Prudential Center
The arena was originally intended to be the home of the New Jersey Nets, but YankeeNets sold the team to Bruce Ratner, who decided he would relocate the Nets to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. However, the construction of the arena was plagued by lawsuits and economic issues during the recession. In the fall of 2009, the Nets played two preseason games at the Prudential Center, while considering a possible move there. After the success of the preseason games at the Prudential Center, the Nets finalized a deal to move to the Prudential Center. The team played for two seasons at the venue before the Barclays Center was completed in 2012 and the team officially relocated to Brooklyn. The final NBA event at the Prudential Center before the Nets' move to Brooklyn was the 2012 NBA Draft, held on June 28, 2012.
History of the Brooklyn Nets
Newly hired head coach Dave Wohl helped lead the Nets to a respectable record at the beginning of the 1985–86 season, posting a 23–14 start. New Jersey's promising start dissipated with the loss of two of its top scorers. All-Star Micheal Ray Richardson flunked a drug test for the third time and was banned from the league for life, and star center Darryl Dawkins only played 39 games due to a back injury. Long-time Nets veterans Buck Williams and Mike Gminski filled in the gap and powered the club on both offense and defense, helping the Nets earn the 7th seed in the 1986 NBA Playoffs with a 39–43 record before being swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. This would be the first of many losing seasons for the Nets, and the team would not qualify for the playoffs again until the 1991–92 season.