This Day in History: ABA New York Nets Merge to NBA

June 17 is a special anniversary for Brooklyn Nets fans. On this day, 48 years ago, the Nets, then the New York Nets playing at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY, merged with the NBA from the American Basketball Association.

Having just won the 1976 ABA championship, New York was led by Hall-of-Famer Julius Erving, Brian Taylor, and John Williamson. The team would relocate to New Jersey, playing at the Rutgers Athletic Center (famously nicknamed, the RAC) after their first season in the NBA (1976-77).

The Nets merged with three more ABA teams: the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, and Indiana Pacers, with New York being the only of the four to relocate cities. The team would see huge changes almost immediately, separately dealing Erving, Taylor, and Williamson in six months between September 1976 and February 1977.

Notable assets in return included Tiny Archibald (acquired by sending Taylor to the Kings), and the draft pick that became Bernard King (acquired by sending Williamson to the Pacers).

In their final game at Nassau Coliseum, New York lost to Indiana 89-88. Funny enough, the Nets' first NBA game also ended in a one-point contest, this time coming with a win against the Golden State Warriors, 104-103.

Their first season would be an adjustment to the NBA, going 22-60. Losing seasons would follow until the 1981-82 season, however, New Jersey would sneak into the playoffs in 1979, despite going 37-45.

The 1976 merger represented something larger than four teams joining a bigger league. The ABA had already introduced the three-point shot, which later became a part of the NBA in 1979, and would change basketball history as we know it. Who knows how long the revolution of the three-pointer would have been delayed if this merger hadn't happened?

The end of the decade would see the Nets trade King to Utah, but then start their first full decade in the NBA with five-straight playoff appearances, an impressive feat considering they had been an NBA team for just 10 years.

Without this merger, we may have seen the Nets in the NBA for a long time, if at all. You can't write the history of the Brooklyn Nets without mentioning Dr. J, the New York Nets and their time in the ABA, and the famous 1976 merger.