June 28, 2001: The New Jersey Nets trade Stephon Marbury to the Phoenix Suns for Jason Kidd. This is a classic "my headache for your headache" trade, as both had been divas unable to move their teams out of the dumps.
Marbury, the youngest of 5 brothers who had starred for Abraham Lincoln High School in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, had played 1 season at Georgia Tech, turned pro, was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, and was immediately traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. For 3 years, he underachieved with them, before being traded to the Nets. For 2 seasons, he was still an underachiever, and came to be regarded as a bad influence on the team, a "clubhouse cancer."
Kidd came out of Oakland, stayed local by going to the University of California, playing 2 years with them. He was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks, and was traded to the Suns after 2 years. He was a Rookie of the Year, an All-Star, and an NBA assists leader, but wasn't getting along with his teammates.
How did they react to their respective changes of scenery? Marbury made an All-Star Game with the Suns, but they tired of his act after 3 lackluster seasons, and he went on to the Knicks, becoming one of the few players to mess up two teams in one market.
He last played in the NBA with the Boston Celtics in 2009 -- the year between NBA Finals appearances for them, winning in 2008 and losing in 2010. He was only 32 when he played his last NBA game. Of course, none of his highly-touted brothers played in the NBA, although a cousin, Sebastian Telfair, did. From 2010 to 2018, Marbury played in China's league, and went on to coach there.
In his 1st season with the Meadowlands team, Kidd led the Nets from a hopeless 26-56 to 52-30, their 1st Atlantic Division title, and their 1st NBA Finals. He got them another Division title and Finals berth the next season. He got them another Division title the next season. He got them to the Playoffs the next season. He got them another Division title the next season.
In other words, the Nets had done more in 5 seasons with Kidd than they had done in the previous 25 years without him. Never in the history of team sports has one man made that much difference that fast. So this may have been the most lopsided NBA trade since 1956, when the Boston Celtics traded Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks for the rights to Bill Russell.
After the 2008 season, the Nets, in the process of moving to Brooklyn, traded Kidd back to the Mavericks. Now a respected elder statesman among players, he helped them win their 1st NBA Championship in 2011. He played one more season with them, and then one last season with the Knicks, 2012-13.
He then retired, and crossed town to the Brooklyn Nets, coaching them for a season, then 4 with the Milwaukee Bucks. He won a 2nd ring as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, and in 2021 was hired as head coach of the Mavericks.
He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, was named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players, and had his Number 5 retired by the Nets.
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June 28, 2001 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Armando Benítez started the bottom of the 10th inning by walking Andruw Jones, who stole 2nd. After he got Chipper Jones out, manager Bobby Valentine ordered him to intentionally walk Keith Lockhart and B.J. Surhoff, to load the bases and set up the double play. But Javy López hit a grand slam to win the game.
* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Philadelphia Phillies swept a doubleheader from the Florida Marlins, 6-5 and 8-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Bobby Abreu hit home runs in both games.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre in Toronto). Sidney Ponson pitched a 2-hit shutout. In his final season, his streak well over, Cal Ripken did not play.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 1-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Todd Ritchie pitched 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, while 2 relievers completed a 6-hit shutout.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk. Dmitri Young went 4-for-4. Sammy Sosa went 3-for-4.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 7-4 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Tony Gwynn, in his final season, did not play. Rickey Henderson did, but only as a pinch-runner.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Anaheim Angels, 6-3 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 with a RBI.
* And the New York Yankees, the Cleveland Indians, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Colorado Rockies, the Houston Astros and the Montreal Expos were not scheduled.
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