Brooklyn Nets: 10 best players from 1st NBA decade (1976-86)

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – MAY 1984: Buck Williams #52 of the New Jersey Nets shoots during the 1984 NBA Playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks in May 1984 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images) /

The Brooklyn Nets have had 4 different names, 8 home courts and 468 players in 51 seasons across 2 leagues. Here are their 10 best players from 1976-86.

The Brooklyn Nets have been around 51 seasons as a franchise, but just the last six as the “Brooklyn Nets.” The first nine seasons were spent in the old American Basketball Association prior to the merger of the ABA and NBA in 1976.

When the Nets came into the NBA, optimism was sky high. And why wouldn’t it have been? The New York Nets had just won the last ABA title, had won two of the last three ABA championships in all and were led by Julius Erving, who won or shared the last three ABA MVP awards.

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The Nets, along with the other ABA survivors (the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs) owed $3 million to the NBA as part of the merger settlement.

But the Nets, who were playing at Uniondale’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the time, were assessed an additional $3 million, payable to the New York Knicks, in exchange for the Knicks allowing the infringment of their territorial rights.

The New York Nets swung a huge deal less than a month after the merger was finalized on Aug. 5, 1976, when they landed All-NBA point guard Tiny Archibald from the Kansas City Kings.

TIny and Dr. J together? Sign us up!

The pairing was not to be. Erving was unhappy with his contract and was demanding to renegotiate. Owner Roy Boe had a ticking clock in the form of the $3 million due to the Knicks.

On the eve of opening night, Boe sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers in a straight-cash deal … for $3 million. And just like that, the anvil fell upon the heads of shell-shocked Nets fans.

Archibald hurt his knee and was limited to 34 games. Without Erving or Archibald, New York floundered in its inaugural NBA campaign, limping to a league-worst 22-60 record.

But at least the Nets didn’t have their own pick in 1977, having sent it to Kansas City in the Archibald trade.

The Nets moved to New Jersey in the summer of 1977, landing at the Rutgers Athletic Center for the next four, less-than-stellar, seasons.

The newly named New Jersey Nets won 24 games in 1977-78 before rebounding to post 37 wins and grab the first NBA playoff spot in franchise history the following season.

They fell back to 34 wins in 1979-80 and were 24-58 in 1980-81, a season in which longtime coach Kevin Loughery resigned after a 12-23 start.

A new era dawned for the Nets with the hiring of former UCLA coach Larry Brown for the 1981-82 season, along with a move to the brand-new Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford.

In Brown’s first year, the Nets had their first winning season as an NBA team at 44-38 before being swept out of the playoffs.

In 1982-83, New Jersey was cruising along at 47-29 late in the season when Brown abruptly quit to take the job at the University of Kansas. The Nets won just two of their final six games, got swept by the Knicks in the first round, and the name “Larry Brown” became a curse in Jersey.

The following season saw New Jersey win its first NBA playoff series, a five-game stunner over the defending champion 76ers in the first round in which the home team went 0-5 in the series.

Yes, the Nets won three games at Philadelphia’s Spectrum while the Sixers won both games at Brendan Byrne Arena. Weird series.

New Jersey made two more playoff appearances in 1985 and 1986, bowing out in three straight games each year. For the decade, the New York-New Jersey Nets were 360-460 and 5-18 in six postseason appearances.

But there were some stellar performers across that first NBA decade. Here are the best 10 of the bunch (players had to appear in 150 games in the period to qualify):

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