Brooklyn Nets

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1967
• Home arena: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
• Owner: Joseph Tsai
• Team colors: Black, white, and dark gray

Overview

The Brooklyn Nets are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team that plays in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Originally founded as an American Basketball Association (ABA) franchise called the New Jersey Americans, the Nets first took the court in 1967. Over the course of its history, the team has won two ABA championships and earned various other ABA and NBA accolades. By the 2023–24 season, the Nets amassed an all-time record that included 2,022 wins and 2,576 losses for an overall .440 win/loss percentage. A fan-favorite team in both Brooklyn and previously in New Jersey, the Nets have been home to some of professional basketball’s best players and superstars, including “Dr. J” Julius Erving, Jason Kidd, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving. The Nets are also one of the NBA’s most financially successful franchises, worth an estimated $3.85 billion in 2023.

In addition to their on-court activities, the Brooklyn Nets maintain an active commitment to philanthropic endeavors. Much of the team’s work in this realm is performed through a charitable organization called Brooklyn Nets Assist. Brooklyn Nets Assist aims to give back to the local community and improve the lives of people in need through programs and initiatives focused on education, basketball, and community investment. Some of the team’s education initiatives include the Brooklyn Nets Read Across America and NESTEM programs. The Brooklyn Nets Basketball Academy Clinic is the highlight of the team’s basketball-focused initiatives.

History

The history of the Brooklyn Nets began with the establishment of an ABA franchise called the New Jersey Americans in 1967. The ABA was an upstart league founded the same year that sought to challenge the relatively young NBA for supremacy in professional basketball. During their inaugural season, the Nets played at the Teaneck Armory in Teaneck, New Jersey. The following year, the team moved to the Long Island Arena in Commack, New York, and became known as the New York Nets. On the court, the Nets began to emerge as a contender after struggling through a pair of losing seasons in their first two years of existence. They even advanced to the ABA Finals in the 1971–1972 season before ultimately falling to the Indiana Pacers.

The Nets took a major step forward when the team orchestrated a trade with the Virginia Squires to acquire small forward “Dr. J” Julius Erving in 1973. An up-and-coming superstar, Erving led the Nets on a remarkable ascent that culminated in an ABA Finals series matchup against the Utah Stars and the first championship in franchise history. Two years later, Erving and the Nets played their way to a second ABA championship with a victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

The struggling ABA merged with the NBA in 1976 and several ABA teams—including the Nets—were absorbed into the surviving league. To join the NBA, the Nets had to pay an 8-million-dollar entrance fee. With little in the way of viable assets, the team could only raise that amount of money by selling Erving’s contract to the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. Although this move allowed the Nets to generate the necessary funding to join the NBA, it meant that the team would debut without its biggest star. No longer buoyed by Erving’s immense talent, the Nets’ on-court performance took a dramatic nosedive, with the team struggling through five straight losing seasons and only making the playoffs once in that time. In the midst of this downturn, the Nets moved back to New Jersey, initially playing home games at Rutgers University for several years until relocating to what was originally known as the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands in 1981. That same year, the Nets earned a winning regular season record for the first time since joining the NBA. The team also began regularly returning to the playoffs during that time. That being said, however, their only taste of postseason success came with an opening round series victory over the 76ers in 1984.

By the late 1980s, the Nets again found themselves mired in mediocrity and left out of playoff contention for several years. This downturn continued through much of the 1990s, although the team managed to at least make it as far as the first round of the playoffs on several occasions. The Nets’ fortunes finally improved with the arrival of point guard Jason Kidd in 2001. With Kidd at the helm, the Nets suddenly became one of the NBA’s best teams. The height of this run came when the Nets successfully advanced to the NBA Finals in both the 2001–2002 and 2002–2003 seasons. While neither of these campaigns resulted in a championship, the Nets were playing better than ever.

