The New Jersey Americans were charter members of the ABA in 1967. The team moved to Commack, N.Y., the following year and changed its name to New York Nets, after one of the most important parts of the basketball game -- the net.
Also, Nets rhymed with other New York sports franchises, baseball’s Mets and football’s Jets. Before joining the NBA in 1977, the team returned to the Garden State, kept its nickname and became the New Jersey Nets.
