The New Jersey Nets began their existence in the American Basketball Association (ABA) as the New Jersey Americans. They only spent one season (1967-68) under that name before becoming the New York Nets. The Nets moved to New Jersey in 1977, after they joined the NBA as part of the merger.

The Nets now play their home games at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but they are slated to move to Brooklyn, New York, in 2011.

The Nets’ head coach is Lawrence Frank. Rap mogul Jay-Z is a member of the ownership group.

Early Years

As the New Jersey Americans, the team failed to make the playoffs. However, they began making the ABA playoffs by their second season as the New York Nets. Led by Rick Barry, they made it to the ABA Finals in 1972, but lost.

In 1973, the Nets acquired forward Julius Erving from the Virginia Squires. Erving, nicknamed “Dr. J,” was a high-flying, above-the-rim basketball artist who helped the Nets win games and gave the team — and the league — a certain cache. The NBA had more teams, and more money, but the ABA had “The Doctor.”

Erving led the Nets to two ABA titles in three years, including the last title in the history of the defunct league.

NBA Finals Appearances

While the Nets made three ABA Finals appearances, winning the title twice, they are still looking for their first NBA title. The closest they have come are the two Finals appearances they made in 2002 and 2003.

In 2001, the Nets traded point guard Stephon Marbury to the Phoenix Suns for Jason Kidd. Kidd, a perennial league leader in assists and one of the league’s best defensive point guards, immediately changed the team chemistry. The Nets finished 52-30 and beat Indiana, Charlotte (Hornets, not Bobcats) and Boston en route to the Finals, where they faced the L.A. Lakers. They were no match for Shaq, Kobe and company, however, and were swept in four games.

The Kidd-led Nets proved the 2001-02 season was no fluke, winning 49 games the following season and getting to the Finals again, this time facing the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs beat the Nets, four games to two.

Since 2003, the Nets have yet to get past the Eastern Conference semifinals.

2007-08 Season

The most significant thing to happen to the Nets in 2007-08 was the trading of Jason Kidd to the team that drafted him, the Dallas Mavericks. In return, the Nets got speedy point guard Devin Harris, gaining youth and quickness but giving away rebounding, passing, and savvy veteran leadership. The team went 34-48, failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2001 (the season before the Kidd acquisition).

2008-09 Outlook

The Nets will begin 2008-09 with a wholly different look from the start of last season. Harris replaces the departed Kidd. Richard Jefferson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jianlian. The Nets picked Stanford big man Brook Lopez with the 10th pick in the 2008 draft, and drafted Memphis shooting guard Chris Douglas-Roberts in the second round. Lawrence Frank will have to get these players on the same page in a hurry if the Nets wish to leave the state of New Jersey on a winning note.

Greatest Players

Nate Archibald, Rick Barry, Derrick Coleman, Julius Erving, Jason Kidd, Buck Williams

The Denver Nuggets first existed in the American Basketball Association, as the Denver Rockets. The ABA went under in 1976, and Denver was one of the four teams assimilated into the NBA. The Denver team name was changed to the Nuggets because Houston already had the Rockets.

The team now plays its home games at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. Their head coach is George Karl.

Early NBA Years

The Denver Nuggets had a successful beginning in the NBA, finishing with a regular season record of 50-32 and making the playoffs. They lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in six games, but they had quickly established themselves as a team to reckon with.

The 1977-78 season saw 48 regular season wins and another trip to the playoffs. This time they got all the way to the conference finals before bowing to the Seattle Supersonics, four games to two.

The Nuggets made the playoffs again in 1978-79, only to fall to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. The Nuggets failed to make the playoffs the following two seasons, but made it back in 1981-82, losing to the Phoenix Suns in the first round.

More playoff appearances

The Nuggets were a perennial playoff team in the 1980s, but rarely got past the second round. In 1984-85 they got past the Utah Jazz in the second round, only to run into the Lakers in the Conference Finals. The Lakers beat the Nuggets in five games.

