{"id":2124893,"date":"2026-09-02T17:57:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T14:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2124893"},"modified":"2026-09-02T17:57:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T14:57:31","slug":"the-nets-almost-became-the-swamp-dragons-in-the-90s-now-theyre-hosting-a-night-to-celebrate-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2124893","title":{"rendered":"The Nets almost became the Swamp Dragons in the \u201990s. Now they\u2019re hosting a night to celebrate it"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Brooklyn Nets are refurbishing a bit of history \u2026 sort of.<\/p>\n

The franchise announced Wednesday that it will have a \u201cSwamp Dragons\u201d night this season, celebrating a moment three decades ago when the then-New Jersey Nets nearly changed their name as part of a rebrand initiative that ultimately wasn\u2019t approved.<\/p>\n

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The themed night, which will take place Jan. 29 against the LA Clippers and feature a bobblehead giveaway, is one of six \u201cEras Nights\u201d the franchise will hold throughout the upcoming season to honor players, teams and milestones that have helped make up its 60-year history, dating back to the ABA. The other nights include an ABA-themed celebration on Nov. 18, a 1980s night on Dec. 18, a 1990s night on Jan. 9, a 2000s night on March 15, and a \u201cHello Brooklyn\u201d celebration on March 31 that commemorates the team\u2019s move to the borough in 2012.<\/p>\n

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{“endpoint”:”https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql”}<\/p>\n

They will also unveil a 60th anniversary logo that will incorporate iterations of the franchise\u2019s previous eras.<\/p>\n

What are the Swamp Dragons, you ask? In 1995, the franchise nearly changed its name to the New Jersey Swamp Dragons after team president Jon Spoelstra (the father of current Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra) introduced a new branding concept to then-NBA creative director Tom O\u2019Grady. The Nets\u2019 attendance was woeful in the mid-1990s, and Spoelstra believed his organization was struggling to get out of the shadows of the New York Knicks after moving from Long Island to New Jersey in 1977.<\/p>\n

The name, logo and color change received 26 of 27 votes for approval from the owners on the NBA\u2019s board of governors. The one owner who didn\u2019t approve, therefore stopping the rebrand? David Gerstein, a Nets co-owner who had the vote that day and changed his mind despite all seven of New Jersey\u2019s owners previously agreeing to the rebrand before the board of governors meeting.<\/p>\n

Now, more than 30 years later, the Nets and their fans will be able to see what could have been.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Brooklyn Nets are refurbishing a bit of history \u2026 sort of. The franchise announced Wednesday that it will have a \u201cSwamp Dragons\u201d night this season, celebrating a moment three decades ago when the then-New Jersey Nets nearly changed their name as part of a rebrand initiative that ultimately wasn\u2019t approved. Advertisement The themed night, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2124893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2124893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2124893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2124893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2124893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}