When did the Brooklyn Nets move to Brooklyn?

The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in Brooklyn, New York. They are a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team plays its home games at the Barclays Center. The franchise was founded as the New Jersey Americans in 1967, and was one of the eleven original American Basketball Association (ABA) teams. In its second ABA season, Arthur Brown, the team owner, moved the team to Long Island and renamed it the New York Nets. The team won ABA championships in 1974 and 1976. When the ABA merged with the NBA in 1976, the Nets were one of four ABA teams admitted into the NBA. The team was moved to the Rutgers Athletic Center in New Jersey; after the 1976–77 NBA season, the team was renamed the New Jersey Nets. Since they joined the NBA, the Nets have won 4 divisional championships, 2 conference championships and appeared in the playoffs 16 times. The Nets moved to Brooklyn in 2012, and now play as the Brooklyn Nets.

List of Brooklyn Nets head coaches

There have been 23 head coaches for the Nets franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Max Zaslofsky, who led the team for two seasons. Kevin Loughery is the only Nets coach to have led the team to a championship; the Nets won ABA championships in 1974 and 1976 during his tenure. Loughery is the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season games coached (615) and wins (297); P. J. Carlesimo is the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season winning percentage (.648). Byron Scott is the franchise's all-time leader in playoff games coached (40) and wins (25), as well as playoff-game winning percentage (.625). Chuck Daly and Bill Fitch were selected as two of the top 10 coaches in NBA history. Daly, Brown and Lou Carnesecca are the only Nets coaches to have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches. Zaslofsky, York Larese, Lou Carnesecca, Dave Wohl, Butch Beard, John Calipari, Tom Barrise, and Kiki Vandeweghe spent their entire coaching careers with the Nets/Americans.

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The Barclays Center is the new home arena of the National Basketball Association's Brooklyn Nets, and the NHL's New York Islanders which was purchased by a group led by principal developer Bruce Ratner with the intention of making it and the arena the centerpiece of the whole project. This brought major league professional sports to Brooklyn for the first time since the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, California after the 1957 season. The arena’s design once included an ice skating rink and a green roof. An NBA basketball team now owned primarily by Russia's second richest man Mikhail Prokhorov, the Nets began playing at the Barclays Center arena in 2012. Formerly the New Jersey Nets, the Nets re-branded themselves when they moved to the Barclays Center. Prokhorov is an avid basketball fan, and, with 80 percent ownership in the Nets, he has become the first Russian owner of a major U.S. professional sports franchise. The deal was necessary for Ratner, who was risking losing tax-exempt financing and the Barclays naming-rights deal if he did not break ground within three months' time.

Pacific Park, Brooklyn

Pacific Park is a mixed-use commercial and residential development project that will consist of 17 high-rise buildings, under construction in Prospect Heights, adjacent to Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene in Brooklyn, New York City. The project overlaps part of the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area, but also extends toward the adjacent brownstone neighborhood. Of the project, is located over a Long Island Rail Road train yard. A major component of the project is the Barclays Center sports arena, which opened on September 21, 2012. Formerly named Atlantic Yards, the developer renamed the project in August 2014 as part of a rebranding. As of spring 2017, construction on the residential component of the $6 billion project has already resulted in the opening in November 2016 of the world's tallest modular apartment building, 461 Dean.

The development of Pacific Park, which is expected to be completed in 2025, is overseen by the Empire State Development Corporation.

Since the mid-20th century there have been many proposals to develop the area around Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, known as Times Plaza, but plans for the area emerged only piecemeal. In the mid-1950s, Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley proposed that the city condemn the site, where he could then have built a new stadium for the ball club to replace Ebbets Field. City officials refused to condemn the property for subsequent sale to O'Malley on the grounds that they did not consider a privately financed baseball park to be an appropriate public purpose as defined under Title I of the Federal housing act of 1949. O'Malley's proposal was dismissed by Robert Moses for creating a Great Wall of traffic. In 1958, O'Malley relocated the Dodgers to Los Angeles. In 1968, Long Island University eyed the site, but was opposed by Mayor John V. Lindsay.

A 1968 "New York Times" article described the $250 million (over $1.4 billion in March 2006 dollars) plan for the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area, also known as ATURA. According to the Times, the renewal plan "calls for 2,400 new low- and middle-income housing units to replace 800 dilapidated units, removal of the blighting Fort Greene Meat Market, a site for the City University's new Baruch College, two new parks, and community facilities such as day-care centers."

The 1970s also saw plans for ambitious projects in the area, and these mostly resulted in the construction of affordable housing on the north side of Atlantic Avenue. Baruch College also considered moving but was stymied by the City's fiscal crisis. The seeds of gentrification were planted with the establishment of the Fort Greene Historic District in 1978.

A Fort Greene block association and other homeowners sued over an environmental impact statement that failed to consider how rerouted traffic would affect their neighborhood, one block away from the project. Then an economic downturn compounded community opposition. The Times reported that the stock market collapse had deterred office construction. "A lot of people are reassessing their expansion plans," James Stuckey, president of the city's Public Development Corporation, told the Times in 1988.

The project's name, devised by developer Forest City Ratner, relates to the rail yard located between Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street. Officially, the Long Island Rail Road yard is called the "Vanderbilt Yard" by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (named for Vanderbilt Avenue that crosses over on its way to the Brooklyn Navy Yard). The LIRR's nearby Atlantic Terminal station is the westernmost stop of the Atlantic Branch. Easy access by rapid transit and suburban rail, and the desirable brownstone housing stock nearby made it a target for speculative development.

The Pacific Park project is being developed and overseen by Forest City Ratner, an arm of Forest City Enterprises, of Cleveland, Ohio and the original master plan and some individual buildings were by architect Frank Gehry. Gehry was removed from the project in June 2009. Since September 2009, the new arena design has been a collaboration between Ellerbe Becket and the Manhattan architectural firm SHoP Architects. Pacific Park, overseen by the Empire State Development Corporation, is supposed to be a public-private project, Bruce Ratner told "Crain's New York Business" in November 2009.

In March 2008, principal developer Bruce Ratner acknowledged that the slowing economy may delay construction of both the office and residential components of the project for several years.

On June 23, 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear an appeal of the federal eminent domain case. The case was refiled in state court, with slightly different arguments, and in November 2009, the project cleared what the New York Times called the "final major obstacle" when the New York Court of Appeals dismissed the final challenge to the legality of eminent domain. Further challenges to the implementation of eminent domain ensued, and were dismissed in March 2010. The most prominent member of the neighborhood opposition, Daniel Goldstein, agreed under pressure to a settlement in April 2010, allowing for vacant possession, the sale of the Nets to Mikhail Prokhorov, and the release of arena construction bonds from escrow.

The Barclays Center, for which groundbreaking for construction occurred on March 11, 2010, was opened to the public on September 21, 2012, which was also attended by some 200 protesters. It held its first event with a Jay-Z concert on September 28, 2012.

On August 4, 2014, plans for a new building comprising affordable units, the 298-unit, 18-story building at 535 Carlton Avenue, was unveiled. A new public park was also revealed that day.

The China-based developer Greenland Holdings, along with Forest City, started the sale of 278 condos in summer 2015. The units at 550 Vanderbilt Avenue, which cost between $550,000 and $5.5 million, will be sold by Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group., the last seven property owners in the area are to leave by April 2015.

Most of the project's Phase 1 was complete by August 2016. The master plan features a total of 16 buildings.

The development is sited in a highly desirable neighborhood in New York City. Prospect Heights has seen remarkable explosion of real estate values.

The bulk of the project site was a mixture of public streets, private homes and small businesses. Forest City Ratner controls much of this private property and has benefited from the state's use of eminent domain to acquire and close the streets. The land is owned by New York State and the developer has a 99 year lease.

The Public Authorities Control Board, which effectively ended the West Side Stadium plan, approved the state financing of the Atlantic Yards plan in December 2006.

Ground was broken on the first residential building at Pacific Park — B2 — on December 18, 2012. The building will have 363 units, 50% of those units will be affordable. In March 2011, "The New York Times" revealed that Forest City Ratner was considering building a 34-story apartment building out of prefabricated units. If constructed, it will be the largest prefabricated structure in the world. Given that, it is likely to face new engineering challenges, and it is not yet certain whether it can be constructed economically. However, if construction turns out to be feasible, the move is likely to save considerable building costs, because construction in a factory is cheaper than at a field site. While satisfying affordable housing advocates, it is likely to anger construction unions, who have been major supporters of the project. At 32 storeys tall, B2 will be the tallest building in the world constructed using modular technology. The housing component of the project has been criticized for its urban density. The construction of a 34-story prefabricated building, while not the first prefab high-rise in the city, would be the largest. However, B2 will be completed in late 2015 — more than ten years after Atlantic Yard's commencement — instead of 2014, the original expected completion date. It was only 13% complete.

One or two buildings in the Pacific Park project would be used for office space, though the office market is poor. Retail space would be built at the ground level of buildings.

The project is sited above the Vanderbilt train yards belonging to the adjacent Atlantic Terminal station, after which the Atlantic Yards development was first named; this is the westernmost stop on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)'s Atlantic Branch. It is the primary terminal for the Far Rockaway, Hempstead, and, on weekdays, West Hempstead Branches. The location is also served by a number of bus lines.

The development sits near the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush Avenue. It is one of the biggest, and the most congested, intersections in Brooklyn. The increase of car traffic to the area caused by extra housing and the construction of an arena has been frequently cited by critics as a major reason for their opposition to the project. According to the Environmental Impact Statement, the addition of more than 15,000 new residents would not significantly impact vehicular traffic, a claim contested by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods. While traffic was a concern to some it has been noted that there has not been an increase in traffic associated with the arena opening while there has been a large increase in subway and Long Island Railroad use.

The Pacific Park project, at its western end, is adjacent to the Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center subway station—the largest New York City Subway station in Brooklyn and the third largest transit hub in New York City—serving the. The project features a new $76 million subway entrance near the front of Barclays Center. The Lafayette Avenue () and Fulton Street () subway stations are also nearby.

The edition of October 22, 2005 of "The Brooklyn Paper" revealed that the Forest City Ratner (FCR) company had paid large sums of money to organizations, offering what they've presented as grassroots neighborhood support for the proposed Pacific Park development. Back on December 20, 2004, six months before the so-called "community benefits agreement" (CBA) was drafted, a non-governmental pact between the developer and community groups, the 501(c)(3) filings of Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development (BUILD) stated it would receive $5 million from Bruce Ratner's company in exchange for support. BUILD president James Caldwell is being paid $125,000 a year, and two other BUILD executives— Mary Louis and Shalawn Langhorne— are receiving $100,000 a year, according to the IRS document. Additionally, the development company has also paid $50,000 to Reverend Herbert Daughtry, another CBA endorser. His organization, Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance, is commissioned to help create an inter-generational center as part of the Ratner plan to "retain staff to begin to develop a program to create these facilities." The political arm of BUILD, Community Leadership for Accountable Politics (CLAP), is apparently folding.

A Community Benefit Agreement, that claimed to be modeled on the first of its kind for the Staples Center in Los Angeles, was signed on June 27, 2005 between Forest City Ratner and a consortium of community groups to provide a range of benefits for the community. Many of these community groups are led by long standing and prominent leaders including Bertha Lewis, Executive Director of ACORN, James Caldwell, ED for Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development and Rev. Herbert Daughtry, pastor of House of the Lord Church. One of the controversies surrounding the CBA is the definition of "community", and many local groups contend that they will not be included. Among the benefits accruing to the community as defined under this legally binding agreement are:

Signatories to this agreement are All-Faith Council of Brooklyn, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development (BUILD), Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance (DBNA), Downtown Brooklyn Educational Consortium (DBEC), First Atlantic Terminal Housing Committee (FATHC), New York State Association of Minority Contractors (NYSAMC), Public Housing Communities (PHC). Copies of the full CBA are available at the offices of each of these organizations.

While the Staples Center CBA included hundreds of community groups—many who did not originally support the project—the Atlantic Yards CBA signatories all supported the project before signing on. One group, BUILD, has been shown to have repeatedly lied about the funding it received from the developer.

The known amount of total payments to CBA signatories from the developer is $538,000.

In a "Huffington Post" blog, Daniel Goldstein called Pacific Park, then named Atlantic Yards, "a corrupt land grab," "a taxpayer ripoff", "a bait and switch of epic proportions", and "a complete failure of democracy." Goldstein, who co-founded Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and was the last remaining homeowner (the condo apartment he owned is where the arena's center court is now located) had his home taken by eminent domain by New York State on March 1, 2010 after nearly 8 years of court battles. At that time New York State took sole ownership of his home and moved to evict him, his wife and toddler daughter. At his eviction hearing on April 21, 2010 Brooklyn judge Abraham Gerges forced the Empire State Development Corporation and Mr. Goldstein to settle on an imminent eviction date (May 7) and the constitutionally required just compensation for the home they had seized. The compensation was for $3 million, $760,000 of which went to Mr. Goldstein's attorney Mike Rikon.

FCR eventually boosted its bid to $100 million, and said the overall value of its bid was higher than the appraised value, which was validated by the courts.

Forest City Ratner offered the condo owners in 636 Pacific St. $850/sq. foot, the condo owners at 24 Sixth Ave (Spalding Buildings) $650/sq. foot and undisclosed amounts to renters. Sellers of condos signed a nondisclosure agreement, termed a "gag order" by opponents.

