Eighteen years later, “Whoop-de-damn-do” lives on.
In 1994, Derrick Coleman famously uttered those words when asked about Kenny Anderson missing practice.
“Where were all you guys when Dwayne Schintzius missed practice? Everyone misses practice. Dwayne Schintzius misses practice. Jayson Williams misses practice. I miss practice. Even the coaches miss practice sometimes,” Coleman said.
A reporter mentioned that Anderson was the captain of the team, and should be setting a bad example. The Post reportedly saw Anderson at “Scores,” a strip club in New York City.
“Whoop-de-damn-do," said Coleman “I didn't feel he owed anybody an apology.”
Coleman reflected on the quote on Monday night.
“It’s amazing to me. It really is. But I get laughs about it. I was just talking to Kenny about that earlier. I said, ‘I was sticking up for you.’ So I blame you all the time for that,” Coleman said, laughing.
Coleman is optimistic about the Nets heading to Brooklyn.
“I’m always hopeful. You have to have talent, that’s the bottom line. If you can get Deron Williams to stay and get a big like Dwight Howard, that’s great, but you have to have talent for people to come and support the team.”
New Jersey governor Chris Christie made headlines when he said “good riddance” to the Nets.
“He said good riddance to the Nets? He must not like basketball. My time here was great for me,” Coleman said.
Anderson called the upcoming move “bittersweet.”
“Now you’re gonna have two teams in New York. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
Anderson joked around that the Nets’ franchise -- unlike the Knicks’ -- was always unstable. They used to practice at a APA trucking in North Bergen, after all.
“They were always ready to win. It seemed like we were build into mediocrity,” Anderson said. “But we won. We had talent.”
Anderson said the move should be good for the Nets.
“New Jersey is a basketball state somewhat, but New York is basketball.”
While the Knicks had a winning tradition and were in a huge market, the Nets, Anderson said, always had a “revolving door,” with players and coaches changing frequently.
