Dating back to about one week after the Big Bang created the universe, New Jersey's NBA reputation placed it roughly as the armpit of the cosmos. There was hell, purgatory and New Jersey, though not in that order. But to Jason Kidd, after the "negativity" of Phoenix, New Jersey is a fresh-air Eden.

"No doubt about it. Sometimes things change. Things aren't always in concrete [or] permanent. I think the tide has turned," said Kidd, leading the renaissance on the west bank of the Hudson. "I'm just happy to be out of the negativity. I'm happy to be here in New Jersey, where things are positive and everybody competes."

Hold on. This is New Jersey. The Nets. The Swamp. Curse of Dr. J and all that, right?