The project is endorsed by the MTA and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been strongly supported by former Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who sees this project as the opportunity to finally produce the business district in Downtown Brooklyn that was intended with the construction of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower but was halted by the Great Depression. The project has also been endorsed by three former governors during its pendency since 2003 (George Pataki, Eliot Spitzer, and David Paterson), who control the state agencies—Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and Metropolitan Transportation Authority—that are key to the project. The most fervent public support had come from Markowitz, who saw the project as the opportunity to bring professional sports back to Brooklyn. US Senator Charles Schumer, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, former Congressmen Edolphus Towns and Anthony Weiner, former State Senator Carl Kruger, and former Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. have also supported the project.

Job development in the boroughs outside of Manhattan was stated as part of former Mayor Bloomberg's agenda and, in this case especially, had been seen as a way to stem the tide of companies leaving New York City for New Jersey and other locations. While rents in Manhattan are prohibitive for some companies, offering lower rent office space in the boroughs may be a way to keep jobs in the city and maintain the tax base that sustains municipal services. Spearheaded by Bloomberg, the project has received the approval of the Empire State Development Corporation.

At least 30% of the project's units are reserved for low-, moderate- or middle-income tenants, so some people advocating affordable housing also supported the project. One of the more prominent members of this group was ACORN, which signed the Affordable Housing Memorandum of Understanding with developer Forest City Ratner in 2005.

Construction workers have been another group of strong supporters for the project.
Anchor of Fox's "Good Day New York," Rosanna Scotto, a native of the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn, is a supporter of the project.

The most vocal opposition group is a nonprofit named Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. Three of the four local elected representatives in the neighborhood also oppose the project. Other organizations that are opposed to or seek to scale back the project include: 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, Boerum Hill Association (BHA), Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID), Committee For Environmentally Sound Development, Creative Industries Coalition (80 local businesses, galleries and collectives), Democracy for New York City (DFNYC). Other neighborhood organizations that are critical of the project are gathered under the banner of 'BrooklynSpeaks', which initially eschewed a litigation strategy but in 2009 finally went to court, in a case combined with one filed by Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn charging that the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) failed to consider the impact of an additional fifteen years of construction on the surrounding neighborhood when it approved a renegotiated project plan in September 2009. In November 2010, New York State Supreme Court Judge Marcy Friedman ruled in favor of the petitioners, ordering the ESDC to either provide a justification for its continued use of the original ten-year construction schedule, or otherwise conduct a supplemental environmental impact study. BrooklynSpeaks and DDDB subsequently sought a stay of construction in advance of ESDC's response to the Court order.

In addition to these and a variety of well-established community groups in the area, the development has been opposed by now-city public advocate Letitia James, formerly the New York City Council member for the district. Critics point to the lack of transparency of the project, the lack of democratic review of the process, mixed successes of Ratner's previous projects, the use of eminent domain to remove residents for a commercial interest. Under the project, 68 residential or business properties were to be seized and razed; it would also cause increased traffic congestion, light pollution, gentrification, and crowding.

Cory Booker, then mayor of Newark, campaigned for the New Jersey Nets to abandon plans to play at Pacific Park, and instead relocate permanently to the Prudential Center in downtown Newark, already home to the New Jersey Devils and Seton Hall Pirates; however, he later embraced the team's interim move to Newark, from fall 2010 to 2012.

On February 14, 2006, New York State Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead ruled in favor of the dismissal of attorney David Paget as the ESDC's outside counsel. Paget, who has been advising the ESDC in its environmental review of the Atlantic Yards project, had previously also worked for FCR companies until October 2005. Justice Edmead concluded that the appointment of Paget to the ESDC represented a conflict of interest, calling it "a severe, crippling appearance of impropriety." Furthermore, Justice Edmead gave the ESDC 45 days to find a new attorney to meet the standard of "objective public interest." On May 30, 2006, the Appellate Division, First Department, reversed Justice Edmead's the decision. "The motion court misapprehended material facts and misapplied the applicable law in granting the petition to the extent of disqualifying Paget and his law firm from representing ESDC," Justice Milton Williams wrote for a unanimous panel.

The 2007 documentary film "Brooklyn Matters" took a critical look at the development project, attracting minor controversy from people apparently in support of the development.

An issue concerning wastewater management was brought up during a preliminary environmental impact assessment of the project, catching the attention of Carroll Gardens residents. According to the edition of March 4, 2006 of "The Brooklyn Paper", the sewage created from the development will flow into antiquated city-run sewer and waste treatment systems — which overload when it rains. The result, is that allegedly of untreated wastewater will drain into waterways around the city each year, including 13 spigots on the Gowanus Canal.

In late October 2006 community groups filed a lawsuit in federal court against Bloomberg, Governor George Pataki, and Bruce Ratner of Forest City Ratner to stop the project. The plaintiffs are charging that the project would not serve public use, and that this is required by legal precedent. The suit, "Goldstein v. Pataki", is being led by Matthew Brinkerhoff.

The lawsuit was prompted by an open letter to the Village Voice, which appeared on the www.nolandgrab.org website. This letter stated that Justice Kennedy's Kelo concurring opinion could be used to attack eminent domain as a violation of minimum scrutiny, which says that government policy (including an eminent domain use) must be rationally related to a legitimate government purpose.
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The Brooklyn Nets, a professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, was founded in 1967 and initially played in Teaneck, New Jersey, as the New Jersey Americans, later the New Jersey Nets. They are a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as an original member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). In 2012 they moved to Brooklyn and were renamed the Brooklyn Nets.

History of the Brooklyn Nets

The franchise was established in 1967 as a founding member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), with trucking magnate Arthur J. Brown as the owner. Brown had operated several AAU teams in and around New York City, and was viewed as an ideal pick to run the nascent league's New York franchise. The team was named the "New York Americans", and Brown intended for it to play at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan, but pressure from the New York Knicks of the older National Basketball Association (NBA) forced the Armory to back out three months before opening day. Brown found it difficult to find a suitable replacement venue in New York. Many of them were booked solid, and others had owners who did not want to anger the Knicks by opening their doors to a rival team. The team was left scrambling for a venue with opening day approaching, and it finally settled on the Teaneck Armory in Teaneck, New Jersey. While the franchise's name officially remained the New York Americans, it played as the New Jersey Americans. It would not be the last time that the Knicks directly affected the franchise's future.

The Americans played fairly well in their first season, tying the Kentucky Colonels for the fourth (and final) playoff spot in the Eastern Division. However, the Teaneck Armory was booked, forcing the Americans to scramble for a last-minute replacement. They found one in the Long Island Arena in Commack, New York.

When the Americans and Colonels arrived for the game, they found that the floor had several missing boards and bolts, and was unstable in several areas (one player claimed to have seen one side of the floor come up when he stepped on another). There was no padding on the backboards or basket supports, and one basket appeared to be higher than the other. There was also a large amount of condensation from a hockey game the previous night. After the Colonels refused to play under these conditions, league commissioner George Mikan ruled that the Americans had failed to provide acceptable playing facilities and forfeited the game to the Colonels, 2–0.

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 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.
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 big hopes for the off-season. Desperate for a star, the team pursued UCLA star Lew Alcindor, and won rights to him in a secret ABA draft. Alcindor was reportedly interested in playing in his native New York, but after contemplating his options for a month, he instead opted to sign with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. Nonetheless the Nets moved on with their off-season plans to relocate to the Island Garden in West Hempstead. Led by an ABA top 3 scoring guard Levern Tart, the Nets finished in fourth place and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in the 1969–70 season, and attendance went up threefold to 3,504. During the 1970 off-season, 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 1971–72 season.
In 1972, two years after the acquisition of Barry, the Nets advanced to their first ABA finals. However, they could not overcome the Indiana Pacers and lost the series four games to two. Barry left after that postseason, sending the Nets into rebuilding mode. The 1972–73 season was one of disappointment, as the Nets only managed to win 30 games.

The 1973–74 season saw the Nets finally put all the pieces together. The key event of the season though would come in the 1973 off-season, 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 the ABA's MVP, the Nets advanced in the playoffs and won their first title, defeating the Utah Stars in the 1974 ABA Finals.

The success continued into the 1974–75 season as they topped the previous season's win record by winning 58 games—a record that still stands to this day. The Nets, though, were eliminated four games to one, by the Spirits of St. Louis in the first round of the 1975 ABA playoffs.

Tragedy struck the Nets on the afternoon of June 24, 1975, when forward Wendell Ladner was killed when Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 crashed after being caught in severe wind shear upon final approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The Nets continued their winning ways in the 1975–76 season—the final season for the ABA—with Erving leading them to a successful 55–win season; he also was named MVP again that year. After a grueling series with the Denver Nuggets, the Nets won the last ABA championship series in league history in six games. The series clincher had Erving leading the Nets on a massive fourth quarter comeback at the Nassau Coliseum after being down 22 points in the third quarter. The win gave the team their second championship in three years.

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 court order. Prior to their first NBA season, the Nets traded two draft picks to the Kansas City Kings for guard Nate Archibald. The Nets appeared to be poised to pick up where they left off in the ABA.

However, they got a rude surprise when the NBA forced the Nets to pay an additional $4.8 million directly to the Knicks for "invading" the New York area. Coming on the heels of the $3.2 million that the team had to pay for joining the NBA, this left Boe short of cash, and he was forced to renege on a promised pay raise for Erving. Erving refused to play for the Nets under these conditions and refused to report to camp.

The Nets offered Erving's contract to the Knicks in return for waiving the indemnity, but the Knicks turned it down. When the Philadelphia 76ers offered to acquire Erving for $3 million—roughly the same amount they had to pay for NBA membership—Boe had little choice but to accept. In essence, the Nets were forced to trade their franchise player for a berth in the NBA.

Without Erving, the Nets wrote off the 1976–77 season as a lost cause. However, they lost all semblance of respectability when Archibald broke his foot in January. The team finished at 22–60, the worst record in the league. The team did set one record of sorts; in February 1977, they became the first NBA team ever to have an all-left-handed starting lineup, with Tim Bassett, Al Skinner, Bubbles Hawkins, Dave Wohl, and Kim Hughes.

Due to the team's low attendance and poor financial picture in Long Island, Boe decided to move the franchise back to New Jersey prior to the 1977–78 season. The Knicks once again became an obstacle and threatened to block the move because it would infringe on their exclusive territorial rights to New Jersey. The Nets responded by suing the Knicks on the basis that their actions violated anti-trust laws. The lawsuit was settled between the teams after the league and the state of New Jersey intervened, and the Nets agreed to pay another $4 million to the Knicks for the rights to move.

With the move official, the team was renamed the New Jersey Nets after its new home state. While the team awaited the completion of a new arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, they played four seasons at the Rutgers Athletic Center at Rutgers University in Piscataway. The 1978–1979 season saw the team, aided by the strong play of Bernard King, qualify for its first NBA playoff appearance. They fell to Philadelphia 2–0 in the first round, with the loss setting the stage for a period of rebuilding in the coming decade.

In 1981, the team moved to the Meadowlands, into the now-completed Brendan Byrne Arena (which became known as the Continental Airlines Arena in 1996, and was renamed the Izod Center in October 2007) and experienced modest success with four consecutive winning seasons. In 1982–83, while coached by Larry Brown, the Nets were having their best season since joining the NBA. However, Brown accepted the head coaching job at the University of Kansas during the last month of the season and was suspended for the rest of the season. The Nets would never recover from the coaching change and would lose in the first round of the playoffs to their Hudson River rival New York Knicks.

In the 1983–84 season, the Nets fielded what was believed to be their best team since joining the league. Led by Darryl Dawkins, Buck Williams, Otis Birdsong, and Micheal Ray Richardson, the team won their first NBA playoff series, defeating the defending champion 76ers in the first round of the 1984 NBA Playoffs before falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals in six games.

Injuries plagued the team during the 1984–85 season, but the Nets still managed to win 42 games before being eliminated from the playoffs by the Detroit Pistons in three games.

Newly hired head coach Dave Wohl helped lead the Nets to a respectable record at the beginning of the 1985–86 season, posting a 23–14 start. New Jersey's promising start dissipated with the loss of two of its top scorers. All-Star Micheal Ray Richardson flunked a drug test for the third time and was banned from the league for life, and star center Darryl Dawkins only played 39 games due to a back injury. Long-time Nets veterans Buck Williams and Mike Gminski filled in the gap and powered the club on both offense and defense, helping the Nets earn the 7th seed in the 1986 NBA Playoffs with a 39–43 record before being swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. This would be the first of many losing seasons for the Nets, and the team would not qualify for the playoffs again until the 1991–92 season.

New Jersey acquired Orlando Woolridge and drafted Dwayne "Pearl" Washington in hopes of strengthening the faltering team, yet the season only brought more misfortune to the Garden State. Dawkins slipped in his bathtub and suffered another back injury, effectively ending his career. Birdsong played in only seven games while nursing a shin stress fracture and Washington had a shoddy rookie year performance. A formerly solid backcourt soon became plagued with injuries and contract disputes. The Nets ended the 1986–87 season with a 24–58 record, the club's worst finish since 1980.

Hoping to maximize the team's health in the upcoming season, the Nets traded injury-plagued Dawkins in a three-way deal that brought John Bagley and Keith Lee to New Jersey. The Nets selected Dennis Hopson (over Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller and Kevin Johnson) as the third pick of the 1987 NBA draft in hopes of re-establishing a stable backcourt. However the injury bug bit again when Bagley, Lee and reserve Tony Brown became hurt at the start of the 1987–88 season. In addition, leading scorer Orlando Woolridge was suspended by the league for violation of the league substance abuse policy 19 games through the season. New Jersey axed coach Wohl after 15 games, and went through three different coaches over the course of the season, finishing with the second worst record in the league at 19–63.

