Nothing but Nets

It's been a long, strange journey from team's ABA roots

Everyone knows the New Jersey Nets have come a long way to reach the NBA Finals, but not everyone realizes just how far the team has truly traveled. I'm willing to bet that not even the Nets players appreciate the franchise's colorful history. When they suit up in the comfortable locker room at Continental Airlines Arena, their minds don't drift back to the Island Garden or Commack Arena, two of the rinky-dink gyms in which the New York Nets of the early ABA played their games.

I'm guessing that Jason Kidd has never heard of his Nets playmaking predecessors, Bill Melchionni and Brian Taylor. Kenyon Martin, New Jersey's current enforcer, has no idea that the Nets once had another flagrant-fouling forward named Wendell Ladner, who once fired his sneaker at a player going in for an uncontested layup. Kerry Kittles probably doesn't know much at all about John Williamson, who once filled Kittles' role as shooting guard and 3-point marksman. Center Todd MacCulloch most likely isn't aware that all he needs is a sweeping hook shot to be Billy "The Whopper" Paultz. Keith Van Horn probably doesn't realize that the Nets had another long-armed forward, Larry Kenon, who played a similar game -- heavy on the scoring, light on the rebounding..

Photo Gallery After a successful run in the ABA, where they won two championships in the league's nine-year existence, the New Jersey Nets haven't made much noise ... until this season. CNNSI.com, with the use of photos from Sports Illustrated, looks back at some of the key players and noteworthy times in Nets history. Exit here for memory lane.

Unless you grew up as I did, on Long Island in the '70s, chances are you don't know much about the Nets' roots either, beyond Julius Erving and Rick Barry. The names Levern Tart, Manny Leaks and Willie Sojourner mean nothing to you. You can't identify Lurch (Ron Taylor), Trooper (Tom Washington) or Super John (Williamson). But if you happened to be paying attention to the Nets in those days, this latest run at a championship probably has you feeling more than a little nostalgic. I won't pretend that I was a true Nets fan during their ABA days. Like most people in New York, even on the Island, I rooted for the Knicks, with Walt Frazier and Willis Reed. The Nets were more of a guilty pleasure, the girl you snuck out to see after you had dropped your date off at home. Even before Dr. J arrived in a 1973 trade with the Virginia Squires, the Nets were a blast to watch -- and not just for the basketball.

They played their early games at Commack, an ice skating rink with a basketball floor rather haphazardly placed over it. There were patches of uncovered ice between the stands and the court, making it more than a trifle chilly. During one game, the arena was so cold that the Denver Rockets wore overcoats and gloves on the bench. From there, the Nets moved to the Island Garden, which was warmer, but equally uncomfortable in other ways. The Garden also hosted other events, like the circus, and there were games at which the fans and players had to endure the fresh, uh, aroma of elephant dung.

Eventually, the Nets worked their way onto television for a few games a season, on Channel 11, WPIX, in New York. I finally got a look at players I knew only from box scores in Newsday, like Tart, their best player, Leaks and Sojourner. The telecasts were pure, raw ABA. I remember broadcaster Marty Glickman lining up his halftime interviews on the air. While the players warmed up for the second half, viewers watched as Glickman would yell, "Julius! Julius Erving, come on over and talk to the fans at home for a minute!" Sure enough, the Doctor would saunter over and chat. Glickman's broadcast partner for at least one season was Bob Gibson. Yes, that Bob Gibson, the Hall of Fame pitcher. Don't ask me why.

When Erving joined the team, he quickly became an underground sensation with those who had seen him spreading the gospel to those who hadn't. His dunks, of course, were amazing, but it was often the aftermath that impressed me most. He would take off from the left side of the basket, fly over to the right, and slam the ball through backward, almost as an afterthought. Then he would lope back down the floor, Afro pushing against the wind like a sail, without even taking a look back at the poor player he'd posterized. Doc was just too cool.

Erving led the Nets to the championship in the ABA's last season, 1975-76. The following fall the franchise joined the NBA and, in one of the great blunders in sports history, traded Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets have never been worth paying attention to since, not until now, as they take a run at their first NBA title. For the sake of The Whopper, Super John and Dr. J, not to mention every fan who ever froze his tail off at Commack, I hope they get it.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com, writing the Hot Button column every Monday.

 

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