Brooklyn Nets’ New NBA D-League Team to Begin Play at Barclays Center in 2016-17
(Long Island, NY) The Brooklyn Nets unveiled the logo and uniform for the team’s new NBA Development League (D-League) franchise, the Long Island Nets, which pays homage to the team’s heritage on Long Island.
The logo is red, white and blue, the colors of the American Basketball Association’s New York Nets, who played at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island from 1972-76, winning two championships in 1974 and 1976. Following the completion of its extensive renovation, the new Nassau Coliseum will become the permanent home of the Long Island Nets starting with the 2017-18 season.
The team will play its home games during the 2016-17 inaugural season at Barclays Center and hold practices at the recently opened HSS Training Center in Brooklyn.
The logo features the ‘Nets’ wordmark in red script, reminiscent of the Nets’ logo used from 1968-78. The wordmark appears against a black and white basketball with a ‘Long Island, New York’ mark in a circular shape that mirrors the secondary logo of the Brooklyn Nets.
The stars within the circular logo pay tribute to the ABA Nets’ uniforms, which the team began wearing in February 1972. There are six stars to represent the Long Island Nets’ status as the sixth man of the Brooklyn Nets organization.
The team’s home uniforms will be white with ‘NETS’ across the chest in blue, and their road jerseys are blue and feature ‘LONG ISLAND’ across the chest in red.
“There are many ways to construct a team, and having the ability to build from within with our D-League team is very important,” said Brooklyn Nets General Manager Sean Marks. “We must be strategic and systematic, and utilizing the Long Island Nets for player development is a big key to our overall plan.”
The Long Island Nets have hired Alton Byrd as Vice President of Business Operations. With more than 20 years of experience in sports and brand marketing, including stints with the NBA and NFL, Byrd most recently served as Chief Revenue Officer of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, where he oversaw the corporate sponsorship, ticket sales, and marketing departments. Byrd will oversee all business operations for the Long Island Nets.
“We are proud to bring the Nets brand back to Long Island, and to establish synergy between the team’s storied roots at Nassau Coliseum and its contemporary history in Brooklyn,” said Brett Yormark, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. “As an experienced and innovative sales and marketing leader, Alton will help lay the foundation for the Long Island Nets as we introduce our new team to the market.”
Click here to download an image of the jerseys and the Long Island Nets’ primary logo. For more information, please visit longislandnets.com and follow @longislandnets on Twitter and Instagram.
About the Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets, presented by SecureWatch24, were officially launched in April 2012 and play their home games at Barclays Center located at the crossroads of Brooklyn, Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. A member of the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, the Nets advanced to the NBA Playoffs in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Prior to its relocation to Brooklyn, the team was called the New Jersey Nets. Starting in 1977, the Nets played their first four seasons in New Jersey at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, before moving in 1981 to Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford (later renamed Continental Airlines Arena and IZOD Center). They remained in East Rutherford for 29 seasons until relocating to the Prudential Center in Newark in 2010. The Nets have reached the postseason 19 times, won four Atlantic Division titles and two Eastern Conference Championships, reaching the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. Prior to joining the NBA, the team was a member of the ABA and was called the New York Nets. Playing their home games at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, the Nets won two ABA championships in 1974 and 1976. Opened on February 17, 2016, Hospital for Special Surgery Training Center in Brooklyn’s Industry City is the new training facility of the Nets.
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