50 free Brooklyn Nets trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Brooklyn Nets trivia quiz covers a nomadic franchise: the New Jersey Americans of 1967, the Long Island years and Julius Erving's two ABA championships, the invasion fee that forced his sale to Philadelphia, the Meadowlands, Dražen Petrović, the aborted Swamp Dragons rebrand, and Jason Kidd's back-to-back Finals runs. Then comes Brooklyn: Bruce Ratner, Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z, the Barclays Center opener delayed by Hurricane Sandy, the Garnett–Pierce trade that handed Boston a decade of picks, Kenny Atkinson's rebuild, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden's short-lived Big Three, Joe Tsai, and the pick-hoarding reset under Jordi Fernández. Questions run from easy to hard with the difficulty shown on each one. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Under what name did the Nets franchise begin play in 1967?
New Jersey Americans
They were a charter member of the ABA and played in the Teaneck Armory before moving to Long Island a year later.
Q 02Which of these was NOT one of the four ABA teams absorbed into the NBA in the 1976 merger?
Kentucky Colonels
The Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis were left out; all four survivors remain in the league today.
Q 03Which Hall of Famer led the New York Nets to ABA championships in 1974 and 1976?
Julius Erving
'Dr. J' was league MVP both years; the 1976 title came from a 22-point comeback at Nassau Coliseum in the ABA's final game.
Q 04To join the NBA, the Nets had to pay an 'invasion fee' of $4.8 million to which team?
New York Knicks
The other three ABA arrivals paid nothing extra because they had no NBA neighbours; the bill forced the sale of the team's superstar to Philadelphia.
Q 05What was the immediate on-court result of the Nets selling their star's contract to the 76ers in 1976?
They went from ABA champions to the NBA's worst record
Owner Roy Boe had reneged on a promised raise; Erving refused to report and Philadelphia paid $3 million, roughly the Nets' NBA entry fee.
Q 06'Dr. J' got his 'Doctor' nickname from whom?
A high-school friend
Leon Saunders coined it; Erving in turn called Saunders 'the Professor'.
Q 07Where did the Nets play for four seasons from 1977 while the Meadowlands arena was built?
Rutgers Athletic Center
The Piscataway gym held them until Brendan Byrne Arena opened in 1981; that building was later the Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center.
Q 08Which Croatian sharpshooter starred for the Nets before dying in a car accident in Germany in June 1993?
Dražen Petrović
He was 28; the Nets retired his number 3 that year and he was later inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Q 09What did team president Jon Spoelstra try to rename the Nets in 1994 to shed their bad image?
New Jersey Swamp Dragons
The name nodded to the Meadowlands marshes; ownership backed out before it took effect.
Q 10Which power forward, 1982 Rookie of the Year, was the franchise's 1980s rebounding mainstay?
Buck Williams
He made three All-Star teams and four All-Defensive first teams in a 17-year career.
Q 11Whom did the Nets take first overall in the notoriously weak 2000 draft?
Kenyon Martin
The Cincinnati forward became a key piece of the Finals teams; Boston fans later mocked him as a 'fake' tough guy.
Q 12The June 2001 trade that brought Jason Kidd to New Jersey sent which All-Star point guard to Phoenix?
Stephon Marbury
Marbury had made the All-Star team but the Nets never reached the playoffs with him starting; Kidd took them to two straight Finals.
Q 13Who swept the Nets in the 2002 NBA Finals?
Los Angeles Lakers
Shaq and Kobe completed a three-peat; the Nets returned the next year and lost to San Antonio in six.
Q 21The Nets became the first major-league team in Brooklyn since which club left in 1957?
The Dodgers
The 2013 grey alternate uniform used Dodger blue as a tribute.
Q 22Why was the Nets' first regular-season game at Barclays Center, against the Knicks, postponed?
Hurricane Sandy
The rescheduled game on November 26, 2012 was won by Brooklyn 96–89 in overtime.
Q 23What NBA landmark did Jason Kidd reach in 2013-14, his first season running the Nets' bench?
Won a Game 7 as a rookie head coach
Q 14Which team beat the Nets in the 2003 NBA Finals?
San Antonio Spurs
The series was tied 2–2 before San Antonio closed it out; Kidd then re-signed citing 'unfinished business' in New Jersey.
Q 15Which team traded Vince Carter to the Nets in December 2004?
Toronto Raptors
'Half Man, Half Amazing' joined Kidd and Richard Jefferson; the deal seeded a lasting rivalry with Toronto.
Q 16What did the Nets get from Dallas when they traded Jason Kidd in February 2008?
Devin Harris, players, cash and two firsts
Harris made an All-Star team in New Jersey; Kidd went on to win a title with the Mavericks in 2011.
Q 17Which real-estate developer bought the Nets in 2004 with the intention of moving them to Brooklyn?
Bruce Ratner
The YankeeNets group sold after failing to land a Newark arena; the Barclays Center anchored his Atlantic Yards project.
Q 18Which Russian billionaire bought a controlling stake in the Nets in a deal closed in 2010?
Mikhail Prokhorov
He later apologised in an open letter for his free-spending approach and sold the team in 2019.
Q 19Which rapper, a minority owner, announced in 2011 that the team would be the Brooklyn Nets?
Jay-Z
He also played the first event at Barclays Center, a sold-out concert on September 28, 2012.
Q 20Where did the Nets play their final two New Jersey seasons, 2010–12?
Prudential Center in Newark
They lost their last New Jersey game 105–87 to Philadelphia in front of a sellout of 18,711.
He then left for Milwaukee a year later, with the Bucks sending two second-round picks for his coaching rights.
Q 24The four picks Brooklyn sent Boston in the 2013 Garnett–Pierce trade turned into which players?
Smart, Jaylen Brown, Tatum and Sexton
The 'superteam' of Williams, Johnson, Pierce, Garnett and Lopez lasted one season; the Celtics got a decade.
Q 25Which coach, hired in 2016, led the post-Prokhorov rebuild and resigned midway through 2019–20?
Kenny Atkinson
GM Sean Marks made clear the rebuild would take years; a Hall of Fame point guard with no coaching experience replaced Atkinson for the Durant era.
Q 26Kevin Durant signed with the Nets in July 2019 having just suffered what injury in the Finals?
A torn Achilles
He missed all of 2019–20; Kyrie Irving arrived the same summer and played just 20 games before shoulder surgery.
Q 27Which retired Hall of Fame point guard was hired as Nets head coach in 2020 with no coaching experience?
Steve Nash
He was dismissed at 2–5 in November 2022 and Jacque Vaughn took over.
Q 28James Harden did what in his January 2021 Nets debut, a franchise first?
Recorded a triple-double
He was only the seventh player in NBA history to do it in a team debut; Durant, Irving and Harden all made the 2021 All-Star Game.
Q 29The Nets' 2021 Big Three lost a seven-game semi-final to which team, with Durant's toe on the line?
Milwaukee Bucks
Irving sprained his ankle on Giannis's foot and Harden strained a hamstring; the Bucks went on to win the title.
Q 30Whom did the Nets receive from Philadelphia when they traded James Harden in February 2022?
Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Drummond and two firsts
Simmons did not play at all that season; Harden had requested out citing his relationship with Durant.