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New York Nets Team History

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New York Nets




  • 1968
  • 1969
  • 1970
  • 1973
  • 1976
  • New York Nets 1968

    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 ...
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  • Lew Alcindor - UCLA

    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 ...
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  • Rick Barry - New York Nets 1970

    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 ...
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  • Julius Erving - New York Nets 1973

    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 ...
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  • NBA - ABA Merger 1976

    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 ...
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History of the Nets

The New York Nets are a professional basketball team based in Brooklyn, New York. The team was founded as part of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967 and joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) when it merged with the ABA in 1976. Over its history, the Nets have been one of only two teams to win both an ABA championship and an NBA championship; they won their first title as part of the ABA's New Jersey Americans franchise before winning two championships with their current moniker during their time in Brooklyn.

Since joining forces with fellow former-ABA franchise Indiana Pacers for a merger that brought them into existence within NBA ranks, many great players have donned a Nets jersey over time including Julius Erving who led them to victory on three separate occasions from 1974–1976 while being named MVP twice along his journey there. Other notable figures include Jason Kidd who is widely credited for leading one of the most successful eras ever seen by any pro sports club between 2001–2003 where he piloted this squad deep into playoffs each season culminating in a 2002 Finals appearance against the Los Angeles Lakers which unfortunately ended up being lost 4-0 series sweep for the Eastern Conference champions but still stands out today as best performance achieved by the organization since inception all those years ago back 1967 when they were born under a different name: “New Jersey Americans.”

In 2012 after more than forty years of playing home games across the Hudson river at Izod Center located in East Rutherford NJ, ownership decided it was finally time to make the long-awaited move back closer original location thus relocating the entire operation right to the heart of downtown Manhattan borough called Borough Of Kings – also known simply “Brooklyn” -where brand new state art Barclays Center arena would become official home court starting 2013/14 campaign marking end era glorious past full memorable moments unforgettable characters now set sail towards promising future filled hope joy excitement once again thanks arrival beloved NYC basketball squad.





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

Who is the greatest New York 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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