NBA

Anderson recalls how Petrovic’s death set back Nets

In the early ’90s, the Nets looked like a team on the rise, with a young core of Kenny Anderson, Drazen Petrovic and Derrick Coleman. Led by future Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly, the Nets were 43-39 and pushed the 54-win Cavaliers to a decisive fifth game in the first round of the 1993 Eastern Conference playoffs. But everything changed on June 7, 1993, the day Petrovic died in a car crash in Europe.

“When we had Drazen die,” Anderson said last night, “that turned the organization back a few years … more than that.”

It was just one in a series of unfortunate events to befall the franchise during its 35 years in New Jersey. At halftime of last night’s 105-87 loss to the 76ers — the final home game in New Jersey Nets history — the franchise honored Anderson, Coleman and other former players and executives from the team’s time in the Garden State.

“I would say it’s sad,” Coleman said of the team’s tenure in New Jersey coming to a close. “Thirty-five years as a franchise here in New Jersey, and to really be a part of that, and knowing that it’s not going to be here anymore . . . it’s definitely a sad day, just for the people here in the state of New Jersey.”

Anderson, born and raised in Queens, said he was excited about the possibilities that will come with the franchise’s impending move to Brooklyn. But he also cautioned the Nets won’t be able to establish a foothold in New York simply by moving into the city.

“There’s room there, but you have to get that product,” he said. “You have to get stars there . . . you have to bring some good teams. There will be a honeymoon period for one or two years, but people are gonna want to see results.

“You’ve got to get some star-power . . . you get some star power, and you start putting people in the seats and giving them entertainment, then they’re going to be fun. It’s about winning, and seeing good basketball.”

Coleman, on the other hand, freely admitted he won’t feel the same way about the team that drafted him with the first pick in the 1990 NBA Draft when it moves across the Hudson.

“As far as the connection, as far as being connected to the franchise, it’s never going to be the same because it’s not here in Jersey,” the former Syracuse star said. “This is actually where I got my start.”