Hopson was never able to live up to the organization's expectations and subsequent first round draft picks Chris Morris (1988) and Mookie Blaylock (1989) also failed to reverse the team's descent. By the 1989–90 season the Nets would finish with an NBA worst 17–65 record, which was also at that point the worst in franchise history.

During the early 1990s the Nets began to improve behind a core of young players. New Jersey drafted forward Derrick Coleman with the first pick of the 1990 draft and then took guard Kenny Anderson with the second pick of the following draft. The Nets later added Dražen Petrović in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. Although the Nets did not finish with a winning record in the 1991–92 season, they finished sixth overall in the conference and qualified for the playoffs. The Nets lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, three games to one, and coach Bill Fitch left after the season.

The team improved significantly in 1992–93, led by the emerging trio of Petrović, Coleman and Anderson. Chuck Daly, who had been let go by the Detroit Pistons following the 1991–92 season, was hired by the Nets and immediately paid dividends. However, injuries to both Anderson and Petrović toward the end of the season sent the team into a 1–10 slump to end the regular season. The Nets finished the season at 43–39, which again earned them the sixth seed and a date with the Cavaliers in the first round. With Anderson out with a broken hand and Petrović playing on an injured knee, the Nets lost a tough five-game series.

The Nets experienced tragedy in the off-season, as Petrović was killed in an auto accident in Germany. Still, the team managed to win 45 games during the 1993–94 season. Anderson and Coleman made their only All-Star appearances this season. The Nets again qualified for the playoffs as the East's seventh seed, but were eliminated by the New York Knicks the first round of the 1994 NBA Playoffs, three games to one.

After the 1993–94 season Daly resigned and Butch Beard was hired to be the team's head coach. The Nets struggled through the rest of the decade. During the mid-1990s the NBA's main image problem was that of the selfish, immature athlete, and the Nets exemplified this. In 1995, Coleman was featured on the cover of "Sports Illustrated" as the poster child of the selfish NBA player, with Anderson, Benoit Benjamin, Dwayne Schintzius and Chris Morris among the mentioned athletes. The team's reputation was so poor that in an effort to shed its negative image, team president Jon Spoelstra decided to rename the team the New Jersey Swamp Dragons in 1994, partly inspired by the New Jersey Meadowlands in which the team played. After the team obtained approval from ownership and spent $500,000 on trademarks, the name was ultimately rejected when Nets co-owner David Gerstein changed his mind and voted 'no' as the name was sent to the NBA Board of Governors for approval. In both the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons, the Nets finished with identical 30–52 records. Beard was fired after the second of those two seasons.

In an effort to start anew, Coleman and Anderson were both traded during the 1995–96 season and New Jersey hired UMass head coach John Calipari to coach the team. Kerry Kittles was selected in the 1996 NBA draft and midway through the 1996–97 season, the team traded for Sam Cassell. After a 26–56 season, the Nets made a major draft-day trade in June 1997, acquiring Keith Van Horn, Lucious Harris and two other players for Tim Thomas. The only player from the early 1990s that the Nets retained was Jayson Williams, who was developing into a rebounding specialist.
The 1997–98 season saw several changes for the Nets. The first was a rebranding of the team that saw the ditching of the previous logo in favor of a 3-D shield logo, which was designed by Patrick McDarby, representing a futuristic backboard that the team used until their departure from New Jersey, along with a new uniform set. The second was the team's style of play, which resulted in the Nets staying in playoff contention for most of the season. The team played well under Calipari, winning 43 games and qualifying for the playoffs on the last day of the season. Power forward Jayson Williams was selected as a reserve in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game. The Nets were seeded eighth in the Eastern Conference and lost to the Chicago Bulls in the 1998 playoffs in three straight games. The Nets played well and came close to taking the first two games.

The 1998–99 season was delayed for three months due to an owners' lockout of the players. When the abbreviated 50-game season began, the Nets were a fashionable choice by experts as a surprise team after their previous run. However, Cassell was injured in the first game of the season and the team started poorly. With the Nets underachieving at 3–15, the Nets traded Cassell to the Bucks, while the Nets acquired Stephon Marbury from the Minnesota Timberwolves. After two more losses, Calipari was fired and replaced by assistant coach Don Casey. The team never recovered from its poor start to finish at 16–34. With the Nets already eliminated from playoff contention in April, Marbury collided with Williams in a game against the Atlanta Hawks; Williams broke his tibia, the second time he had suffered such an injury in two years, and would never play in the NBA again.

The team elected to retain Don Casey as head coach for the 1999–2000 season. The Nets started the season with what was then a franchise record low 2–15 record. They would improve after that, but once again, injuries plagued the team, and the Nets finished the season by losing their final 11 games of the year, finishing with a 31–51 record.

On June 2, 2000, the Nets hired as the team president Rod Thorn, a longtime NBA executive best known for drafting Michael Jordan while he was the Bulls' general manager. Immediately, he began to assemble the components of the franchise's most talented team since the ABA champions of the mid-1970s. He started by hiring former NBA star Byron Scott as coach. With the first pick in the notoriously weak 2000 draft, the Nets selected Kenyon Martin from the University of Cincinnati. Stephon Marbury and Keith Van Horn had become stars in New Jersey. Marbury made the All-NBA 3rd Team in 2000 and his very first All-Star Game in 2001. But despite his individual efforts, constant injuries hindered the team's chemistry and the Nets failed to reach to the playoffs in each of Marbury's seasons as a starter.

On the night of the 2001 draft, the Nets traded the rights to their first-round selection (Eddie Griffin) to the Houston Rockets for Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong, and selected Brian Scalabrine in the second round. The trade was widely considered a smart move by the Nets as they needed to get younger and clear out much of the dead weight that was on the bench, as the Nets had the lowest scoring and oldest bench in the league the previous season.
One day after the draft, on June 28, 2001, Thorn traded all-star Stephon Marbury and role player Johnny Newman to the Phoenix Suns for all-star/All-NBA point Jason Kidd and Chris Dudley (whom the Nets later released). The move gave the team something it had been lacking for practically its entire NBA existence, a floor leader who made his teammates better. They also signed Todd MacCulloch, who was coming off a solid playoff run with the 76ers in which he shot 63% from the field in 18 games. The 2001–02 season turned out to be the best season in the team's NBA history, and in the process, the Nets became one of the most exciting teams in the league. The team won its first Atlantic Division Title, finishing 52–30 and seeded first in Eastern Conference and faced Indiana in the first round of the 2002 NBA Playoffs.

After losing the first game at home, the Nets then won the next two games, before losing game four. In front of a home sellout crowd, the Nets led by nine points with five minutes left in regulation; however, Reggie Miller made a 35-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. After Miller sent the game into double-overtime with a driving dunk, the Nets pulled away for a 120–109 victory. It is the only game in NBA history to end every quarter tied.

In the Eastern Conference semifinals, they defeated the Charlotte Hornets four games to one to advance to the Eastern Conference Championship for the first time. They faced the Boston Celtics. This series is remembered for Kidd having his left eye swollen shut diving for a loose ball in game; he received 32 stitches. After they won game one, the Nets lost game two at home. In game three, the Nets led by 21 going into the fourth, but a Celtic comeback gave the Celtics a 94–90 victory and a 2–1 series lead. In game four, played on Memorial Day afternoon in Boston, the Nets led most of the way, but the Celtics tied the game with a minute remaining. However, the Nets made enough plays at the end of the game to win—Harris made two free throws with 6.6 seconds left and when Paul Pierce missed two free throws that would have tied the game with 1 second left, the series was tied at two games each. In game five, the Nets went on a 20–1 run early in the fourth quarter to coast to a 103–92 victory and a 3–2 lead in the series. In game 6, Van Horn's three pointer off a Kittles pass with 50 seconds left in the game clinched the Nets their first Eastern Conference Championship, four games to two. In the 2002 NBA Finals, the Nets were swept by Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Before the 2002–03 season, the Nets traded Van Horn and MacCulloch to obtain Dikembe Mutombo from the 76ers. The move to improve the team did not work, as Mutombo sat out most of the season with a wrist injury, and received little time in the playoffs due to differences with coach Byron Scott. Despite Mutombo's absence, the Nets finished 49–33 and repeated as Atlantic Division Champions. Kidd in the process had his best season ever and contributions from Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, and Sixth Man of The Year runner-up Lucious Harris. In the 2003 NBA Playoffs, they won their second consecutive Eastern Conference Championship. They defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs four games to two, then swept the Celtics and Detroit Pistons in consecutive series to advance to the 2003 NBA Finals, this time facing the Western Conference Champion San Antonio Spurs. They split the first four games in the series. At the same time, the Nets' home court hosted the New Jersey Devils third Stanley Cup celebration in nine years, following their 3–0 win over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. However, the Nets played erratically in a Game 5 loss at home to go down in the series three games to two. In Game 6, the Nets led the Spurs by 10 points on the road with 10 minutes remaining, but the Spurs went on a 19–0 run to take the title in six games, which denied the state of New Jersey the distinction of having both NBA and NHL titles in the same year.

Following the 2003 Finals, Kidd became a free agent and the Spurs pursued him. However, Kidd re-signed with the Nets, stating that he had "unfinished business" in New Jersey. Another factor in Kidd's decision was the signing of free-agent Alonzo Mourning. But Mourning's tenure with the Nets would be disastrous, as he missed most of the 2003–04 season due to a kidney ailment.

During the 2003–04 season, New Jersey performed poorly early, and in late December head coach Byron Scott was fired. Lawrence Frank became the interim head coach in January, after serving as an assistant coach with the team since the 2000–01 season. The Nets rebounded from the early-season lull, and won a record 13 games to start Frank's coaching career, and again won the Atlantic Division title, and swept their crosstown rival Knicks in the first round. However, their run of Conference Championships was halted in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the eventual NBA champion Detroit Pistons. After the teams split the first four games, each won a large rout at home, the Nets took Game 5 in Detroit in triple-overtime, only to fall short in Game 6 in New Jersey. The Pistons won Game 7 in a rout and took the series 4 games to 3. Kidd, playing on an injured knee that required surgery after the season, was held scoreless in Game 7.

After the season, the Nets revamped. They traded Kerry Kittles and Kenyon Martin to the Clippers and Nuggets respectively and released Rodney Rogers and longtime Net Lucious Harris, because new owner Bruce Ratner was unwilling to pay the remainder of their contracts. They received only draft picks in return for two key players in the team's recent success. Unbeknownst to New Jersey, however, was that Kittles had surgery for the fifth time to correct his knee, and Martin would need microfracture surgery in both knees. The 2004–05 season looked bad at first for the Nets. Kidd was recovering from his a microfracture surgery and Richard Jefferson was handed the reins to the team. They got off to a 2–11 start, and even with Kidd's return, the outlook was bleak. However, the Nets made a major deal and obtained star Vince Carter from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and draft picks. Mourning had become disgruntled, saying the Nets "betrayed" him and that New Jersey's progress to that point was not what he "signed up for". The move made the Nets major players again, as they featured one of the top 1–2–3's in the league with Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson respectively. However, it was short-lived, as Jefferson was injured against the Detroit Pistons, and required season-ending surgery.
However, teamed with Kidd, Carter rallied the team to gain the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference, after being more than 10 games out of the playoffs at one point, with a win in the last game of the season. Even with Jefferson back, however, they were swept by the Heat in the first round of the 2005 NBA Playoffs.

During the off-season of 2005, the Nets pursued a starting-quality power forward through free agency. They had drafted Antoine Wright, and still needed to fill a void left by Kenyon Martin.

They signed Shareef Abdur-Rahim. To offer him a more lucrative contract, they pursued a sign-and-trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. In return for Abdur-Rahim, the Nets agreed to send Portland a protected first-round pick and use their trade exception acquired from the Kittles trade. However, Thorn decided to void the trade after Abdur-Rahim failed a physical examination because of a pre-existing knee injury. Abdur-Rahim initially denied any injury and said he felt he was treated like "damaged goods". Nonetheless, the knee issue would eventually force him into retirement after the 2008 season. To fill Abdur-Rahim's slot on the roster, the Nets acquired Marc Jackson from the Sixers.

They used part of the remaining mid-level exception to re-sign Clifford Robinson for two years in response to Brian Scalabrine's departure. A back-up to Kidd was also sought and they pursued free agents such as Keyon Dooling before they signed Jeff McInnis. McInnis was a non-factor in the Nets' season due to injury and was traded.

The Nets started the 2005–06 season slowly, struggling to a 9–12 record in their first 21 games. However, behind strong play by Carter, Kidd, and Jefferson, the team won their next 10 games (their final eight games in December and first two games in January) to surge to top of the division. After the winning streak, the Nets returned to their earlier mediocre play (winning 13 of their next 29 games), but starting on March 12 the Nets won their next 14 games in a row—the longest winning streak in the NBA that season and matching the franchise record set in 2004. The streak ended on April 8, 2006, when the Nets lost to the Cavaliers 108–102 at home. However, they also set a team record with 20 road victories that season.

The Nets finished the regular season with a 49–33 record. They clinched their fourth Atlantic Division championship in the last five seasons and the 3rd seed the Eastern Conference playoffs, playing the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2006 NBA Playoffs. They defeated the Pacers and advanced to the second round, where they played the Heat, in a rematch of 2005's first- round Eastern Conference loss. On May 16, 2006, the Nets lost the best-of-seven series 4–1 to the Heat. Nets fans were left to wonder what might have been as Cliff Robinson, one of the team's key defenders against Shaq, was suspended following Game 1 of that series for failing a drug test.