The Nuggets played a part in playoff history in the 1993-94 season. As the 8th seed, they drew the Seattle Supersonics in the first round of the playoffs. The Sonics were heavily favored, with some “experts” predicting a sweep. When Seattle won the first two games in the five-game series, it looked like the “experts” might be right. But the Nuggets, led by a young Dikembe Mutombo and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson), tied the series at two apiece by winning both home games. That set up a finale in Seattle.

The Nuggets were on a mission, and they won the final game in overtime, 98-94, beating the Sonics three games to two. It was the first time in league history that an 8th seeded team defeated a number one seed.

Denver went seven games with the Utah Jazz in the following round, losing 4-3.

2007-08 Season

The Nuggets won 50 games in 2007-08, guided by smooth-shooting small forward Carmelo Anthony (drafted out of Syracuse in 2003) and high-scoring Allen Iverson (acquired via trade in 2006). The 8th-seeded Nuggets took on the eventual Western Conference champion L.A. Lakers, who swept the Nuggets in four games.

2008-09 Outlook

The Denver Nuggets find themselves looking up at the higher-tier teams in the West (Lakers, Spurs, Hornets, Suns, Mavericks). However, Anthony and Iverson are such great scorers that they are rarely out of games. If they can acquire a reliable third scoring option (preferably a big man), the Nuggets could open some eyes in the West this season.

Greatest Players

Mahmoud Abdul Rauf (Chris Jackson), Michael Adams, Carmelo Anthony, Alex English, Allen Iverson, Lafayette “Fat” Lever, Dikembe Mutombo, David Thompson, Kiki Vandeweghe

The San Antonio Spurs began their existence in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and are one of the four ABA teams that survived the 1976 merger with the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Spurs, who play at the AT&T Center, are the closest thing the modern NBA has to a dynasty, having won four league championships since 1979. One of the league’s all-time winningest franchises, they have only missed the playoffs four times since joining the NBA. That, plus 15 division titles, makes San Antonio one of the most consistently successful franchises in any sport.

The Early Years
The San Antonio Spurs began their existence as the ABA’s Dallas Chaparrals in 1967. They were moved to San Antonio in 1973 and were renamed the Spurs.

In 1974, the Spurs made one of the biggest deals in team history when they acquired George Gervin from the Virginia Squires. Gervin, nicknamed “The Iceman” for his coolness under pressure, was a scoring machine who would lead the Spurs to five division titles on his way to becoming one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players.

The Spurs were considered one of the ABA’s best teams, and when the league went under in 1976, the Spurs were brought into the NBA intact.

Led by Gervin in the 1970s and 1980s, the Spurs were a perennial playoff contender, but couldn’t get past the great teams of that era to win a title. That would have to wait nearly 20 years.

Championships

In the 1990s, with David “The Admiral” Robinson at the helm, the Spurs enjoyed great success, but like Gervin’s team, they couldn’t quite make it to the top of the NBA heap, until two things happened in 1997: the hiring of head coach Gregg Popovich, and the drafting of Tim Duncan.

Duncan, a power forward out of Wake Forest, had an immediate impact on the Spurs, and two years after his arrival, they won their first-ever NBA title, beating the New York Knicks in five games.

Injuries and the dominance of the Los Angeles Lakers caused a championship drought for the Spurs, but in 2003, bolstered by Duncan and newly-acquired point guard Tony Parker, they won their second title, beating the New Jersey Nets in six games. After the season, Robinson retired.

The Spurs returned to the Finals in the 2004-2005 season. Led by Duncan, Parker and Argentinian shooting guard Manu Ginobili, they beat the defending champion Detroit Pistons in seven games.

The 2005-06 season saw the Spurs go down to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, but in 2006-07 they came back with a vengeance, sweeping the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals.

2007-08 Season

The Spurs went 56-26 in the 2007-08 season and advanced to the conference finals despite several Western teams making huge mid-season trades to try to offset the Lakers’ acquisition of Pau Gasol. They met the Lakers in the conference final, where they lost in five games.

2008-2009 Outlook

The Spurs’ nucleus remains intact and appears to be primed for championship contention again. At 32, Duncan remains one of the game’s finest big men. Parker and Ginobili round out the “Big Three” and form one of the league’s most formidable backcourts. The Boston Celtics may be the defending champs, but no one in their right mind can count out the San Antonio Spurs.