- 1968
- 1969
- 1970
- 1973
- 1976
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Name Changed to the Nets
After a planned move to Newark, New Jersey fell through the team opted to stay at the Long Island Arena for the second year, and changed its name to the New York 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 ... -
Secret Draft – Lew Alcindor
The team finished last in its first New York season and drew a paltry 1,108 a game, about half of what it had drawn a year earlier. They posted a 17–61 record and shuffled 23 different players on and off the roster. Brown sold the team to clothing manufacturer Roy Boe after that season. Boe started off his ownership with ... -
Acquisition of Barry
During the 1970 offseason, the team finally managed to acquire a star in Rick Barry after trading their No. 1 pick and cash to the Virginia Squires. After another playoff season at the Island Garden, the team moved to the brand new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale for the end of the 1971 – 1972 season. In 1972, two ... -
Julius Erving to the Nets
The 1973 – 1974 season saw the Nets finally put all the pieces together. The key event of the season though would come in the 1973 offseason, as the Nets acquired Julius Erving from the Virginia Squires. With Erving, who was affectionately known as “Dr. J”, the Nets ended the season with a franchise-record 55 victories. After Erving was voted ... -
ABA–NBA Merger
The summer of 1976 saw the ABA–NBA merger finally take place. As part of the merger agreement, four teams from the ABA—the Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs – joined the NBA. The Nets and Nuggets had actually applied to join the NBA in 1975, but were forced to play a lame-duck season in the ABA by ...
History of the Nets
After a frustrating season in New Jersey, the New York area's ABA franchise shifted to Commack a city on New York's Long Island. Along with the move came a name change as owner Arthur Brown took seriously a suggestion to pick a name that rhymed with the baseball Mets and football Jets. However, the Nets failed to come through in what would have been the biggest move losing out on a chance to sign UCLA star Lew Alcindor who received a better offer to play for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. The Nets were a team in transition as they made ten trades and went through 23 players during an awful 17 - 61 season.
They played in New Jersey as the New Jersey Americans during their first season, before relocating to Long Island, New York, in 1968 and changing their name to the New York Nets. During this time, the Nets won two ABA championships (in 1974 and 1976). In 1976, the ABA merged with the NBA, and the Nets were absorbed into the NBA along with three other ABA teams (the San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, and Denver Nuggets), all of whom remain in the league to this day.
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 2
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
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