By Wyatt Erchak

Where Brooklyn at? It’s BK, all day, currently in Nets Nation. As Barclays would have you know, sports and entertainment have been brought back to the borough after 55 long years, following the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers’ sad departure. As someone who would be a Dodgers fan if they were still residents of the Empire State, it warms my heart to see a team take up the mantle.

In New Jersey, the Nets were a team that I rooted for despite many less-than-stellar performances. After all, they were “the other team,” and as the late rapper Big L said, “I’m from New York but never was a fan of the Knicks.” Now that they have returned to NY, they are the other New York team once again.

The Clash of Boroughs is a real contest, with the Nets slated to play the Knicks for the final time today, and the rivalry so far this season stands at 2-1 in favor of the latter. This rivalry is exciting, drawing in new fans with the promise of spirited competition. Flashy title aside, fans will appreciate this fresh dynamic all the more with a proper reading of franchise history.

The Nets have always been a team of movement, representing New Yorkers and tri-staters not necessarily tied to the Big Apple, but including them as well. At least when compared to the Knicks, the Nets have never been monolithic in what they stand for. Even now situated in Brooklyn, the single-borough status would only hold true if Mikhail Prokhorov, Jay-Z and the Nets ownership decided to take down the championship banners and retired jerseys hanging over the court in Barclays Center. Since this has not taken place, and will never happen as long as this team still has fans, the history continues.

Founded in 1966, the Nets began their story as the New York Americans, in the process helping to establish the American Basketball Association. The rivalry with the Knicks began immediately as the Americans were set to play in what should have been their proper venue: the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan. The Knicks, threatened by another team in the New York area, forced the Americans out and pressured them into playing in Teaneck, where they became the New Jersey Americans (refusing to be intimidated, they kept “New York Americans” as their franchise name).

In their first season, the young team reached the Eastern Division playoffs and moved to Commack on Long Island. Here, the Nets franchise truly took off when the team was officially renamed the New York Nets in 1968. After stumbling their way through the early 1970’s and moving again to Uniondale, the Nets advanced to the ABA finals in 1972, losing to the Indiana Pacers four games to two. The basketball had begun to roll that year, with the team soon achieving glory with Julius Erving, a player like none other.

The Nets acquired Erving, the legendary “Dr. J,” in 1973. He would not only be named MVP, but would take the team to the 1974 ABA Finals, defeating the Utah Stars and winning the Nets their first national championship. The success continued in subsequent years, with the Nets making the playoffs in 1975 and earning the distinction of a victory over the Denver Nuggets in the last ever ABA championship in 1976. Erving again had the honor of being named MVP. While 1976 was an incredible year for an incredible team, it would also turn out to be one of its worst, with the Knicks once again employing mafia-like tactics to stop their rise.

In the summer of 1976, the ABA and NBA finally merged. In order to join the new organization, the Nets dutifully payed $3.2 million. The Knicks, averse to the idea of another New York team in the NBA and feeling somehow that the Nets were “invading” their turf, forced the organization to charge their team an additional $4.8 million. In their desperation, the Nets, only a decade old and strapped for cash after the initial payment, were forced to offer Erving a lower salary.

Understandably, Erving refused to play under these conditions. The Nets offered him to the Knicks in return for waiving their fee, an offer they predictably refused. In the end, the Nets were forced to trade Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers and became victims of extortion. With their star player lost, the Nets joined the NBA with little hope of continuing their success. It would take the Nets several years in the new setting to reclaim some of their lost glory.

You can follow Wyatt on Twitter @wizzytheandal and check out his blog here.