The 2001–02 NBA season was the Nets' 35th season in the National Basketball Association, and 26th season in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This season saw the Nets finishing first in the Eastern Conference with 52 win and 30 losses, their best record since joining the NBA after the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. As of 2017, this was the only season where the Nets won 50 or more games.

In the offseason, the Nets acquired All-Star point guard Jason Kidd from the Phoenix Suns. Kidd was credited for most of turn-around—the Nets had finished 26–56 the previous year—and finished second to the Spurs' Tim Duncan in MVP voting, and was selected for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game.

Under Kidd's guidance, the young Nets team prospered through the playoffs, and ended up advancing all the way to the Eastern Conference title and the franchise's first-ever appearance in the NBA Finals. In the first round, they defeated the Indiana Pacers in five games, then defeated the Charlotte Hornets four games to one in the semifinals. They then defeated the 3rd-seeded Boston Celtics four games to two in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, New Jersey's season would end without an improbable NBA crown, as Kidd and the Nets were swept in four games by the Los Angeles Lakers. Following the season, Keith Van Horn was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

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