Highlights of the season include the naming of Vince Carter to the All-Star Team in 2006. Originally named as a reserve, an injury to Jermaine O'Neal elevated Carter to a starting position. Kidd, meanwhile, was named to the NBA All-Defensive team at the end of the season.

The 2006–07 season initially fared poorly for the Nets, as they suffered a barrage of injuries starting in the preseason to mid-December. Many experts predicted they would win the Atlantic easily (Charles Barkley went as far as to say the Nets would win the Eastern Conference), but the season did not turn out as hoped. The Nets finished the regular season at.500 (41–41) and lost the Atlantic Division title to the surprising Toronto Raptors. The early-season loss of Nenad Krstić to a freak knee injury and the two-month absence of Richard Jefferson caused by an ankle injury caused the Nets to stumble mid-season. However, Jefferson went back into action on March 9 against Houston and helped the Nets regain a winning momentum, allowing them to win 10 of their last 13 games. Among the highlights of the regular season were the naming of Kidd and Carter to the '07 East All-Star team and Kidd's selection to the 2007 All-Defensive 2nd Team. The team finished with the 6th seed in the East and faced the third-seeded Toronto Raptors, feeding their newly developed rivalry. The Nets beat the Raptors in six games thanks in part to the fourth-quarter heroics of Richard Jefferson on both ends of the floor lifting them to a one-point victory. Many sportswriters picked the Nets to beat Cleveland and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, but their playoff run ended in the following round as they fell to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers 4–2 in the best-of-seven series. It turned out to be the final NBA playoff game in the state of New Jersey. During their runs for the NBA title, New Jersey had been eliminated by three of the last four Eastern Conference champs, two of whom went on to win the title. In the 2007 NBA draft, the Nets used the 17th pick to pick "troubled" Boston College player Sean Williams.

The 2007–08 season started with optimism. With Krstić returning from injury and the additions of All-Star center Jamaal Magloire and first-round pick Sean Williams (who was regarded as the best shot blocker in his draft class), the Nets were anticipated to remain a contender in the East. Early injuries to Carter and Krstić disrupted the Nets season. The situation did not improve much, and the season ended up being filled with negatives: a nine-game losing streak for the Nets, a controversy in regards to Jason Kidd skipping a game due to a migraine, the trading of their franchise player, and not making it to the postseason for the first time in seven years. On February 19, 2008, Jason Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright were traded to the Dallas Mavericks for future Nets All-Star Devin Harris, Keith Van Horn, Maurice Ager, DeSagana Diop, Trenton Hassell, $3 million, and 2008 and 2010 first-round draft picks. However, despite young players like Josh Boone and Sean Williams becoming major contributors and Marcus Williams showing progress, there were few bright notes. Other noteworthy feats included Jefferson's rank as number nine in scoring for the season, Carter's emergence as the leader of the Nets, and Carter's average of at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists a game, a season accomplishment unique to him, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James. After failing to make it to the playoffs, team president Rod Thorn promised changes would be made, while Coach Lawrence Frank vowed that "a season like this will never happen again" under his tenure. For the rest of his, and other coaches' tenure in the last 5 years in New Jersey, it would.

The following off-season proved to be very busy for the Nets. On June 26, 2008, Richard Jefferson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. Jefferson's departure, along with that of Jason Kidd earlier that year, marked the beginning of a new era in the Garden State. The Nets signed draftees Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson, along with Chris Douglas-Roberts. The Nets filled out their youthful roster by signing veterans Eduardo Nájera and Jarvis Hayes, and trading for Orlando point guard Keyon Dooling. The Nets finished the season with their second straight 34–48 record, tied for 11th in the Eastern Conference with the Milwaukee Bucks. Devin Harris made his first All-Star team and narrowly missed winning the NBA Most Improved Player award, and Brook Lopez finished third in Rookie of the Year voting.

On June 26, 2009, the Nets traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to the Orlando Magic for Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie.

After a 16th straight loss (against the Sacramento Kings) to start the 2009–10 season, the Nets fired head coach Lawrence Frank. Assistant coach Tom Barrise stepped in as a temporary replacement. He lost his first two games heading the team, an away game against the Los Angeles Lakers and then to the Dallas Mavericks at home, to set the mark for worst start to a season in NBA history at 0–18 (one more than the previous record holder, the 1988–89 Miami Heat). Kiki Vandeweghe replaced him as head coach on December 4, with Del Harris hired as his new assistant. The duo won their first game at home against the Charlotte Bobcats, 97–91, to break the Nets 19-game losing streak stretching from the final game of the 2008–09 season, and to keep the record for worst start to a season at 18 straight.

On March 29, 2010, the Nets defeated the San Antonio Spurs for the first time since the 2003 NBA Finals. The win was their 10th of the season, keeping them out of the record books for the worst season of all time, a distinction held by the 2011–12 Charlotte Bobcats. Still, the Nets finished with a 12–70 record, becoming only the fifth team to lose 70 games in a season, shared by the 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers (9–73), 1986–87 Los Angeles Clippers (12–70), 1992–93 Dallas Mavericks (11–71) and 1997–98 Denver Nuggets (11–71).
On February 18, 2010, the Nets finalized a deal that would move them to Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The Nets would begin playing in Newark in the 2010–11 season and remain there until Barclays Center opened in Brooklyn. There was significant optimism going into the off-season, especially as the Nets began promoting their "It's All New" campaign while looking forward to a new home, new owner, new coach, and new players. They also held the best chance of landing the top pick in the 2010 NBA draft, with which John Wall was eventually drafted. However, luck would once again not be on the Nets' side, as on May 18, 2010, the Nets received the third overall pick in the draft; they selected Derrick Favors, a power forward out of Georgia Tech.

On June 10, 2010, Avery Johnson was named the new head coach. Sam Mitchell was named assistant coach shortly thereafter. With owners Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z, general manager Rod Thorn, and Johnson, who at that point had the best winning percentage of any coach in NBA history, on board, the Nets headed into the free agency period with millions in salary cap space and optimistic that they would be able to attract top free agents. They courted LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh to sign with the team and had cap space to sign at least one of them; however, all three signed with the Miami Heat. The Nets' biggest off-season acquisition turned out to be Travis Outlaw, who had a poor year for the team and was waived with the amnesty clause after the season.

Also, Rod Thorn, the team's long-time president who built the successful Nets teams of the early 2000s, resigned on June 25, 2010. In July, Billy King was named as his replacement.
The Nets started their first season in Newark poorly. Part of the reason was the distractions created by trade rumors regarding Carmelo Anthony, who many presumed wanted to leave the Denver Nuggets. With the entire team except Brook Lopez, Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar rumored to be part of a proposed trade for Anthony at some point, the team struggled to a 17–40 record at the All-Star Break, when Anthony was finally traded to the cross-river rival New York Knicks. However, a week later, on February 23, 2011, the Nets made a surprising trade for All-Star point guard Deron Williams. The trade sent Devin Harris and rookie Derrick Favors to the Utah Jazz along with draft picks from the Golden State Warriors and cash considerations. The team went on to lose the first three games with Williams in the lineup, and then win five straight. However, Williams was hampered by a wrist injury that forced him to sit for most of the last games of the season; they won two more games, and finished with a 24–58 record.

Hoping to make the playoffs in the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season in order to convince Deron Williams to stay with the team, the Nets nonetheless suffered a major blow to their aspirations when center Brook Lopez suffered a stress fracture in his right foot in the team's second preseason game and missed all but five games in the season. That injury was the first of many, and Nets players ended up leading the NBA with 248 games missed due to injury and illness for the season. The team lost six players to season-ending injuries and fielded 25 different starting lineups over the course of the season.

The Nets never recovered from their injury issues, and the team floundered, opening with nine losses in their first 11 games and ending their season with a record of 22–44 and out of the playoffs for a fifth straight season. Furthermore, the team was again distracted by trade rumors, this time concerning Dwight Howard. The bright spots for the season included the resurgence of former D-Leaguer Gerald Green, whom the Nets acquired on February 27, 2012. At the trade deadline, the team also acquired Gerald Wallace from the Portland Trail Blazers, who provided energy and defense from the forward positions down the stretch.

On April 23, 2012, the Nets played their last game in New Jersey, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers by a score of 105–87 in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,711 at Prudential Center. They played their last game as the New Jersey Nets in Toronto on April 26, 2012, and lost in a 98–67 blowout to the Toronto Raptors. Johan Petro scored the final points in New Jersey Nets history on a 20-foot, left-side jumper with 24.9 seconds left on the clock.

In 2004, after failing to secure a deal for a new arena in Newark, New Jersey (eventually a new arena, the Prudential Center, was built in Newark for the New Jersey Devils), the YankeeNets sold the franchise to a group headed by real estate developer Bruce Ratner for $300 million, beating out a group led by Charles Kushner and Jon Corzine. While Kushner and Corzine wanted to keep the Nets in New Jersey, Ratner planned to move the team back to New York. In 2005, the Nets announced plans to locate the team in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. One of the members of the ownership group at the time was rapper and Brooklyn native Jay-Z, who owned less than 0.07% but has been an outspoken face of the ownership team. The new arena, later named Barclays Center, would be the center of an extensive redevelopment project called the Atlantic Yards being constructed by Ratner's real estate development company. The new arena is located across the street from the site that Walter O'Malley wanted to use for a new stadium for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1950s. That plan was rejected and resulted in the team's relocation to Los Angeles in 1958. The Nets would not only return to New York for the first time since 1977 but also became the first major professional sports team to play home games in Brooklyn since the departure of the Dodgers.

After the dismissal of major pending lawsuits, groundbreaking for Barclays Center occurred on March 11, 2010.
On September 26, 2011, Jay-Z, the Nets' minority owner, announced that the team's new name after the move to Brooklyn would be the Brooklyn Nets. The team officially became the Brooklyn Nets on April 30, 2012. The team's new colors were announced to be black and white, and two official logos designed by Timothy Morris were unveiled. The primary logo is a shield depicting the team name 'Nets', along with a basketball with an overlaid "B". The secondary logo is the same "B-ball" surrounded by a black circle with the text "Brooklyn" and "New York". The new logo's typeface and colors are meant to evoke New York City Subway rollsigns from the 1950s when Brooklyn last had a major league sports team. This rebranding of the team led to a dramatic increase in merchandise sales for the team. On the first two days that the new merchandise was available, total sales from the NBA Store were 10 times that of a typical year when the team was in New Jersey, and in the initial months of the 2012–13 season, the Nets led all NBA teams in apparel sales.

In the 2012 NBA draft, Brooklyn selected İlkan Karaman, and traded for the duo of Tyshawn Taylor and Tornike Shengelia for cash. On June 29, 2012, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic met with the Magic's new General Manager Rob Hennigan in Los Angeles and demanded a trade to the Brooklyn Nets. However, once again the trade was not able to materialize, and the Nets reportedly pulled out of trade discussions on July 11, 2012. Instead, the team traded for six-time All-Star Joe Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks. In return, the Nets sent Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, DeShawn Stevenson and a draft pick previously acquired from the Houston Rockets to Atlanta. On the same date, Deron Williams signed a five-year, $98.7 million deal to remain with the Nets. In addition, the Nets re-signed Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace to four-year deals.

The Brooklyn Nets played their first game on November 3, 2012, in a 107–100 home victory over the Toronto Raptors. The first game was originally scheduled to be against the crosstown New York Knicks; however, that game was postponed to November 26 due to effects of Hurricane Sandy, and the rescheduled game was won by the Nets in a 96–89 overtime victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Barclays Center. The Nets started the season strong, going 11–4 in the month of November, and as a result, Avery Johnson won Coach of the Month for the Eastern Conference. However, in an abrupt turn of fortunes, a rough stretch in December in which Brooklyn went 3–10 led to Johnson being fired as head coach, with assistant coach P. J. Carlesimo being named interim head coach until a replacement was hired. Johnson's firing proved to be a spark for the team as Brooklyn caught fire once more, going 11–4 in January, and heading into the All-Star break with a record of 31–22. Center Brook Lopez was selected to his first All-Star Game as the Nets' lone representation at the game.

Riding a strong second half of the season from Deron Williams, the Nets clinched their first playoff berth since the 2006–07 season on March 21, 2013. On April 3, 2013, Brooklyn ended an eight-game road trip by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 113–95 for the team's 21st road win, clinching the first winning season on the road in the franchise's NBA history. Brooklyn played its first ever playoff series in the borough versus the Chicago Bulls. After defeating the undermanned Bulls in a blowout in Game 1, the Nets then proceeded to lose Games 2 and 3 before giving up a 17-point lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter in Game 4 and losing in overtime. The Nets won the next two games, only to lose Game 7 in Brooklyn. With the season over, the Nets announced that Carlesimo would not return as head coach.

To replace Carlesimo, the Nets hired Jason Kidd, who was one week removed from retiring as a player, to become their new head coach on June 12, 2013. To aid in Kidd's transition from player to coach, former Nets head coach Lawrence Frank was brought back to be his lead assistant coach, along with a staff of Roy Rogers, Eric Hughes, John Welch, Joe Prunty and Charles Klask.

