Beyond the Bylines: Getting to Know the Nothin’ But Nets Team

Matthew Pisani

Favorite NBA team: My favorite team has always been and forever will be the Nets: Brooklyn, Meadowlands, or Newark.

Favorite NBA player(s): Jason Kidd

Player(s) you want to meet: If I could talk to any NBA player, past or present, it would be Jason Kidd. I want to know more about his career, life, and why the hell he ruined it coaching this team.

How did you become interested in NBA basketball?

I got interested in NBA basketball around the fourth grade. My best friend was a die-hard Allen Iverson and Sixers fan. I always watched the Yankees on YES Network. I wanted to know more about basketball, so I started to watch a few Nets games here and there, and next thing you know, I am going to multiple games a year and rooting for the team every single night. I worshiped the Nets back then to the next level.

If you’re pursuing sports journalism as a career, when did you realize this was what you wanted to do? If not, what is your career goal, and what drives you to cover sports?

I am one of the lucky ones. I have known I wanted to be a journalist since I was a little boy. My brother was one hell of a baseball player, and I was always the smarter one with an insane memory, especially for sports statistics and rules. My family always hoped that I could cover my brother in a World Series one day. Unfortunately, he is not in the majors, but I am still striving toward my goal of being a sports writer. After two years of post-grad work in finance, I realized I could not do that the rest of my life, so I am obtaining my Master’s in Sports Journalism and will be done by NBA Playoff time.

What is your favorite piece you’ve written for NBN? If you haven’t been here long enough, what is your favorite piece you’ve written for any publication?

I love writing any piece for Nothin’ But Nets, but my favorite sports piece was not actually published on any medium. I love my pieces for onthebanks.com, which is where I cover Rutgers football with several articles a week (check them out). I have given a lot of solid and fun work there.  I enjoy my roster and season prediction post I did for Brook-Lin.com, where I predicted the Nets will get 30 wins. But the piece I enjoy most was a final project for my Multimedia Reporting class. It was a piece on how if steroid users can get into the Hall-of-Fame, why is Pete Rose still under his ban? The piece includes interviews and a timeline and other multimedia aspects. If you enjoy baseball, check it out.