The Nets remained competitive for several more seasons before eventually regressing again in the latter half of the 2000s and into the 2010s. As part of their effort to rebuild, the Nets moved to Brooklyn in 2012 and started playing at the newly constructed Barclays Center. With their new urban image, the Nets showed some improvement on the court and even returned to playoff contention for a time. Only one of these playoff appearances went beyond the first round, however. Even bringing in high-profile players like Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and installing former player Jason Kidd as head coach did little to boost the team’s performance. All three ultimately left the team within a few years. Their departures led the Nets into yet another dramatic downturn during which they became one of the league’s worst teams. One of the few bright spots for the Nets during this time was the team’s acquisition of free agent Jason Collins in 2014. In debuting with the Nets, Collins made history as the first openly gay player in any of the four major North American sports leagues. After some further rebuilding, the Nets eventually improved. In the 2018–2019 season, the team even returned to the playoffs for the first time in three years. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant signed with the Nets for the 2019–20 season, but Irving soon sustained a shoulder injury that eventually ended his season. After finishing with a 35–37 record, the Nets lost to the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. A better performance in the 2020–21 season resulted in a regular season record of 48–24 and a postseason run that culminated in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Conference Semifinals. The Nets then finished the 2021–22 season with a record of 44–38 and a loss in the first round of the playoffs to the Boston Celtics. The Nets lost in the first round of the playoffs again in 2023.

Notable players

A number of former Brooklyn Nets players has been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Although he only played with the team during its ABA days, “Dr. J.” Julius Erving was the greatest player in Nets’ history. During his three years with the Nets, Erving scored more than 7,000 points and led the team to two ABA championships. Despite his brief tenure, Erving arguably did more for the Nets than any other player to don the uniform. Perhaps the only Nets Hall of Famer who could truly be said to compare with Erving was point guard and shooting guard Jason Kidd. Kidd’s arrival transformed the Nets into a legitimate competitor virtually overnight. In addition to dramatically improving the Nets’ regular season record in his first year, Kidd took the team to the NBA Finals on two different occasions. During his seven seasons with the Nets, Kidd scored more than 7,300 points and made more than 3,600 rebounds. Although he only played two seasons with the Nets, small forward Rick Barry earned a place as one of the best players in franchise history. Part of a Nets team that made it to the ABA Finals in 1972, Barry was a key contributor during his short time with the franchise. In his two seasons, Barry scored more than 4,200 points and made more than 1,000 rebounds. Shooting guard Dražen Petrović spent three seasons with the Nets in the early 1990s and quickly became one of the team’s star players. During his brief tenure, Petrović scored nearly 3,800 points. Sadly, his time with the Nets came to an abrupt and premature end when he was killed in a car accident in 1993. Other notable Nets Hall of Famers include Bernard King, Nate Archibald, and Mel Daniels.

There have been many other notable Nets players as well. Power forward Buck Williams played for the Nets throughout the 1980s and made the NBA All-Star team three times. During his tenure, Williams scored more than 16,000 points and made more than 7,500 rebounds. Center and power forward Derrick Coleman played five seasons with the Nets in the early 1990s. During that time, he scored more than 6,900 points and made more than 3,600 rebounds. Offensive powerhouse Vince Carter was with the Nets from 2004 to 2009 and scored more than 8,800 points in that time. Small forward Richard Jefferson played for the Nets for seven seasons starting in 2001 and had an important role in the team’s two NBA Finals runs during that period. Before leaving the Nets in 2008, Jefferson scored more than 8,500 points and made more than 2,600 rebounds. Center and power forward Kenyon Martin was also part of the Nets’ early 2000s NBA Finals runs. Over the course of his four seasons with the Nets, Martin scored more than 4,200 points and made more than 2,100 rebounds. Kevin Durant, who won back-to-back championships with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, made an immediate impact after joining the Nets in 2019. A period of disappointment led to Durant requesting a trade in 2022, and he was eventually traded to the Phoenix Suns during the 2022–2023 season.

Upon joining the team in 2019, the seven-time NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving received attention for both his talent on the court and his controversial actions off of it. Following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Irving's decision not to get vaccinated was widely reported on in the media and resulted in him being suspended by the Nets in October 2021. Irving was later allowed to play in venues that did not have vaccine requirements, but he was still barred from playing in home games until New York City changed its vaccination requirements in March 2022. Then, in November 2022, Irving was suspended by the Nets after he had shared on social media a link to a movie that was widely regarded to be anti-Semitic. Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks during the 2022-2023 season.

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