{"id":253162,"date":"2021-05-19T05:32:56","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T02:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nets-big-3-can-alter-franchises-tortured-history\/"},"modified":"2021-05-19T05:32:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T02:32:56","slug":"nets-big-3-can-alter-franchises-tortured-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nets-big-3-can-alter-franchises-tortured-history\/","title":{"rendered":"#Nets’ Big 3 can alter franchise’s tortured history"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Nets’ Big 3 can alter franchise’s tortured history<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

Here\u2019s the thing about the Nets:<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t even get full credit for authoring one of the truly great curses in the history of sports. Think about it: There was a cottage industry crafted around the Red Sox selling off Babe Ruth. There were plays written about the Cubs\u2019 refusal to let Billy Sianis\u2019 goat into Wrigley Field for the 1945 World Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those were the Granddaddies of Curses. But even lesser ones get more burn: the Arizona Cardinals (when they were based in Chicago) having stolen the 1925 NFL Championship from the Pottsville Maroons. The Lions trading Bobby Layne in 1958. The Indians trading Rocky Colavito in 1960. The Rangers burning the mortgage inside the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n

On and on.<\/p>\n

But what of the Curse of the Doctor?<\/p>\n

What about the Nets selling Julius Erving at the absolute peak of his power, on Oct. 21, 1976? Roy Boe, the Nets\u2019 owner, was hemorrhaging money: he owed the Knicks a $4 million indemnity fee for joining the NBA. He already had paid the NBA a $3.2 million entry fee. Erving was demanding a new $500,000 annual contract.<\/p>\n

And Boe barely had a pot to \u2026 well, cry in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a call Monday,\u201d Nets GM Bill Melchionni said on the day the music died for the final ABA champs, \u201cand I was told, \u2018We have no choice. Make the best deal you can.\u2019\u200a\u201d<\/p>\n

In the short term, it began a period of grievous exodus among the New York\u2019s kid brothers: over the next 10 months the Nets, Mets and Jets parted ways with Erving, Tom Seaver and Joe Namath, who hadn\u2019t merely starred for their teams, but had made each one credible.<\/p>\n

In the 45 years since, those teams have combined for one (1) title. The Mets have tortured their fans plenty. The Jets could be arrested for the mental cruelty they regularly inflict.<\/p>\n

But the Nets \u2026<\/p>\n

Well, the Nets\u2019 list of transgressions is equal parts baroque and bizarre, calamitous and catastrophic, dreadful and deplorable. They have mostly been buffoonish losers these past 45 years with the occasional dollop of prosperity, with looming dread and doom always lurking in the next room.<\/p>\n

Maybe the Big 3 can alter that course.<\/p>\n

\"Kyrie
Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden can alter a long, tortured Nets history.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maybe Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving can slam the trunk shut on 4 \u00bd decades of futility that has defined just about every second the Nets have been members in good standing of the NBA.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny, too. When the Nets played with a red, white and blue ball, they were a refreshing and often feel-good alternative for New York basketball fans, even in a time when those fans were mostly engrossed by the best Knicks teams ever formed.<\/p>\n

The 1972 Nets made the ABA Finals during Rick Barry\u2019s brief time here. In both 1974 and 1976, the Nets won titles behind the ascending brilliance of Erving, who made dunking fashionable and allowed the Nets to fill the void of the post-championship Knicks.<\/p>\n

That first NBA season, the Nets had a pretty formidable Big 3 lined up \u2014 Erving, Tiny Archibald, Super John Williamson. Their first NBA game<\/a>, Oct. 22, 1976, against Barry and Golden State, was to be nationally televised. The Nets were fixing to zoom past the Knicks.<\/p>\n