pound center every time he got the ball in the paint.
A memorable moment from that Finals is a photo of Shaq dunking the ball while all five Nets players watch helplessly. New Jersey’s interior defense made up of Kenyon Martin, Jason Collins, Todd MacCulloch and Aaron Williams, had no chance of containing the man-mountain O’Neal.
If it wasn’t Shaquille O'Neal who was eviscerating the New Jersey Nets down the blocks, it was Kobe Bryant who torched them from the outside. “The Black Mamba” showed that he was a capable second option in Phil Jackson’s Triangle Offense.
Shaq on playing the New Jersey Nets in the 2002 NBA Finals. 😂
(Via @ScoopB h/t @BleacherReport ) https://t.co/kXGrBkcdMg
Against a defense that was terrorized by Shaquille O'Neal’s relentless inside forays, Bryant often got what he wanted. “KB24” averaged 26.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists. The Lakers’ one-two punch was the best in the NBA at the time and it showed in the dismantling of that Nets team.
The New Jersey Nets never got a chance to avenge their defeat against Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant
The following season, the New Jersey Nets didn’t have the best record in their conference but still emerged as the Eastern champions. On their way to the 2003 NBA Finals, they swept the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.
However, the much-anticipated rematch did not happen as O'Neal and the LA Lakers couldn’t get out of the rugged West. The Lakers were only the fifth seed in their conference, with their rivals the San Antonio Spurs owning the best record.
The New Jersey Nets kept their end of the bargain and returned to the NBA Finals but had to face Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs as opponents. Even without Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant standing in their way, they could not hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy that season.