On June 27, 2013, the Nets and the Boston Celtics agreed in principle on a blockbuster trade (finalized July 12), dealing Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, MarShon Brooks, Keith Bogans (in a sign-and-trade), and Kris Joseph, along with three first-round draft picks (2014, 2016, 2018) and an option to swap the 2017 first-round pick, for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, and DJ White. This created a starting lineup that had a combined 35 All-Star appearances, with Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Pierce, Garnett, and Brook Lopez together forming a new NBA "superteam". The Nets also signed Alan Anderson, Shaun Livingston, All-Star Andrei Kirilenko, and first-round draft pick Mason Plumlee to add further depth to the bench. With all of its off-season moves, Brooklyn ended up with a league-high payroll of $102 million, in addition to having projected luxury tax payments totaling $86 million.

The 2013–14 season started poorly for the Nets, with rookie coach Jason Kidd facing difficulties adjusting to his new job, and with injuries affecting the team's ability to field a consistent lineup. The team struggled to a disappointing 10–21 through December, and lead assistant coach Lawrence Frank was demoted to writing daily reports due to a fallout between him and Kidd. The season bottomed out on December 21 when Brook Lopez was announced to require season-ending foot surgery for the second time in three years. Lopez's injury forced Kidd to change his starting lineup, with the coach choosing to start Paul Pierce at power forward and Joe Johnson at small forward, and play two point guards simultaneously. This move would turn the Nets' season around. The team started winning, going 10–3 in January 2014 as Kidd won his first Coach of the Month award. On February 26, 2014, the Nets lost 80–124 to the Portland Trail Blazers. It was the Nets' worst loss since a 63–110 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on December 13, 2003. On March 23, 2014, the Nets completed a season sweep of the Dallas Mavericks for the first time since the 1999–2000 season with a 107–104 overtime win in Dallas.

Kidd was awarded a second Coach of the Month award on April 1 after the team amassed a 12–4 record in March. On the same day the Nets would go on to defeat the Houston Rockets 105–96 to extend a franchise record home winning streak to 14, and clinching a playoff berth in the process. On April 8, the Nets became the first team during the Miami Big 3 (Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade) era to sweep the Heat in a 4-game season series.

On May 4, 2014, the Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors in the First Round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs with a 104–103 victory in Game 7. With the win, Jason Kidd became the first rookie coach to win a Game 7 in NBA history. It also marked the first Game 7 win in Nets' franchise history. Unfortunately, the Nets' season ended following a 94–96 loss in Game 5 of the Conference Semifinals against the Heat, the very team they swept in the regular season. On May 22, Plumlee was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

On July 1, 2014, the Milwaukee Bucks secured Kidd's coaching rights from the Nets in exchange for two second-round draft picks in 2015 and 2019. On July 2, 2014, Lionel Hollins and the Nets reached an agreement in principle for him to serve as the team's head coach for the next four seasons. On July 7, 2014, he was officially introduced by the Nets at a press conference.

The Nets barely squeezed into the playoffs in Hollins' first season, nosing out the Pacers for the last playoff spot on the last day of the season. However, they pushed the top-seeded Hawks to six games in the first round.

The bottom quickly fell out for the Nets a year later. They did not get their first win until the eighth game of the season. By the start of 2016, they were 9–23. After waiving Joe Johnson and Deron Williams, on January 10, 2016, the Nets announced that they had parted ways with head coach Lionel Hollins and general manager Billy King. Tony Brown became interim head coach, while former Spurs assistant general manager Sean Marks became general manager. Marks made clear that his vision included a rebuilding process that would take years to execute, something that Prokhorov acknowledged. In an open letter he wrote on Yahoo! Sports in February 2016, Prokhorov apologized for his previous free-spending approach, saying that he now realized it was not the best way to build a champion.

In April 2016, the Nets hired former Knicks and Hawks assistant Kenny Atkinson as the new head coach. During Nets free agency in the summer of 2016, the team started and have nearly completed their rebuilding process by acquiring through sign or trade deals the following; Randy Foye, Anthony Bennett, Trevor Booker, Luis Scola, and Jeremy Lin. However, the Nets fell below even the lowest of expectations when they secured a league-worst 8–33 record at the midway point of the season, and an 11-game losing streak with a 119–109 loss to the Raptors. The streak was the longest since their 0–18 start in the 2009–2010 season. This was partly because starting point guard Jeremy Lin had missed 29 of the 41 games played up until that point with a hamstring injury. On January 9, 2017, the Nets waived Anthony Bennett and was replaced by Quincy Acy who was given a 10-day contract. They ultimately finished 20–62, the worst record in the league. Additionally, as part of the deal that brought them Pierce and Garnett four years earlier, they had to swap their 2017 first-round pick with the Celtics.

On June 20, 2017, the Nets traded Lopez and a 2017 first-round pick to the Lakers in exchange for D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov.

A year later, on June 20, 2018, the Nets traded Timofey Mozgov, the 45th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and a 2019 second round pick for Dwight Howard, who was later waived.

History of the Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets, a professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, was founded in 1967 and initially played in Teaneck, New Jersey, as the New Jersey Americans, later the New Jersey Nets. They are a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as an original member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). In 2012 they moved to Brooklyn and were renamed the Brooklyn Nets.

The Americans played fairly well in their first season, tying the Kentucky Colonels for the fourth (and final) playoff spot in the Eastern Division. However, the Teaneck Armory was booked, forcing the Americans to scramble for a last-minute replacement. They found one in the Long Island Arena in Commack, New York.

When the Americans and Colonels arrived for the game, they found that the floor had several missing boards and bolts, and was unstable in several areas (one player claimed to have seen one side of the floor come up when he stepped on another). There was no padding on the backboards or basket supports, and one basket appeared to be higher than the other. There was also a large amount of condensation from a hockey game the previous night. After the Colonels refused to play under these conditions, league commissioner George Mikan ruled that the Americans had failed to provide acceptable playing facilities and forfeited the game to the Colonels, 2–0.

The 1973–74 season saw the Nets finally put all the pieces together. The key event of the season though would come in the 1973 off-season, 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 the ABA's MVP, the Nets advanced in the playoffs and won their first title, defeating the Utah Stars in the 1974 ABA Finals.

The success continued into the 1974–75 season as they topped the previous season's win record by winning 58 games—a record that still stands to this day. The Nets, though, were eliminated four games to one, by the Spirits of St. Louis in the first round of the 1975 ABA playoffs.

Tragedy struck the Nets on the afternoon of June 24, 1975, when forward Wendell Ladner was killed when Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 crashed after being caught in severe wind shear upon final approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The Nets continued their winning ways in the 1975–76 season—the final season for the ABA—with Erving leading them to a successful 55–win season; he also was named MVP again that year. After a grueling series with the Denver Nuggets, the Nets won the last ABA championship series in league history in six games. The series clincher had Erving leading the Nets on a massive fourth quarter comeback at the Nassau Coliseum after being down 22 points in the third quarter. The win gave the team their second championship in three years.

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 court order. Prior to their first NBA season, the Nets traded two draft picks to the Kansas City Kings for guard Nate Archibald. The Nets appeared to be poised to pick up where they left off in the ABA.

However, they got a rude surprise when the NBA forced the Nets to pay an additional $4.8 million directly to the Knicks for "invading" the New York area. Coming on the heels of the $3.2 million that the team had to pay for joining the NBA, this left Boe short of cash, and he was forced to renege on a promised pay raise for Erving. Erving refused to play for the Nets under these conditions and refused to report to camp.

The Nets offered Erving's contract to the Knicks in return for waiving the indemnity, but the Knicks turned it down. When the Philadelphia 76ers offered to acquire Erving for $3 million—roughly the same amount they had to pay for NBA membership—Boe had little choice but to accept. In essence, the Nets were forced to trade their franchise player for a berth in the NBA.

Without Erving, the Nets wrote off the 1976–77 season as a lost cause. However, they lost all semblance of respectability when Archibald broke his foot in January. The team finished at 22–60, the worst record in the league. The team did set one record of sorts; in February 1977, they became the first NBA team ever to have an all-left-handed starting lineup, with Tim Bassett, Al Skinner, Bubbles Hawkins, Dave Wohl, and Kim Hughes.

Due to the team's low attendance and poor financial picture in Long Island, Boe decided to move the franchise back to New Jersey prior to the 1977–78 season. The Knicks once again became an obstacle and threatened to block the move because it would infringe on their exclusive territorial rights to New Jersey. The Nets responded by suing the Knicks on the basis that their actions violated anti-trust laws. The lawsuit was settled between the teams after the league and the state of New Jersey intervened, and the Nets agreed to pay another $4 million to the Knicks for the rights to move.

With the move official, the team was renamed the New Jersey Nets after its new home state. While the team awaited the completion of a new arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, they played four seasons at the Rutgers Athletic Center at Rutgers University in Piscataway. The 1978–1979 season saw the team, aided by the strong play of Bernard King, qualify for its first NBA playoff appearance. They fell to Philadelphia 2–0 in the first round, with the loss setting the stage for a period of rebuilding in the coming decade.

In 1981, the team moved to the Meadowlands, into the now-completed Brendan Byrne Arena (which became known as the Continental Airlines Arena in 1996, and was renamed the Izod Center in October 2007) and experienced modest success with four consecutive winning seasons. In 1982–83, while coached by Larry Brown, the Nets were having their best season since joining the NBA. However, Brown accepted the head coaching job at the University of Kansas during the last month of the season and was suspended for the rest of the season. The Nets would never recover from the coaching change and would lose in the first round of the playoffs to their Hudson River rival New York Knicks.

In the 1983–84 season, the Nets fielded what was believed to be their best team since joining the league. Led by Darryl Dawkins, Buck Williams, Otis Birdsong, and Micheal Ray Richardson, the team won their first NBA playoff series, defeating the defending champion 76ers in the first round of the 1984 NBA Playoffs before falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals in six games.

Injuries plagued the team during the 1984–85 season, but the Nets still managed to win 42 games before being eliminated from the playoffs by the Detroit Pistons in three games.

Newly hired head coach Dave Wohl helped lead the Nets to a respectable record at the beginning of the 1985–86 season, posting a 23–14 start. New Jersey's promising start dissipated with the loss of two of its top scorers. All-Star Micheal Ray Richardson flunked a drug test for the third time and was banned from the league for life, and star center Darryl Dawkins only played 39 games due to a back injury. Long-time Nets veterans Buck Williams and Mike Gminski filled in the gap and powered the club on both offense and defense, helping the Nets earn the 7th seed in the 1986 NBA Playoffs with a 39–43 record before being swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. This would be the first of many losing seasons for the Nets, and the team would not qualify for the playoffs again until the 1991–92 season.

New Jersey acquired Orlando Woolridge and drafted Dwayne "Pearl" Washington in hopes of strengthening the faltering team, yet the season only brought more misfortune to the Garden State. Dawkins slipped in his bathtub and suffered another back injury, effectively ending his career. Birdsong played in only seven games while nursing a shin stress fracture and Washington had a shoddy rookie year performance. A formerly solid backcourt soon became plagued with injuries and contract disputes. The Nets ended the 1986–87 season with a 24–58 record, the club's worst finish since 1980.

Hoping to maximize the team's health in the upcoming season, the Nets traded injury-plagued Dawkins in a three-way deal that brought John Bagley and Keith Lee to New Jersey. The Nets selected Dennis Hopson (over Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller and Kevin Johnson) as the third pick of the 1987 NBA draft in hopes of re-establishing a stable backcourt. However the injury bug bit again when Bagley, Lee and reserve Tony Brown became hurt at the start of the 1987–88 season. In addition, leading scorer Orlando Woolridge was suspended by the league for violation of the league substance abuse policy 19 games through the season. New Jersey axed coach Wohl after 15 games, and went through three different coaches over the course of the season, finishing with the second worst record in the league at 19–63.

Hopson was never able to live up to the organization's expectations and subsequent first round draft picks Chris Morris (1988) and Mookie Blaylock (1989) also failed to reverse the team's descent. By the 1989–90 season the Nets would finish with an NBA worst 17–65 record, which was also at that point the worst in franchise history.

During the early 1990s the Nets began to improve behind a core of young players. New Jersey drafted forward Derrick Coleman with the first pick of the 1990 draft and then took guard Kenny Anderson with the second pick of the following draft. The Nets later added Dražen Petrović in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. Although the Nets did not finish with a winning record in the 1991–92 season, they finished sixth overall in the conference and qualified for the playoffs. The Nets lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, three games to one, and coach Bill Fitch left after the season.

The team improved significantly in 1992–93, led by the emerging trio of Petrović, Coleman and Anderson. Chuck Daly, who had been let go by the Detroit Pistons following the 1991–92 season, was hired by the Nets and immediately paid dividends. However, injuries to both Anderson and Petrović toward the end of the season sent the team into a 1–10 slump to end the regular season. The Nets finished the season at 43–39, which again earned them the sixth seed and a date with the Cavaliers in the first round. With Anderson out with a broken hand and Petrović playing on an injured knee, the Nets lost a tough five-game series.

The Nets experienced tragedy in the off-season, as Petrović was killed in an auto accident in Germany. Still, the team managed to win 45 games during the 1993–94 season. Anderson and Coleman made their only All-Star appearances this season. The Nets again qualified for the playoffs as the East's seventh seed, but were eliminated by the New York Knicks the first round of the 1994 NBA Playoffs, three games to one.

The team elected to retain Don Casey as head coach for the 1999–2000 season. The Nets started the season with what was then a franchise record low 2–15 record. They would improve after that, but once again, injuries plagued the team, and the Nets finished the season by losing their final 11 games of the year, finishing with a 31–51 record.

