Brooklyn Nets Biography: Players, Net Worth, History, Stats

The Brooklyn Nets contain a fair share of history and new generation style in their franchise. The team kicked off its operation back during the ABA days. They even dominated the league at that time. However, the merger took a toll on the team, and they crumbled due to a lack of a big name and revenue. Over the years, they searched for a more foundational player. However, it ended only after the culmination of the 20th century. Why did it take so much time for the Nets, and how many transitions did they go through to reach where they are? Let’s find it all about them.

Brooklyn Nets Profile

Before moving to a comprehensive guide to the NBA franchise and its history, let’s take a brief look at the profile of this team, including the general overview of the staff and team’s assets:

Brooklyn Nets History

The Nets debuted in the basketball world through ABA, originally by the name New Jersey Americans, in 1967. However, the same year, the team’s name was changed to the New York Nets. At that time, it was under the ownership of the trucking magnate Arthur J. Brown. It was after much hassle with the transfer of the team to a different venue that the Nets got the name, New York Nets. Notably, UCLA star Lew Alcindor could have joined the Nets, but eventually, he went on to join the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

Soon, the team got Ricky Barry in the 1970s and clinched the championship in 1974 and 1976. Even before the 1974 title, the team made it to the ABA Finals in 1972, but they could not get past the Indiana Pacers. In 1973-74, the Nets got the gold of Julius Erving(Dr. J). After that, the revolutionary merger took place in the summer of 1976. After moving to the NBA, the franchise had to pay $4.8 million directly to the Knicks for “invading” the New York area. Ultimately, Erving left the franchise due to a shortage of funds. Eventually, the team crumbled and moved to New Jersey due to a lack of audience in New York.

Till 2001, the team was in a dormant phase, after which they got Jason Kidd and Chris Dudley. After 2004, Vince Carter also joined Kidd, and both of them led the Brooklyn Nets to deep playoff runs. In 2012, the franchise relocated to New York and got Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, and DJ White in 2013. After the 2019-20 season, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant tried to bring the old glory days back to the team making continuous playoffs. But after their departure, the franchise is still looking for a big star for the past two seasons.

Brooklyn Nets Stats

The 2025 season for the Brooklyn Nets is not going well, as the franchise has only garnered 20 wins out of the 55 games that they have played in the league. That’s why their winning percentage is at an all-time low in the last seven seasons in the NBA, hitting 36.4%. However, the Nets have tried to surpass themselves various times, making a deep playoff run, which can be understood by the following chart as per basketball reference:

Brooklyn Nets Famous Players

Here are the famous players who contributed to the Brooklyn Nets in their way and kept the franchise prominent during difficult times in the ABA as well as the NBA:

Julius Erving

The ‘Dr. J’, of the Nets, Julius Erving, led the team to two championships during his ABA stint with the franchise. His way of handling the ball was acrobatic and improved under pressure situations. That’s why he was so dominant in the ABA. In 2021, Erving was even named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, earning his place among the league’s greatest players.

Jason Kidd

Jason Kidd was a menace on the court for the opponents due to his basketball IQ and court vision. He took the franchise to NBA Finals back to back for two years in 2002 and 2003. He even led the whole league in assists per game for three straight seasons while playing for the Nets. Even after his retirement, Kidd stands first on first in franchise assists, steals, and triple-doubles.

Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving could have been a great prospect for the team, but his stint with the franchise was full of injuries and controversies. Yet, in such an environment, Irving became the seventh player in franchise history to score 50 points or more in a single game. During the 2021-22 season, Kyrie was looking in a good state and even led the franchise to the playoffs. However, the rivalry with the Boston Celtics cost him high as the Nets were swept in the first round of the playoffs.

Vince Carter

Vince Carter, alongside Jason Kidd, led the Brooklyn Nets to three playoffs in the league. In two of these times, the team even reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals. However, the Carter-Kidd duo could not push the franchise further. Still, Vince is the Nets’ NBA record-holder for single-season points (2,070 in 2006-07). He tallied 26 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game in 27 playoff games.

Buck Williams

Buck was a defense specialist and led the Nets in rebounding for most of the 1980s. He’s the Nets’ all-time leader in total rebounds (7,576). Under Larry Brown, Williams went to the Eastern Conference Finals but he was alone at the top to face the grave competition. He made it three times to All-Star games in his eight-year stint with the franchise.

Brooklyn Nets Roster

The 2025 roster of the Brooklyn Nets looks the same as depicted in the tabular breakdown. Currently, D’Angelo Russell is the only big name that has blessed the franchise with his presence. Apart from the former, all the others are yet to make a splash in the league. Here is the information about the roster of the Nets as per ESPN archives:

Brooklyn Nets Head Coach

The Spanish basketball coach, Jordi Fernández Torres, is the current head basketball coach of the NBA team, Brooklyn Nets. They announced Jordi as a head coach last year on June 22, 2024. Jordi was an associate head coach for the Sacramento Kings for two seasons from 2022 to 2024. Last season, he helped lead the Kings to the 2023 Pacific Division title and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference in Sacramento’s first postseason appearance since the 2005-06 season. Before Kings, Fernández spent six seasons (2016-22) as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets made four consecutive playoff appearances (2019-22) during Fernández’s time in Denver, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2020.

