The 1996–97 NBA season was the Nets' 30th season in the National Basketball Association, and 21st season in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In the 1996 NBA draft, the Nets selected Kerry Kittles out of Villanova with the eighth pick. In the off-season, the team signed free agents Robert Pack, Tony Massenburg, Xavier McDaniel, who played in Greece during the previous season, and David Benoit, who missed the entire season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Under new head coach John Calipari, the Nets continued to struggle losing their first five games of the season, which included two games against the Orlando Magic in Tokyo, Japan.