On June 2, 2000, the Nets hired as the team president Rod Thorn, a longtime NBA executive best known for drafting Michael Jordan while he was the Bulls' general manager. Immediately, he began to assemble the components of the franchise's most talented team since the ABA champions of the mid-1970s. He started by hiring former NBA star Byron Scott as coach. With the first pick in the notoriously weak 2000 draft, the Nets selected Kenyon Martin from the University of Cincinnati. Stephon Marbury and Keith Van Horn had become stars in New Jersey. Marbury made the All-NBA 3rd Team in 2000 and his very first All-Star Game in 2001. But despite his individual efforts, constant injuries hindered the team's chemistry and the Nets failed to reach to the playoffs in each of Marbury's seasons as a starter.

After losing the first game at home, the Nets then won the next two games, before losing game four. In front of a home sellout crowd, the Nets led by nine points with five minutes left in regulation; however, Reggie Miller made a 35-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. After Miller sent the game into double-overtime with a driving dunk, the Nets pulled away for a 120–109 victory. It is the only game in NBA history to end every quarter tied.

Following the 2003 Finals, Kidd became a free agent and the Spurs pursued him. However, Kidd re-signed with the Nets, stating that he had "unfinished business" in New Jersey. Another factor in Kidd's decision was the signing of free-agent Alonzo Mourning. But Mourning's tenure with the Nets would be disastrous, as he missed most of the 2003–04 season due to a kidney ailment.

During the off-season of 2005, the Nets pursued a starting-quality power forward through free agency. They had drafted Antoine Wright, and still needed to fill a void left by Kenyon Martin.

They signed Shareef Abdur-Rahim. To offer him a more lucrative contract, they pursued a sign-and-trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. In return for Abdur-Rahim, the Nets agreed to send Portland a protected first-round pick and use their trade exception acquired from the Kittles trade. However, Thorn decided to void the trade after Abdur-Rahim failed a physical examination because of a pre-existing knee injury. Abdur-Rahim initially denied any injury and said he felt he was treated like "damaged goods". Nonetheless, the knee issue would eventually force him into retirement after the 2008 season. To fill Abdur-Rahim's slot on the roster, the Nets acquired Marc Jackson from the Sixers.

They used part of the remaining mid-level exception to re-sign Clifford Robinson for two years in response to Brian Scalabrine's departure. A back-up to Kidd was also sought and they pursued free agents such as Keyon Dooling before they signed Jeff McInnis. McInnis was a non-factor in the Nets' season due to injury and was traded.

The Nets started the 2005–06 season slowly, struggling to a 9–12 record in their first 21 games. However, behind strong play by Carter, Kidd, and Jefferson, the team won their next 10 games (their final eight games in December and first two games in January) to surge to top of the division. After the winning streak, the Nets returned to their earlier mediocre play (winning 13 of their next 29 games), but starting on March 12 the Nets won their next 14 games in a row—the longest winning streak in the NBA that season and matching the franchise record set in 2004. The streak ended on April 8, 2006, when the Nets lost to the Cavaliers 108–102 at home. However, they also set a team record with 20 road victories that season.

The Nets finished the regular season with a 49–33 record. They clinched their fourth Atlantic Division championship in the last five seasons and the 3rd seed the Eastern Conference playoffs, playing the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2006 NBA Playoffs. They defeated the Pacers and advanced to the second round, where they played the Heat, in a rematch of 2005's first- round Eastern Conference loss. On May 16, 2006, the Nets lost the best-of-seven series 4–1 to the Heat. Nets fans were left to wonder what might have been as Cliff Robinson, one of the team's key defenders against Shaq, was suspended following Game 1 of that series for failing a drug test.

Highlights of the season include the naming of Vince Carter to the All-Star Team in 2006. Originally named as a reserve, an injury to Jermaine O'Neal elevated Carter to a starting position. Kidd, meanwhile, was named to the NBA All-Defensive team at the end of the season.

The following off-season proved to be very busy for the Nets. On June 26, 2008, Richard Jefferson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. Jefferson's departure, along with that of Jason Kidd earlier that year, marked the beginning of a new era in the Garden State. The Nets signed draftees Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson, along with Chris Douglas-Roberts. The Nets filled out their youthful roster by signing veterans Eduardo Nájera and Jarvis Hayes, and trading for Orlando point guard Keyon Dooling. The Nets finished the season with their second straight 34–48 record, tied for 11th in the Eastern Conference with the Milwaukee Bucks. Devin Harris made his first All-Star team and narrowly missed winning the NBA Most Improved Player award, and Brook Lopez finished third in Rookie of the Year voting.

On June 26, 2009, the Nets traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to the Orlando Magic for Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie.

After a 16th straight loss (against the Sacramento Kings) to start the 2009–10 season, the Nets fired head coach Lawrence Frank. Assistant coach Tom Barrise stepped in as a temporary replacement. He lost his first two games heading the team, an away game against the Los Angeles Lakers and then to the Dallas Mavericks at home, to set the mark for worst start to a season in NBA history at 0–18 (one more than the previous record holder, the 1988–89 Miami Heat). Kiki Vandeweghe replaced him as head coach on December 4, with Del Harris hired as his new assistant. The duo won their first game at home against the Charlotte Bobcats, 97–91, to break the Nets 19-game losing streak stretching from the final game of the 2008–09 season, and to keep the record for worst start to a season at 18 straight.

On June 10, 2010, Avery Johnson was named the new head coach. Sam Mitchell was named assistant coach shortly thereafter. With owners Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z, general manager Rod Thorn, and Johnson, who at that point had the best winning percentage of any coach in NBA history, on board, the Nets headed into the free agency period with millions in salary cap space and optimistic that they would be able to attract top free agents. They courted LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh to sign with the team and had cap space to sign at least one of them; however, all three signed with the Miami Heat. The Nets' biggest off-season acquisition turned out to be Travis Outlaw, who had a poor year for the team and was waived with the amnesty clause after the season.

Hoping to make the playoffs in the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season in order to convince Deron Williams to stay with the team, the Nets nonetheless suffered a major blow to their aspirations when center Brook Lopez suffered a stress fracture in his right foot in the team's second preseason game and missed all but five games in the season. That injury was the first of many, and Nets players ended up leading the NBA with 248 games missed due to injury and illness for the season. The team lost six players to season-ending injuries and fielded 25 different starting lineups over the course of the season.

The Nets never recovered from their injury issues, and the team floundered, opening with nine losses in their first 11 games and ending their season with a record of 22–44 and out of the playoffs for a fifth straight season. Furthermore, the team was again distracted by trade rumors, this time concerning Dwight Howard. The bright spots for the season included the resurgence of former D-Leaguer Gerald Green, whom the Nets acquired on February 27, 2012. At the trade deadline, the team also acquired Gerald Wallace from the Portland Trail Blazers, who provided energy and defense from the forward positions down the stretch.

On April 23, 2012, the Nets played their last game in New Jersey, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers by a score of 105–87 in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,711 at Prudential Center. They played their last game as the New Jersey Nets in Toronto on April 26, 2012, and lost in a 98–67 blowout to the Toronto Raptors. Johan Petro scored the final points in New Jersey Nets history on a 20-foot, left-side jumper with 24.9 seconds left on the clock.

Riding a strong second half of the season from Deron Williams, the Nets clinched their first playoff berth since the 2006–07 season on March 21, 2013. On April 3, 2013, Brooklyn ended an eight-game road trip by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 113–95 for the team's 21st road win, clinching the first winning season on the road in the franchise's NBA history. Brooklyn played its first ever playoff series in the borough versus the Chicago Bulls. After defeating the undermanned Bulls in a blowout in Game 1, the Nets then proceeded to lose Games 2 and 3 before giving up a 17-point lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter in Game 4 and losing in overtime. The Nets won the next two games, only to lose Game 7 in Brooklyn. With the season over, the Nets announced that Carlesimo would not return as head coach.

To replace Carlesimo, the Nets hired Jason Kidd, who was one week removed from retiring as a player, to become their new head coach on June 12, 2013. To aid in Kidd's transition from player to coach, former Nets head coach Lawrence Frank was brought back to be his lead assistant coach, along with a staff of Roy Rogers, Eric Hughes, John Welch, Joe Prunty and Charles Klask.

Kidd was awarded a second Coach of the Month award on April 1 after the team amassed a 12–4 record in March. On the same day the Nets would go on to defeat the Houston Rockets 105–96 to extend a franchise record home winning streak to 14, and clinching a playoff berth in the process. On April 8, the Nets became the first team during the Miami Big 3 (Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade) era to sweep the Heat in a 4-game season series.

On May 4, 2014, the Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors in the First Round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs with a 104–103 victory in Game 7. With the win, Jason Kidd became the first rookie coach to win a Game 7 in NBA history. It also marked the first Game 7 win in Nets' franchise history. Unfortunately, the Nets' season ended following a 94–96 loss in Game 5 of the Conference Semifinals against the Heat, the very team they swept in the regular season. On May 22, Plumlee was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

On July 1, 2014, the Milwaukee Bucks secured Kidd's coaching rights from the Nets in exchange for two second-round draft picks in 2015 and 2019. On July 2, 2014, Lionel Hollins and the Nets reached an agreement in principle for him to serve as the team's head coach for the next four seasons. On July 7, 2014, he was officially introduced by the Nets at a press conference.

The Nets barely squeezed into the playoffs in Hollins' first season, nosing out the Pacers for the last playoff spot on the last day of the season. However, they pushed the top-seeded Hawks to six games in the first round.

The bottom quickly fell out for the Nets a year later. They did not get their first win until the eighth game of the season. By the start of 2016, they were 9–23. After waiving Joe Johnson and Deron Williams, on January 10, 2016, the Nets announced that they had parted ways with head coach Lionel Hollins and general manager Billy King. Tony Brown became interim head coach, while former Spurs assistant general manager Sean Marks became general manager. Marks made clear that his vision included a rebuilding process that would take years to execute, something that Prokhorov acknowledged. In an open letter he wrote on Yahoo! Sports in February 2016, Prokhorov apologized for his previous free-spending approach, saying that he now realized it was not the best way to build a champion.

On June 20, 2017, the Nets traded Lopez and a 2017 first-round pick to the Lakers in exchange for D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov.

A year later, on June 20, 2018, the Nets traded Timofey Mozgov, the 45th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and a 2019 second round pick for Dwight Howard, who was later waived.

The arena was originally intended to be the home of the New Jersey Nets, but YankeeNets sold the team to Bruce Ratner, who decided he would relocate the Nets to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. However, the construction of the arena was plagued by lawsuits and economic issues during the recession. In the fall of 2009, the Nets played two preseason games at the Prudential Center, while considering a possible move there. After the success of the preseason games at the Prudential Center, the Nets finalized a deal to move to the Prudential Center. The team played for two seasons at the venue before the Barclays Center was completed in 2012 and the team officially relocated to Brooklyn. The final NBA event at the Prudential Center before the Nets' move to Brooklyn was the 2012 NBA Draft, held on June 28, 2012.

Prudential Center

Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. It was designed by HOK Sport (now Populous), with the exterior designed by Morris Adjmi Architects. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hall University, known as the Seton Hall Pirates. The arena officially seats 16,514 patrons for hockey games and up to 18,711 for basketball. Fans and sports writers have affectionately nicknamed the arena "The Rock" in reference to the Rock of Gibraltar, the corporate logo of Prudential Financial, a financial institution that owns the naming rights to the arena and is headquartered within walking distance of it. In December 2013, the arena ranked third nationally and ninth internationally for self-reported annual revenue.

The arena was built amidst financial concerns and years of speculation that the Devils would relocate, despite the fact that the team was a perennial playoff contender and was often at or near the top of the NHL's standings for nearly two decades. The arena is located two blocks from Newark Penn Station in downtown Newark, just west of Newark's Ironbound district, which makes it easily accessible via New Jersey Transit, PATH, Newark Light Rail, and Amtrak. At the time of its opening, Prudential Center was the first major league sports venue to be built in the New York metropolitan area since the Brendan Byrne Arena, the Devils' former home, opened in 1981. According to the Devils organization, the Prudential Center has played a major role in the revitalization of downtown Newark.

For years, the New Jersey Devils had been rumored to be at least considering relocation. Even when the team won the Stanley Cup in 1995, it was amidst rumors that the franchise would move to Nashville. Despite playing championship-caliber hockey in the 2002–03 season culminating in a Stanley Cup that year, the Devils only averaged 14,858 fans per game at their home arena, Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford.

A project to build a new 18,000 seat arena in Newark first received funding from Newark's city council in 2002, when the team was owned by Puck Holdings, a subsidiary of YankeeNets. In 2004, former Lehman Brothers executive Jeffrey Vanderbeek bought the team from Puck Holdings and became a strong proponent of the proposed arena. Vanderbeek said, "The Devils need a new arena that can provide a game-day experience that is certainly equal to the best team in the National Hockey League and certainly equal to the product that is put on the ice." He also stated that he believed the arena "would take downtown Newark to a whole new level." After legal battles over both eminent domain and the city's financial participation in the arena project, the final deal was approved by council and went through in October 2004.

A seven-acre site for the arena in downtown Newark was selected, bordered by Edison Place on the north, Lafayette Street on the south, Mulberry Street on the east, and Broad Street on the west. The site was the location of the never-completed Renaissance Mall and, previously, the tracks and train shed of the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Broad/Lafayette Street terminal whose building still stands nearby. The arena was designed by HOK Sport, with the exterior designed by Morris Adjmi Architects. Initial designs were released in early 2005 and referred to the arena as "Newark Arena". Groundbreaking began on October 3, 2005, and a workforce of 2,725 union workers was employed to construct the arena. Financial issues, though, threatened to halt the deal. On January 24, 2006, the Devils averted having the project canceled by submitting a guarantee in writing that the team would contribute $100 million to the arena, one day before their deadline.

