- Home court: Barclays Center
- G.M.: Sean Marks
- Coach: Steve Nash
- Star – PF Kevin Durant
- 2021 Season: 44-38, swept in the first round by the Boston Celtics
- NBA Titles – None (Two ABA titles).
- Greatest Player – G Jason Kidd
- Factoid: In their first season in ABA (1968), the Nets played in the
- Teaneck, N.J. Armory. They had to forfeit a game because the circus
- was using the venue.
There can be a bit of a romantic fantasy about the life of nomads - living
from place to place, often never spending two consecutive nights in the
same place. There’s nothing romantic about that kind of existence for a
professional basketball team.
Just ask long-term fans of the now Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets started as a team in the American Basketball Association and
played in an armory in New Jersey, an arena on Long Island, a college
gym in New Jersey, an NBA-sized arena in New Jersey where there were
empty courtside playoff seats.
Nomads. No interest.
Settling in the spanking new state-of-the-art Barclays Center in
Brooklyn has finally given the Nets legitimacy. If only the franchise
wasn’t run like a circus, which is somewhat fitting - the team had to
forfeit a game in 1968 when the circus had proprietary rights to the
location the Nets were using for home games.
Since coming to Brooklyn, the Nets have twice tried to assemble a
super team at all costs. They traded everything but the basketball
stanchions to Boston for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry.
That team never got to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The team again went all-in, assembling the troika of Kyrie Irving, Kevin
Durant, and James Harden. Harden now is in Philadelphia. Irving
remains in Brooklyn, where he gained national attention for his anti-
vaccination policy. Durant demanded a trade before relinquishing that
stance.
It's tough enough being the second team in New York (to the Knicks)
but it’s even harder when the franchise is seemingly run by
ringmasters.
Makes you wonder what nomads would think of the Nets?