He had coaching experience even before the Nuggets stint, as he served two seasons (2014-16) as head coach of the Canton Charge in the NBA G League. Before the G-League, he was a player development coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers for four seasons (2009-13) and one season (2013-14) as Canton’s lead assistant coach. On an international level, Jordi is currently the head coach of Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team. He has been in charge of this position since June 2023. Last summer, he led Canada to a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup

Brooklyn Nets Owner

Joseph Tsai is currently the majority owner of the Brooklyn Nets. He is also the chairman of BSE Global, which includes the Nets’ home arena, Barclays Center. Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, purchased the Nets and Barclays Center for over $3 billion. Before Tsai, Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov was responsible for being the owner of the Nets.

Tsai hails a background with several investments in hot-shot sports leagues and teams. Originally, he was a co-founder of the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, later on, he invested in teams like New York Liberty, San Diego Seals, and Las Vegas Desert Dogs of the NLL. Currently, he is in the ownership position of all these franchises. Joseph also has involvement in Major League Soccer, the Premier Lacrosse League, and sports media and technology companies. However, there is no sum disclosure about them. Recently in June 2024, members of the Koch family acquired a 15% stake in the BSE Global(Holding company of the Nets, Barclays Center, New York Liberty) at $6 billion value.

Brooklyn Nets Net Worth

The Brooklyn Nets, as an NBA franchise, currently have a net worth of $4.8 billion, as per Forbes. The most chunk of the net worth of the Nets constitutes the revenue that the franchise generates from basketball marketing and sources. Currently, the team has an estimated revenue of about $381 million. In addition to the revenue, the franchise earns $73 million from the gate receipts.

Lastly, the average earnings from a single fan for the franchise is $24 dollars. That’s why the Brooklyn Nets stand eighth on the NBA’s most valuable teams list.

Brooklyn Nets Stadium

The Brooklyn Nets home stadium for hosting the home games is at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The arena is located at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. For basketball games, the Nets’ home arena can accumulate 17,732 audience in the stands. However, for concerts, the capacity for the audience in the arena is about 19,000.

The arena was designed by SHoP Architects and AECOM with the purpose of having intimate seating configurations and excellent sightlines. Barclays Center was opened in 2012 and has won several awards, including the 2013 Sports Business Awards Facility of the Year. The other amenities that the arena includes, apart from its traditional services, are 101 luxury suites, 40/40 CLUB, and Qatar Airways Club.

Brooklyn Nets Championships

The Brooklyn Nets have won two championships since their inception in the basketball world. However, the franchise has not won these championships while playing in the NBA. Rather, they won it in ABA, where they used to play for the New York Nets franchise. Let’s go through the title achievements that the Nets scored during their golden championship:

1974 ABA Championship:

The 1974 ABA Championship was played by the New York Nets, with the Utah Stars team on the other end. The Nets kept the lead from the starting three games. However, the Stars team gave the hopes of a comeback as they won the Game 4 by 11 point margin (89-97). The Nets hit the final nail in Utah’s coffin as soon as they returned for Game 5 and won the championship by 4-1.

Julius Erving was the start for the New York Nets, averaging 28.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. It was spectacular for the ABA fans to witness such a performance. To back Julius up, there was a player like Brian Taylor, who shot 66.3% beyond the curve. It facilitated a setting where the opponent was always confused about the Nets’ paint shot attempts and three-point line attempts.

1976 ABA Championship:

Before the merger of the ABA and NBA on June 17, 1976, the New York Nets took the last title of the league as well. This time, they played against the Denver Nuggets in the ABA Finals, where the game streak was stretched to six games. At first, Erving 45 points in Game 1 led the Nets to the win. However, the Nuggets won the second game despite Julius Erving dishing out 48 points. The New York Nets tried to keep the reigns of the championship steady as they maintained a 3-1 lead. But the Denver Nuggets fought back and won the Game 5.

Trailing by 22 points in the second half of Game 6, the Nets stormed back for a 112-106 win to claim the ABA’s final championship. John Williamson scored 24 points in the second half, including 16 in the fourth quarter. Julius dished out 37.7 points in the finals and 34.7 over 13 playoff games. Therefore, he earned the ABA playoffs MVP for the second time in three years.

Brooklyn Nets Records

Brooklyn Nets have set up various records from their ABA days as well. However, in the NBA, they are not quite monumental in holding on to big accolades. Yet they were able to make deep playoff runs, challenging teams like Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Toronto Raptors in the league. The Brooklyn Nets continue to be a formidable team in the NBA, with a bright future ahead as they build towards championship contention. Here is a breakdown of the records that the Brooklyn Nets got while playing in the NBA with players like Kyrie Irving and Buck Williams, among others.