Team:
New Jersey Nets
Sport: NBA Basketball
Background: The New Jersey
Nets are a National Basketball Association
team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
In 2004, the franchise was sold to Bruce Ratner,
who announced plans to move it to Brooklyn,
New York.
Founded: 1967, a founding
member of the American Basketball Association
Formerly known as: New Jersey
Americans (1967-1968), New York Nets (1968-1977)
Home Arena: Continental Airlines
Arena
Uniform colors: Midnight
blue, White, Red, and Silver
Logo design: A blue shield
with the word "NETS" above and a
basketball below, going through a hoop
Franchise History:
The New Jersey Nets franchise has
endured its share of difficulties since it
first took the floor in 1967. One of 11 original
American Basketball Association teams, the
club has played in six arenas in the New York
metropolitan area. Along the way, the franchise
soared to the top of the ABA on the back of
Julius "Dr. J" Erving, then fell
to the cellar upon entry into the NBA. The
late 1980s and early 1990s saw the Nets' slow
rise to respectability in the NBA's Eastern
Conference and, following a 43-39 mark in
1997-98 and an appearance in the playoffs,
the franchise appears to be back on solid
ground.
The franchise was the result of the ABA's
desire to field a team in New York City, the
nation's media center and glamour capital.
Having a team in the Big Apple would provide
the league with some desperately needed legitimacy.
What it ended up with was the New Jersey Americans,
a ragtag team that played in a converted armory
in Teaneck, New Jersey. It was neither what
the league nor owner Arthur Brown had in mind,
but it was the best Brown could do after a
frantic search for an arena in Manhattan had
turned up nothing.