Though construction was well underway, in late summer 2006, Cory Booker, who had recently taken office as Mayor of Newark, promised to reevaluate the deal and considered backing out. In October, Booker conceded there would be "a first-class arena built in the city of Newark, whether we like it or not", and soon afterwards, the Devils struck a deal including both property and monetary givebacks that appeased city officials.

The city of Newark pledged to contribute $210 million to the construction of the arena, using settlement money from its lease dispute over underpaid rent for use of Newark Liberty International Airport with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Devils paid for the remainder of the cost. Thus, no new direct taxpayer funding was required for the construction of the arena. Some taxpayer dollars, however, were spent on infrastructure improvements. These improvements were necessary for both the new arena and proposed private development surrounding that arena.

Prudential Financial purchased the naming rights to the stadium in January 2007 for $105.3 million over 20 years, reducing the city's cost for the project. Prudential has chosen to call the arena the "Prudential Center", even though this is also the name of numerous office complexes around the country, most notably in Boston. The arena had been referred to as "Newark Arena" before the deal, and now field press releases refer to the Prudential Center as "The Rock" after Prudential's corporate logo.

Construction on the arena was completed in October 2007. The estimated final cost of the arena's construction is $380 million. In total, more than 18,000 tons of steel were used to build the bowl area and high roof, while 62,000 linear feet of ductwork were installed throughout the arena. The Devils had to play their first nine games of the 2007–08 NHL season on the road as construction on their home arena was finished.

For the soft opening on October 20, the Newark Boys Chorus performed at Prudential Center, which became the first use of the arena. It officially opened on October 25, 2007, with a series of 10 concerts by the New Jersey native rock group Bon Jovi, featuring a star-studded lineup of opening acts including Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Daughtry, The All-American Rejects and fellow New Jersey native group My Chemical Romance.

The Devils played their first home game at Prudential Center on October 27, 2007, against the Ottawa Senators, who, coincidentally, were the Devils' last opponent at Continental Airlines Arena. Chris Neil scored the arena's first goal, while Brian Gionta scored the Devils' first goal in the arena. Martin Gerber earned the first win as the Senators defeated the Devils 4–1.

On November 11, 2007, the first collegiate basketball game took place in the arena, with Seton Hall defeating Monmouth, 89–81, in overtime.

On January 8, 2010, a lighting problem occurred in the arena during a game between the Devils and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay was leading 3–0 with 9:12 left in the second period when half of the arena's sports lights went out due to a power surge on the grid feeding electricity to the arena, followed by a computerized lighting system failing to reboot. PSEG and Prudential Center electricians worked on the situation for 1 hour and 52 minutes but could not reboot the system. The game was suspended due to the lighting problem; it was resumed two nights later, with about 3,000 of the original crowd of 15,129 in attendance. Tampa Bay won, 4–2, with Lightning center Steven Stamkos scoring two goals in the contest: one on Friday and one on Sunday.

Prudential Center primarily serves as the home ice for the New Jersey Devils hockey franchise, who previously played at Continental Airlines Arena (now Meadowlands Arena) from 1982 to 2007, as well as the home court of the NCAA's Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball program, who also played at Continental Airlines Arena from 1985 to 2007. The arena also hosts select home games for the Seton Hall Pirates women's basketball team, and the NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team. The arena was the former home of the New York Titans of the National Lacrosse League and the New Jersey Ironmen of the Xtreme Soccer League (XSL) until 2009. The Titans relocated to Orlando while the XSL folded in July 2009.

Ottawa Senators' Chris Neil scored the arena's first goal, while Brian Gionta scored the first goal for the Devils in a 4–1 Ottawa victory. The first hat-trick in Prudential Center history was netted by Jay Pandolfo, in a 6–1 Devils victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 31, 2007, a game which was also the Devils' first home victory at the arena. The Prudential Center hosted its first Stanley Cup Playoff game against the New York Rangers on April 9, 2008. On April 15, 2009, the Devils won their first playoff game at the Prudential Center with a 4–1 win over against the Carolina Hurricanes. It wasn't until 2012 when the Devils won their first playoff series at the Rock, against the Florida Panthers. The 2012 Stanley Cup Finals were played at Prudential Center for the first time in its history, featuring the Los Angeles Kings and the New Jersey Devils, hosting Games 1, 2, and 5. The 2013 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Prudential Center.

For select Devils home games, the arena's practice rink, the RWJ Barnabas Health Hockey House, is open to fans after the game for public ice skating. The practice rink also serves as the home of the Saint Peter's Prep Mauraders hockey teams as well as other local youth teams. It has been the home of the Metropolitan Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League since 2016. The arena also hosts the NJSIAA Public A, Public B, and Private State Finals for high school ice hockey.

The Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team moved into the arena on November 11, 2007, and defeated the Monmouth University Hawks by a score of 89–81 in overtime.

In November 2007 and 2008, the Center hosted the semifinals and finals of college basketball's Legends Classic.

The Nets moved into the arena on October 27, 2010, and defeated the Detroit Pistons 101–98. Rodney Stuckey made the first basket on the court in the arena while Brook Lopez made the first two free-throw baskets for the Nets.

The arena hosted the East Regional semifinals and final of the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

On June 23, 2011, the arena hosted the 2011 NBA Draft, marking the second time the NBA Draft was held in New Jersey. They held the NBA Draft once again the following year on June 28, 2012.

On April 23, 2012, the Nets played their final game at the Prudential Center, a 105–87 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Lou Williams made the final basket on the court. The Nets subsequently relocated to the newly built Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York to become the Brooklyn Nets at the beginning of the 2012-13 NBA season.

The New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) played home games at Prudential Center during the 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons, due to renovations at Madison Square Garden.

The final NBA-related event held at the arena was the 2012 NBA draft.

The New Jersey Ironmen played their inaugural home game at Prudential Center on December 1, 2007. A crowd of 13,429 was on hand to see soccer legend Pelé, who was the honorary captain, take the ceremonial first kick. The Ironmen won this game 8–6 over the Detroit Ignition.

Boxing promoter Main Events has hosted a number of fight cards, most notably headlined by former world champions Zab Judah and Tomasz Adamek. Due to the large Polish population in the North Jersey area, Adamek has drawn upwards of 10,000 fans for his last few bouts, including almost 11,000 against Michael Grant on August 21, 2010.

The UFC held UFC 78 on November 17, 2007, one of the first events to take place at the new arena. It marked the first UFC event in New Jersey in two years. It also played host to UFC 111, which took place on March 27, 2010. On March 19, 2011, it hosted UFC 128, UFC 159 on April 27, 2013, and UFC 169 on February 1, 2014.

WWE has held multiple events at Prudential Center including Hell in a Cell in 2009, Extreme Rules in 2016, and Backlash on May 6, 2018. It is also a regular stop for "Monday Night Raw" and "SmackDown Live".

The National Football League used the arena for Super Bowl XLVIII Media Day on January 28, 2014, instead of the game's outdoor site, nearby MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, for years a staple at the Meadowlands Arena, made their first show at the Prudential Center on May 2, 2012, as part of their Wrecking Ball World Tour. They returned to the arena on January 31, 2016, for a date on the opening leg of The River Tour 2016.

The McDonald's Gospelfest, the nation's largest gospel music competition, has taken place at the arena since 2008.

The Eagles' performance at the arena on their Long Road out of Eden Tour, is commemorated with murals on the arena's upper suite level.

The Rolling Stones broadcast their last show of their 50th-anniversary tour live on pay-per-view from the arena on December 15, 2012.

The Misfits, legendary punk rock band from Lodi, announced that they would reunite for one-time performance and play in the venue on May 19, 2018.

In June 2011, it played host to the Newark audition stages in the first season of the Fox talent search program "The X Factor". The open auditions were held on April 14.

Democratic Governor Jon Corzine held a rally on November 1, 2009, to gather support for the governor's election on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. Speakers included Newark Mayor Cory Booker and President Barack Obama, who addressed the near-capacity crowd.

Nik Wallenda walked and then bicycled across a suspended wire, 12 stories off of the ground, from the roof of the Prudential Center during a live broadcast of "Today" on October 15, 2008. The stunt was made in an attempt to break the world record for longest and highest bike ride on a highwire, which is documented by the Guinness Book of Records.

The red and gray exterior is inspired by Newark's bricklaying and railroad heritage, while paying homage to the team colors of the New Jersey Devils, red and black. Fans approaching the arena from the front are presented with a view of the arena's externally mounted 4,800 square foot (446 m²) LED display, one of the largest in the world. The Daktronics display is split up into thin panels with gaps in between, in order to prevent the fans' view from inside from being obstructed. Along the arena's east side Mulberry Street entrance are two large "entrance cylinders" named the Ford Tower and Investor's Bank Tower, the arena's most prominent exterior feature. These towers take the fans up to the Grand Concourse, by escalator and staircase.

The interior's lower level Grand Concourse provides views of downtown Newark on the Edison Place and Mulberry Street sides through large windows. Prudential Center features separate concourses for the lower and upper levels, whereas the Continental Airlines Arena had one concourse for both levels of the arena. Throughout the Grand Concourse, jerseys of most high school hockey teams in New Jersey hang from the walls. The arena also features many murals of players and memorable moments from Devils history. One mural encompasses a long stretch of the Grand Concourse wall and features Devils Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, and Ken Daneyko, along with tributes to other New Jersey sports and Newark landmarks, with depictions that include Seton Hall men's basketball legends Richie Regan and Terry Dehere, soccer player Tony Meola, a boxer, and tennis legend Althea Gibson.

As one of the newer facilities to be used in the NHL, the Prudential Center features a large array of amenities. The rink area features LED ribbons circumnavigating the arena and a 9,585-square-foot scoreboard by Trans-Lux installed in 2017, weighing over 44 tons and the largest in-arena, center-hung scoreboard in the world, replacing a smaller, lower-resolution eight-sided unit from Daktronics. The 76 luxury suites available are the largest in North America. Personal dining, WiFi, and high-definition televisions are some of the many conveniences available in the luxury suites. There are 750 flat-screen televisions in total across the arena.
On each side of the lower bowl the three middle sections consist of a combined 2,330 Club seats. These black-colored seats emblazoned with the Devils' logo are wider with more legroom. Club seat and season ticket holders have access to a 350-seat restaurant on the suite level in one of the end zones with views of the rink and practice rink. Additionally, the Goal Bar, located on Suite Level One offers Club and Goal Bar seat holders terrace-style seating in a bar environment. Club Seat holders also have access to lounges on the main concourse offering buffet-style food options. One of these lounges contains the television camera staging area and the commentating post at which Steve Cangialosi and Ken Daneyko call games for MSG Plus telecasts, whereas home radio broadcasts and all road team broadcasts originate from the press box above the 200 level.

On the north, Edison Place side of the arena, at street level, are the ticket office and the Devils' 2,600 square foot (242 m²) Team Store, along with Championship Plaza, a public meeting place that celebrates the Devils' past and present successes on the ice. Attached to the Prudential Center are the Devils' corporate offices and practice rink, which contains its own locker rooms. The Prudential Center is one of only four NHL arenas with a practice rink (the others are Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets, KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, home of the Buffalo Sabres, and Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, home of the Detroit Red Wings) and the only one with dual locker rooms and practice facilities.

The Grammy Museum Experience, a museum celebrating the Grammy Awards, opened on October 20, 2017 at the Prudential Center.

Championship Plaza, an outdoor space designed to celebrate the Devils' 30-year history, is located opposite the PNC Bank Tower on Mulberry Street between Edison Place and Market Street. "We are working hard to enhance our fans' experience at Prudential Center, and continue our effort to be a cornerstone in the revitalization of Newark", Vanderbeek said in a released statement. "Championship Plaza is going to be a great place to gather with friends, meet new fans and celebrate Jersey's team." The most prominent piece of the project is the tall, 7,000-pound stainless steel hockey player statue. The Prudential rock, inspired by the Rock of Gibraltar, was also installed in the plaza, and placed along Mulberry Street. Devil fans were able purchase a limited amount of bricks that would be placed in and around the plaza with personalized messages inscribed. The plaza was opened to the public on October 3, 2009. On the opposite end of the arena, a statue of former New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was dedicated outside of the Lafayette Street entrance tower and practice rink on October 22, 2016.

Much like the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Prudential Center was expected to boost Newark's urban renaissance. Small-scale projects in the immediate vicinity of the arena around Four Corners have led to the construction of new hotels, loft conversions, and a restaurant row. The development of Mulberry Commons (known as Triangle Park during its conception), a city square originally proposed as the centerpiece of a commercial and residential complex near the arena, stagnated for a decade before construction began in October 2017.

Located only two blocks from Newark Penn Station, the Prudential Center, like its other two major counterparts in the New York metropolitan area, Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center, is one of the most easily accessible arenas in the country. Public transportation access is provided via NJ Transit trains and buses, PATH trains, Newark Light Rail, and Amtrak. Major highways in the arena's vicinity include I-95 on the New Jersey Turnpike, I-78, I-280, US 1/9, NJ 21, US 22, and the Garden State Parkway.

