Brooklyn Nets: 7 Hall of Famers many people forget were Nets

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UNIONDALE, NY – 1976: Tiny Archibald #1 of the New Yorkl Nets warms up before a game circa 1976 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1976 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Tiny Archibald (34 games, 1976-77)

It may be hard for a new generation of Brooklyn Nets fans to understand just how optimistic the fan base was in the summer of 1976, when their championship club in the ABA was granted admittance to the NBA as part of the merger deal between the rival leagues.

The New York Nets had just won their second ABA title in three years, had the most exciting player on the planet in Julius Erving and were going to take the “big” league by storm. We all knew it.

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The stakes were raised in September 1976 when the Nets traded All-Star point guard Brian Taylor along with backup center Jim Eakins and their 1977 and 1978 first-round picks (both of which wound up being No. 2 overall) to the Kansas City Kings for All-NBA point guard Tiny Archibald.

Bronx native Archibald teaming up Roosevelt’s favorite son Dr. J to bring an NBA title to Long Island? It was too good to be true.

No, really, it was too good to be true.

The Nets, along with the other ABA survivors — the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs — would pay $3.2 million to the NBA, with the balance due by Sept. 15, 1976.

But the Uniondale-based Nets were also ordered to pay the New York Knicks an indemnity of roughly $48 million over 10 years, with the first $4.8 million due before the season opener on Oct. 23.

The Nets offered Erving to the Knicks in exchange for waiving the first cash payment. The Knicks refused and on the eve of the opener, the Nets sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers for $3 million.

With Archibald now the club’s No. 1 option, the disspirited club got off to a 12-21 start before Archibald tore his ACL in a 139-110 blowout loss at the hands of the 76ers at Nassau Coliseum on Jan. 2, 1977. He had averaged 20.5 points, 7.5 assists and 1.7 steals in 37.6 minutes per game.

In September 1977, Archibald was traded to the Buffalo Braves for center George Johnson and first-round picks in 1978 and 1979.

Archibald had made three All-Star appearances and four All-NBA teams with the Kings and in 1972-73 had become the first player in league history to lead the league in scoring and assists in the same season.

Archibald never played for the Braves, rupturing his Achilles during the preseason. Traded to the Boston Celtics, he revived his career with three more All-Star trips, an All-NBA nod in 1980-81 and an NBA championship in 1981.

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