The New York football and baseball clubs, the Mets and Jets, inspired the selection of the name Nets. When the team joined the NBA in 1976, it changed its name to the New York Nets and moved its headquarters to Long Island. The Brooklyn Nets were originally known as the New Jersey Americans when they were founded in 1967 in New Jersey.

The Nets had a difficult and exhausting route after entering the NBA, but in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the team experienced a golden era with young center Buck Williams and coach Larry Brown at the helm.

The legendary Julius Erving, sometimes known as Dr. J, led the Brooklyn Nets to back-to-back ABA titles in 1974 and 1976. The franchise changed its name once more to the New Jersey Nets after joining the NBA in 1976 along with four other ABA teams.
The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, the Brendan Byrne Arena (now the Prudential Center) in New Jersey, and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn are just a few of the venues where the Nets have played over the years.