The Brooklyn Nets were established in 1967 in New Jersey as a charter franchise of the NBA’s rival league, the American Basketball Association. They were known as the New Jersey Americans during their first season, before moving to Long Island in 1968 and changing their name to the New York Nets. The Nets joined the NBA in 1976, and later in 1977, they returned to New Jersey as the New Jersey Nets. Thirty-five years later, the Nets moved back to New York and became the Brooklyn Nets.