After the Nets' move to Brooklyn, the team introduced a new superhero mascot named BrooklyKnight (a pun on the demonym "Brooklynite") on November 3, 2012. In his first appearance, he was lowered from the ceiling of the Barclays Center amid sparks and fanfare and introduced by Nets PA announcer David Diamante: "Here to defend Brooklyn, he's the BrooklyKnight." The mascot was co-created by Marvel Entertainment, a sister company to NBA broadcasters ABC and ESPN. The character also starred in 32-page comic book published by Marvel titled "BrooklyKnight #1", written by Jason Aaron with art by Mike Deodato. After the Nets' second season in Brooklyn, the BrooklyKnight mascot was retired.

Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Barclays Center. They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City; the other is the New York Knicks. The team was established in 1967 as a charter franchise of the NBA's rival league, the American Basketball Association (ABA). They played in New Jersey as the New Jersey Americans during their first season, before moving to Long Island 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 today).

In 1977, the team returned to New Jersey and played as the New Jersey Nets from 1977 to 2012. During this time, the Nets won two consecutive Eastern Conference championships (in the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons), but failed to win a league title. In the summer of 2012, the team moved to Barclays Center, and took its current geographic name.

The Brooklyn Nets were founded in 1967 and initially played in Teaneck, New Jersey, as the New Jersey Americans. In its early years, the team led a nomadic existence, moving to Long Island in 1968 and playing in various arenas there as the New York Nets.

Led by Hall of Famer Julius "Dr. J" Erving, the Nets won two ABA championships in New York before becoming one of four ABA teams to be admitted into the NBA as part of the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. The team then moved back to New Jersey in 1977 and became the New Jersey Nets. During their time in that state, the Nets saw periods of losing and misfortune intermittent with several periods of success, which culminated in two consecutive NBA Finals appearances in the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons by teams led by point guard Jason Kidd.

After playing 35 seasons in New Jersey, the team moved back to the state of New York, changed its geographic name to Brooklyn, and began playing in the new Barclays Center, starting with the 2012–13 NBA season.

The Boston Celtics were once rivals of the Nets during the early 2000s because of their respective locations and their burgeoning stars. The Nets were led by Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin, while the Celtics were experiencing newfound success behind Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. The rivalry began to heat up in the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals, which was preceded by trash-talking from the Celtics who claimed Martin was a "fake" tough guy. Things progressed as the series started, and on-court tensions seemed to spill into the stands. Celtic fans berated Kidd and his family with chants of "Wife Beater!" in response to Kidd's 2001 domestic abuse charge. When the series returned to New Jersey, Nets fans responded, with some brandishing signs that read "Will someone please stab Paul Pierce?" referring to a night club incident in 2000 in which Pierce was stabbed 11 times. When asked about the fan barbs being traded, Kenyon Martin stated, "Our fans hate them, their fans hate us." Bill Walton said at the time that Nets-Celtics was the "beginning of the next great NBA rivalry" during the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002 with the Nets advancing to the NBA Finals, though New Jersey swept Boston in the 2003 playoffs.

On November 28, 2012 there were indications that the rivalry might be rekindled when an altercation occurred on the court, resulting in the ejection of Rajon Rondo, Gerald Wallace, and Kris Humphries. Rondo was suspended for two games in the aftermath, while Wallace and Kevin Garnett were fined. The story was revisited on December 25, when Wallace grabbed Garnett's shorts and the two had to be broken up by referees and players alike.

However, the rivalry between the Nets and the Celtics appeared significantly cooled off by the June 2013 blockbuster trade that dealt Celtics stars Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets in exchange for Wallace, Humphries, and others. This move was billed as a merger of the two Atlantic Division teams. Celtics announcer Sean Grande said, "It's almost as if you found a great home for these guys. You couldn't have found a better place. These guys will be in the New York market, they'll be on a competitive team, they'll stay on national TV. It's funny, because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So with Celtics fans feeling the way they do about the Heat, feeling the way they do about the Knicks, the Nets are going to become almost the second [Boston] team now."

The Knicks–Nets rivalry has historically been a geographical one, with the Knicks playing in Madison Square Garden in the New York City borough of Manhattan, while the Nets played in the suburban area of Long Island and in New Jersey, and since 2012 have been playing at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Media outlets have noted the Knicks–Nets rivalry's similarity to those of other New York City teams, such as the Major League Baseball (MLB) Subway Series rivalry between the American League (AL)'s New York Yankees and the National League (NL)'s New York Mets, and the National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the National Football Conference (NFC)'s New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC)'s New York Jets, the result of the boroughs' proximity through the New York City Subway. Historically, the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn competed via the Dodgers–Giants rivalry, when the two teams were known as the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. Like the Knicks and Nets, the Giants and Dodgers played in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively, and were fierce intraleague rivals. The rivalry between the New York Islanders and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League has also taken on a similar dimension since the Islanders moved to Barclays Center in 2015. Due to the Knicks being located in Manhattan and the Nets being located in Brooklyn, some media outlets have dubbed this rivalry "Clash of the Boroughs".

A rivalry with the Toronto Raptors had begun in 2004, when then-Raptors guard/forward Vince Carter had been traded to the then-New Jersey Nets. However, the two teams did not meet in the playoffs until 2007, when the Nets defeated the Raptors in the first round series, 4–2, after a go-ahead shot by Richard Jefferson with 8 seconds left in Game 6 led to a 98–97 victory. Seven years later, the two teams met again in the first round, and the series went to seven games, with a game-winning block by Paul Pierce, giving the Nets the 104–103 victory. The series was also noted for controversy when Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri made derogatory remarks towards Brooklyn at a fan rally outside Maple Leaf Square in Toronto before Game 1. Ujiri later apologized at halftime.

The mascot of the New Jersey Nets was Sly the Silver Fox, who debuted on October 31, 1997 as part of the rebranding of the Nets for the 1997–98 season. Prior to that, the Nets' mascot was an anthropomorphic dragon named Duncan the Dragon.

On November 3, 2012, the Nets introduced a new team anthem titled "Brooklyn: Something To Lean On", written and recorded by Brooklyn-born musician John Forté. The song is notable for its refrain, which features the "Brooklyn" chant that has been popular with fans in the Barclays Center.

The Nets' front office in 2016 included Mikhail Prokhorov (principal owner), Brett Yormark (CEO), Sean Marks (general manager), and Jeff Gewirtz (executive vice president, business affairs & chief legal officer).

The original owner of the Nets franchise was trucking magnate Arthur J. Brown, who was the founder of the American Basketball Association team that was then known as the New Jersey Americans in 1967. The next year, Brown renamed the franchise to the New York Nets following a move to Long Island, and sold the team for $1.1 million to entrepreneur Roy Boe. Due to financial losses suffered while the team was in Long Island, Boe moved the team back to New Jersey in 1977 and sold the team a year later to a group of seven local businessmen led by Alan N. Cohen and Joseph Taub, who became known as the "Secaucus Seven".

After a lengthy ownership of the franchise and numerous attempts to improve the financial situation of the team, the "Secaucus Seven" finally sold the team in 1998 to a group of local real estate developers led by Raymond Chambers and Lewis Katz, who called themselves the "Community Youth Organization" and wanted to move the team to Newark, New Jersey. The next year the group signed an agreement with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to form YankeeNets, a holding company that owned the two teams, and later also the New Jersey Devils, and increase leverage in future broadcast contracts by negotiating together. After receiving offers from numerous broadcast partners, including what was then their current rights holder Cablevision, YankeeNets decided to launch its own regional sports television called the YES Network.

YankeeNets failed in its attempts to secure a deal with Newark to construct a new arena in the city. By that point in time, tensions between the management of the Yankees, Nets, and the Devils had cause a rift between them, and a decision was made to split the group up. With their plan to move the Nets dead, the Community Youth Organization placed the team on sale. After a short bidding process, the group secured a deal in 2004 with real estate developer Bruce Ratner to buy the team for $300 million, defeating a similar offer by Charles Kushner and Senator Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey. Ratner had purchased the team with the intent of moving it to a new arena in Brooklyn, which was to be a centerpiece of the large-scale Atlantic Yards development.

On September 24, 2009, Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's third-richest man according to "Forbes", confirmed his intention to become majority owner of the Nets. Prokhorov sent an offer to the team owners requesting that the control shareholding of the basketball club be sold to his company, Onexim, for a symbolic price. In return, Prokhorov funded a loan for the construction of a $700 million arena in Brooklyn which was later named the Barclays Center, and attracted additional funds from Western banks. Prokhorov stated that he initiated the deal to help push Russian basketball to a new level of development. On May 11, 2010, following approval from the other owners of the NBA, Prokhorov had become a principal owner of the Nets.

In late 2017, there were multiple reports of an agreement for Prokhorov to sell a 49% stake in the team to Joseph Tsai, the executive vice chairman of the Alibaba Group, with an option for Tsai to become the majority owner.

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The Nets' practice facility and headquarters for the team's basketball operations are located at the Hospital for Special Surgery Training Center (HSS Center) in the Industry City complex in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. The facility opened on February 17, 2016 and is built on the roof of an empty warehouse in the complex, occupying 70,000 square feet of space in total. The renovation project cost roughly $50 million. The opening of the training center completed the Nets' move to Brooklyn.

The team's previous practice facility was at the 65,000-square-foot PNY Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which opened in 1998. Prior to that, the team practiced at the APA Recreation Center in North Bergen, New Jersey, sharing their lockers and practice courts with truck drivers who used the facility.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in November 2012, PNY Center suffered a power outage and extensive water damage due to flooding, and for several months, the team used the smaller training spaces and practice courts inside the Barclays Center instead.

The Nets hold the draft rights to the following unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA. A drafted player, either an international draftee or a college draftee who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA teams. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA team ends. This list includes draft rights that were acquired from trades with other teams.

Bold denotes still active with the team. "Italics" denotes still active, but not with the team. "Name*" includes points scored for the team while in the ABA.
Notes:The Nets signed an agreement with the Springfield Armor to become its exclusive NBA Development League affiliate starting in the 2011–12 season. This made the Nets the second team to opt for a D-League "hybrid affiliation", the first being the Houston Rockets with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Springfield ownership maintained control over business, marketing, and day-to-day operations, with the Nets having control over coaching and player decisions. This hybrid model was well received by GMs and owners. However, after three seasons, the Pistons purchased the Armor from its former owners, and moved and renamed the team the Grand Rapids Drive.

On November 6, 2015, the Nets announced that they had purchased a new D-League team to be called the Long Island Nets. The team played their home games during the 2016–17 season at the Barclays Center and then at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York after renovations were complete for the 2017–18 season. The Long Island Nets became the twelfth D-League team to be owned by an NBA team.

The television home of the Nets is currently the YES Network, which the team helped create while they were under the corporate umbrella of YankeeNets LLC, a merger of business operations between the Nets and the New York Yankees. After the dissolution of YankeeNets and Bruce Ratner's purchase of the team, YES signed a long-term deal to keep broadcasting Nets games. The sale to the Ratner group did not include the percentage of YES that was previously owned by the Nets, which remains with the pre-merger Nets owners. Prior to that, the Nets' TV home was Fox Sports Net New York and SportsChannel New York.

The team's local broadcast partner is WWOR-TV, and games have aired on WLNY-TV in the past as well.

The current flagship radio station of the Nets is WFAN, which took over the radio rights to the Nets after losing their basketball contract with the Knicks (who moved to WEPN). Prior to that, Nets games aired on WNEW, WMCA, WVNJ, WNBC, WQEW, and WOR.

In the club's early ABA years, some Sunday road games were televised in a package carried by WPIX. The team's later ABA tenure featured more frequent road telecasts on their current broadcast partner, WWOR-TV. Known then as WOR-TV, it continued airing road games for a time once the team joined the NBA in 1976.

Ian Eagle has television duties for the Nets after the departure of Marv Albert in 2011. Eagle became the lead television voice for the team in 1995 after serving as the team's radio voice for one year, while Albert joined the Nets following his firing by MSG Network in 2005 after four decades as the lead voice of the New York Knicks. When Albert joined the broadcast team, he became the lead broadcaster with Eagle as his substitute; beginning in the 2009–10 season, due to Albert's advancing age and his other commitments, Eagle once again assumed the lead play-by-play spot. As of the 2011–12 season, Eagle is the sole lead announcer after Albert decided to move to CBS Sports for both NFL and NCAA basketball, in addition to his work on the NBA on TNT. Ryan Ruocco substitutes for Eagle during the latter's CBS NFL and NCAA commitments.

Joining Eagle in the booth for 2013 are former NBA player and ex-Net Donny Marshall and longtime Nets analyst Jim Spanarkel. Marshall replaced Mike Fratello as the lead analyst following the 2012–13 season and Spanarkel shares duties with him as he has in the past with other announcers.

WFAN is the Nets' current radio flagship, the station having assumed radio rights from WOR following the 2003–04 season. Chris Carrino and Tim Capstraw comprise the broadcast team, Carrino on play-by-play and Capstraw as the analyst.

Other broadcasters who have worked for the Nets include Howard David, Bob Papa, Bill Raftery, Kelly Tripucka, Albert King, Mike O'Koren, Spencer Ross, Mel Proctor, Joe Tait, John Sterling, Mike DiTomasso, WFAN update man John Minko and Mark Jackson.

Nets games have also aired on WNEW and WQEW in the past.

During the club's ABA years, announcers included Marty Glickman, Marv Albert's brothers Al Albert and Steve Albert, baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, Bob Goldsholl, as well as Sterling and DiTomasso. The latter two joined the club's move into the NBA.