As of April 30th, 12:00 am, the former New Jersey Nets belong to Brooklyn, New York. After 35 years spent in New Jersey, the Nets will join the Knicks in winning (or losing) for New York. Some are happy, some are sad, and many New Yorkers simply do not know how to react.
This year, the Nets missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive time. The team is clearly bent out of shape, and a change in scenery may do it some good. The relationship between the Nets and New Jersey has disintegrated due to lost hopes for a championship or even a playoff. As reported by The Associated Press, New Jersey governor Chris Christie expressed the sentiments of disillusioned New Jersey citizens in a recent press conference. “I’m not going to the Nets game (Monday night), and my message to the Nets is ‘goodbye.’ They want to leave here and go to Brooklyn? Good riddance.” Let’s just say losing the 25th ranked team in the NBA is probably not a big loss for New Jersey.
The question now is whether New York can handle two basketball teams. Shall we follow the quadruple-teamed state of California (Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Sacramento Kings) and the triple-teamed-state of Texas (Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, and San Antonio Spurs)? While some New Yorkers feel that Brooklyn will welcome the Nets, others say Brooklynites will not show any affection for any basketball team other than their beloved Knicks.
Many also questioned whether the Nets would be called ‘The Brooklyn Nets’ or ‘The New York Nets’. Rapper and business man Jay-Z bought a share of the Nets and planned to give them an arena, which will be unveiled in his hometown of Brooklyn. In recent games, however, the Nets have been sporting ‘New York Nets’ logos on their jerseys, which many saw as confirmation that the latter name would be the one. But, judging by the logo displayed all over the official Brooklyn Nets website and by the tagline, “Brooklyn now has a home team,” it is now quite clear that the recently spotted jersey logos meant much less than people thought.
What is to come of the Nets as they enter their new hometown and arena? Will they be able to adapt ‘The Empire State of Mind’? Only time and the number of seats filled in the new arena will tell. Stay tuned!