Finally, Thursday against the rival Knicks, the Nets officially start their transformation in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Everything is bright, new, shiny. Nets gear, black and white, attractive in its simplicity, reigns — not a hideous tie-dyed uniform in sight. But an often tortured past lies beneath all the glitz.
There were great moments for the franchise that for 35 years in New Jersey, one in New York, compiled a 1,208-1,696 NBA record, experiencing 12 winning seasons, 23 losers and one .500 campaign. But for every “VC Threeee” there was a “Whoop-de-damn-doo.” For every Jason Kidd triple double there was a Chris Dudley missed free throw.
So Brooklyn, here’s a brief retrospective of your new residents, representing an organization that in 1987 drafted Dennis Hopson third, instead of wasting that pick on
No. 5 Scottie Pippen or No. 11 Reggie Miller.
COACHES
Not counting interims or those forced to finish seasons at gunpoint, there have been 13 head coaches in Nets history, starting with Kevin Loughery, ending with current leader Avery Johnson. In between: Larry Brown, Stan Albeck, Dave Wohl, Willis Reed, Bill Fitch, Chuck Daly, Butch Beard, John Calipari, Don Casey, Byron Scott and Lawrence Frank. Each made an indelible mark, some more memorable than others.
Brown was fired by owner Joe Taub late in the playoff-bound 1982-83 season after he denied reports he was interested in the Kansas job. When the Nets found Kansas baggage claim tags on his luggage before a road trip, Taub drove to Newark Airport and fired his coach.
In order to sign Kenny Anderson, the Nets released a couple of hard-working Fitch faves. The happy, smiley press conference took a downward turn when Fitch proclaimed it a “horse(bleep) decision.”
Wohl walked into Orlando Woolridge’s hotel room in Princeton during the 1987 preseason, saw what was obviously drug paraphernalia and notified ownership — who sort of looked the other way.
Calipari, as sensitive as a raw nerve ending, called a reporter who criticized him a “(bleeping) Mexican idiot.”
But it wasn’t all sideshow stuff. Scott coached the Nets to back-to-back Finals. Daly brought credibility and two playoff appearances. Frank coached the Nets in four straight postseasons.
CHARACTERS, KNUCKLEHEADS, QUOTES
Every family has the crazy uncle it’d like to banish to the kiddie table at Thanksgiving. The Nets have had their share.
Derrick Coleman uttered what is generally regarded as the most famous quote in Nets history. When Kenny Anderson, in a snit over a benching, blew off a practice but was spotted at a strip club that night, Coleman was asked about it and when reminded of Anderson’s team leader role, the power forward cemented his legacy forever with the immortal, “Whoop-de-damn-doo.”
David Vaughn was an athletically gifted, focus-challenged 6-foot-9 forward whom the Nets signed as a free agent in 1998 and brought back the following season. He became a locker room legend for leaving after one game wearing the pants of 6-5 teammate Kendall Gill.
Forward Vincent Askew was a solid NBA type, known for his defense. The Nets traded for him. He played one game in 1996. That was enough. He refused to get on a plane for games in Japan and was traded.
Guard Damon Jones, who later became a Shaquille O’Neal sidekick in Miami, was an in-season signing by the Nets in 1999. When he arrived, Jones vowed that given space, he would make three of every four shots. A reporter incredulously said, “You’re going to shoot .750?” Jones quickly replied, “I won’t shoot .750 but I’ll make
3 of 4 shots.” In 11 games, Jones made 14 of 44 shots (.318) with the Nets.
Forward Chris Morris didn’t like tying his shoelaces in shootarounds. When coach Butch Beard insisted he do so, Morris later showed up with “Trade Me” on one shoe and “Please” on the other.
Sending written messages caught on. In 1999, Stephon Marbury, who felt the roster around him was somewhere between useless and pathetic, wrote “33 All Alone” on his ankle tape, thus endearing himself to teammates and management.
Former players loved to tell the story of Darryl Dawkins playfully but deliberately flustering coach Larry Brown. With seconds remaining in a close game, Brown tried diagramming a play in the huddle. Dawkins, who had fouled out, kept interrupting. “Coach, coach.” Finally Brown relented, “What, Darryl?” he said. “Can I go back in?”
After Calipari told his players he felt a church sermon was meant for him, he repeated the tale for the media. Jayson Williams asked, “Did he tell ya he dipped his hand in the holy water and it started boiling?”
Center Yinka Dare went 769 minutes, into his third season (second full) before recording his first assist, making it one of mankind’s most anticipated moments. Dare took some good-natured ribbing in stride: “Now I’m concentrating on a 3-pointer.”
While a Knick, Micheal Ray Richardson uttered the famous, “The ship be sinking but the sky’s the limit” line. But as a Net, Richardson, the NBA’s first player permanently banned for drugs, summed up his personal philosophy: “You live. You learn. You die. And then you forget it all.”
After going 1-for-18 at the foul line against the Pacers, Chris Dudley offered, “I was experimenting.”
The first game of the Jason Kidd Era drew a crowd of 8,749 to the Meadowlands. “I think that’s pushing it,” Kidd said.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS
Some superlatives: greatest, worst, best, most historic.
In maybe the greatest press conference ever, Mikhail Prokhorov in 2010 walked in and squashed the deal for Carmelo Anthony. “I am not happy with the way the deal has gone until now. It has taken too long. It has been played out in public…There comes a time when the price is simply too expensive. I am instructing our team to walk away from the deal and the meeting that was supposed to be held by our management tomorrow in Denver with Carmelo is hereby cancelled.”
On Dec. 28, 2000, the Nets lost a game in the Meadowlands that symbolized all their frustrations. Leading 110-109, they had possession with 1.8 seconds left. Lucious Harris needed only to inbound in the backcourt but instead passed to the opposite side. Celtic Milt Palacio intercepted the pass and flung, off-balance, from 30-feet and hit a 3-pointer. “The worst,” then GM Rod Thorn assessed when asked to rate the defeat.
In arguably the best pro game ever at the Meadowlands, the Nets’ 120-109 double overtime Game 5 victory over Indiana in the 2002 Eastern Conference first round validated the season and propelled the Nets to the Finals. Reggie Miller banked a 39-footer for OT, dunked to force another OT. Then Kidd took over.
The most historic defeat the Nets ever suffered was the collapse in Game 3 of the 2002 Eastern finals in Boston. The Nets entered the fourth quarter up 21 and lost, 94-90, for the largest blown fourth-quarter lead in playoff history. “The series isn’t over,” Kidd vowed. It wasn’t. The Nets won the next three games to win the series.
They’re all yours, Brooklyn.
fred.kerber@nypost.com