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New Jersey Nets Team History

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New Jersey Nets




  • 1977
  • 1978
  • 2001
  • 2004
  • nba-media-guide_new-jersey-nets-1977-78

    Move Back to New Jersey

    Due to the team’s low attendance and poor financial picture in Long Island, Boe decided to move the franchise back to New Jersey prior to the 1977 – 1978 season. The Knicks once again became an obstacle and threatened to block the move because it would infringe on their exclusive territorial rights to New Jersey. The Nets responded by suing ...
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  • Jason Kidd - New Jersey Nets 1978

    Renamed New Jersey Nets

    With the move official, the team was renamed the New Jersey Nets after its new home state. While the team awaited the completion of a new arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, they played four seasons at the Rutgers Athletic Center at Rutgers University in Piscataway. The 1978 – 1979 season saw the team, aided by the ...
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  • Jason Kidd drives against Allen Iverson

    Trade for Jason Kidd

    On the night of the 2001 Draft, the Nets traded the rights to their first-round selection (Eddie Griffin) to the Houston Rockets for Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins, and Brandon Armstrong, and selected Brian Scalabrine in the second round. The trade was widely considered a smart move by the Nets as they needed to get younger and clear out much of ...
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  • Bruce Ratner and Jay-Z.

    Sold to Bruce Ratner

    In 2004, after failing to secure a deal for a new arena in Newark, New Jersey (eventually a new arena, the Prudential Center, was built in Newark for the New Jersey Devils), the YankeeNets sold the franchise to a group headed by real estate developer Bruce Ratner for $300 million, beating out a group led by Charles Kushner and Jon ...
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History of the Nets

The New Jersey Nets have a long and storied history in the NBA. Founded in 1967 as part of the ABA, they joined the NBA after that league merged with it in 1976. The team has had its fair share of ups and downs over the years, but its greatest success came between 2001-2008 when they made back-to-back trips to the finals under coach Byron Scott. During this time, stars such as Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson helped lead them to become one of the best teams in basketball for a brief period before eventually losing out on both championship opportunities.

Since then however, things haven’t been so rosy for New Jersey's favorite team; from 2009 - 2012 they struggled mightily due to injuries & poor roster decisions which led them into rebuilding mode once again starting the 2013 season onward where current head coach Kenny Atkinson took charge & started building up young talent like Caris LeVert who is now becoming an All-Star caliber player leading his squad back into relevance making playoffs twice since 2018 season onwards even though not advancing far enough yet.

Overall despite some rough patches along the way, the Nets are still considered one of the most promising franchises currently competing at the highest level thanks largely due recent changes implemented by new management staff putting together competitive rosters while also maintaining financial flexibility allowing future moves if needed. With the right pieces falling place, New Jersey faithful will be hoping that this could finally be the year the franchise can make a deep run toward title contention something fans have been waiting for quite some time now





Established
1967

City
New Jersey - New York - New Jersey - Brooklyn

League History
1976 - Present / National Basketball Association
1967 - 1976 / American Basketball Association

Team History
2012 - Present / Brooklyn Nets
1977 - 2012 / New Jersey Nets
1968 - 1977 / New York Nets
1967 - 1968 / New Jersey Americans

Nickname
Nets - The name "Nets" was used because it rhymes with the names of two other professional sports teams that played in the New York metropolitan area at the time: Major League Baseball's New York Mets and the American Football League's New York Jets, and because it relates to basketball in general, as it is part of the basket.

Championship
NBA Championships 0
ABA Championships 0
1976, 1974

Arena
2012 - Present / Barclays Center

*New Jersey*
2010 - 2012 / Prudential Center
1981 - 2010 / Izod Center
1977 - 1981 / Rutgers Athletic Center

*New York*
1972 - 1977 / Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
1969 - 1972 / Island Garden
1968 - 1969 / Long Island Arena

*New Jersey*
1967 - 1968 / Teaneck Armory

Owner
2010 - Present / Mikhail Prokhorov
2003 - 2010 / Bruce Ratner
1999 - 2003 / YankeeNets
1998 - 1999 / Raymond Chambers and Lewis Katz
1978 - 1998 / Secaucus Seven
1969 - 1978 / Roy Boe
1967 - 1969 / Arthur Brown

Who is the greatest New Jersey Nets?
  • Add your greatest player

To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.

Retired Number
3 / Dražen Petrović
5 / Jason Kidd
23 / John Williamson
25 / Bill Melchionni
32 / Julius Erving
52 / Buck Williams

*Blue is this team’s history

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