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Brooklyn Nets: 10 best seasons in franchise history

By Phil Watson

BOSTON - MAY 31: The New Jersey Nets Keith Van Horn (#44), and his teammates, including Jason Collins, next to him celebrate as time runs out on the Celtics season. Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals, featuring the Boston Celtics and the New Jersey Nets. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - MAY 31: The New Jersey Nets Keith Van Horn (#44), and his teammates, including Jason Collins, next to him celebrate as time runs out on the Celtics season. Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals, featuring the Boston Celtics and the New Jersey Nets. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets
LANDOVER, MD – CIRCA 1982: Buck Williams #52 of the New Jersey Nets shoots over Jeff Ruland #43 of the Washington Bullets during an NBA basketball game circa 1982 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. Williams played for the Nets from 1981-89. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Buck Williams; Jeff Ruland /

The Brooklyn Nets franchise has played 51 seasons across the ABA and NBA. What seasons stand out? Here are the 10 best seasons the Nets have had.

It’s true that the Brooklyn Nets franchise has had more bad that good since joining the NBA as part of its merger with the ABA in 1976. In 42 NBA seasons, the Nets have just 19 playoff appearances and have topped the .500 mark just 14 times.

They experienced much more success in the ABA, reaching the postseason in each of the league’s last seven seasons, winning two championships in three Finals appearances.

Although they had only four winning seasons, the final three years in the ABA still rank as the best regular seasons in franchise history.

But what makes up a “best season”? Is it just about win-loss record? Not really, because as fans of the Dallas Mavericks would attest, a 67-win season in 2006-07 is not remembered as the franchise’s best year because of an ignominous first-round exit in the playoffs.

So is it all about postseason success? Not exactly. A great playoff run such as the one put together by the eighth-seeded New York Knicks in 1999 didn’t change the fact it was a team that was just four games better than .500 on the regular season.

It’s both regular season and playoff results that matter, along with other factors such as whether or not the team improved or got worse, how it performed relative to the rest of the league in terms of net ratios and some intangibles as well.

After throwing everything into the hopper and weighing it all, here are the 10 best seasons in the history of the Brooklyn Nets franchise.

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