Brooklyn Nets Logo PNG
These athletes are dedicated to American basketball and focus on the game. Therefore, the “Brooklyn Nets” club chose a heraldic logo. Although the triangle resembles the classic shield it once was, it forever captures the spirit of competition and the will to win.
The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in Brooklyn, New York City. The team was founded in 1967 and began playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976, joining the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.
The club was established in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA), a league competing with the NBA. During the first season, the team played in New Jersey as the “New Jersey Americans.” In 1968, they moved to Long Island and changed their name to the “New York Nets.” They played under this name until 1977. Then, they returned to New Jersey and played as the “New Jersey Nets” from 1977 to 2012. In 2012, the team moved to Brooklyn and was renamed the “Brooklyn Nets.”
The name “Nets” was chosen because it rhymes with “Mets” and “Jets” – two other New York teams. The former is from Major League Baseball, and the latter is from the American Football League. Additionally, the word “nets” directly relates to basketball.
Arthur Brown was the franchise’s first owner. After the debut season, he sold it to Roy Boe, who owned the club for almost ten years before making a deal with the Secaucus Seven in 1978. The new owner rebranded and selected a new logo. Ten years later, the team was transferred to Raymond Chambers and Lewis Katz, and in 1999, it went to the Yankees.
Bruce Ratner became the next owner. On September 23, 2009, Russian magnate Mikhail Prokhorov agreed with Ratner to buy 80% of the Nets’ shares for $200 million, provided that Ratner secured funding for the arena project.
Meaning and History
In September 2011, it was announced that at the end of the 2011/12 season, the “New Jersey Nets” would be renamed the “Brooklyn Nets” in connection with the move to a new arena in Brooklyn. The team changed its logo and primary colors to black and white. Rapper Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, is one of the owners of the “Brooklyn” team. He also helped create the new Brooklyn Nets logo.
Jay-Z admitted the subway’s old symbolism inspired him. He employed the black-and-white color scheme of the old New York subway signs, paying tribute to the city’s heritage. The Brooklyn Nets logo’s graphic elements came from the sign system used until 1957, when the team last appeared in Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Nets logo debuted in its first year and directly reflected basketball themes. Its main components are the ball and the name, both reproduced in various variants. In total, the club has had eight versions of its symbolism; the earliest dates to 1968, and the latest to 2012.
What is the Brooklyn Nets?
It is the first major sports franchise in Brooklyn since the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. It has been a member of the NBA’s Atlantic Division since 1976. Before that, the team was the backbone of the American Basketball Association. For two years after its foundation, the basketball club was known as the “New Jersey Americans.” After moving to New York, it was nicknamed the “Nets.”
1967 – 1968
This period’s New Jersey Americans logo features a blue shield with white and red American flag stripes at the bottom. A basketball sits in the center, with three stars on either side. Above them, the word “N. J. AMERICAN” is printed in white.
1968 – 1971
After moving to Long Island, New York, the team became known as the “New York Nets.” After the redesign, which abandoned the shield while retaining the red, blue, and white colors, the emblem became known as “Nets,” set against the red word “NY” in block letters, with a typical player in black next to it.
1971 – 1977
In 1972, the “Nets” continued with the previous logo, featuring the red, white, and blue basketball, but removed the athlete. However, they retained the previous primary logo, featuring the blue word “nets” against a red block that read “NY.” The top of the basketball is red, and the bottom is blue. These two colors match the U.S. national flag.
1977 – 1978
This version dates to when the team changed its name to the New Jersey Nets after relocating to New Jersey. The designers reworked the previous New York Nets logo, kept the basketball color scheme, and added a dark outline. They placed the word “NEW JERSEY” in the upper field and “BASKETBALL” in the tail field. The central element used a different font and color. The word “Nets” sign is black and handcrafted, with a truncated tilde on the letter “s.”
1978 – 1990
The logo from this period moved away from standard inscription; the basketball grew, and the color scheme shifted slightly (the shades became lighter). The New Jersey Nets logo lost its sports-related meaning: the designers added a white map of New Jersey and the inscription “New Jersey” on the left. The word “Nets” became larger and lower.
1990 – 1997
The New Jersey Nets logo features a gradient mix of primary colors: blue, white, red, and blue again. The word “NETS” is written in large letters on the cut-off basketball. White stripes divide the basketball into segments, outlined in black. The word sign also has a dark outline. The front fragment of the letter “N” is elongated.
1997 – 2012
The Brooklyn Nets have returned to the shield concept featured in their first logo. The logo features a stylized inscription “NETS” and a gray basketball with white and blue stripes. The central element was placed within a circle formed by three thin lines of color – white, red, and blue. This symbolizes a basketball hoop and references a separate basketball planet and its orbit. The shield is blue with a dark gray outline and slightly turned to the left. In the Brooklyn Nets logo version, the color palette became deeper.
2012 – 2024
The new Nets logo combines two seemingly unrelated cultures: hip-hop and gangsta rap. According to this subculture, you must be “in the know.” The distinctive hip-hop is associated with black skin color, a rapper, the city of Brooklyn, and its unique life.
The team redesigned its visual identity after the basketball players moved to Barclays Center (owned by the team’s co-owner). Rapper Jay-Z authored the logo. The updated version follows the same style as before: a shield with a large letter “B” centered on the ball. However, the drawing style has changed, so the logo now looks much simpler: a dark background, a white inscription, a light ball, and a black letter. The letter “B” indicates the club’s location – Brooklyn.
Despite significant changes in the Nets’ style, one thing has remained constant – the shield on the emblem. However, unlike the last version of the “New Jersey” logo, the Brooklyn shield is depicted on a flat plane rather than in three dimensions, as was popular in the 90s. In creating the new Brooklyn Nets emblem, the designers abandoned the previously used blue, red, and silver colors. No NBA club currently operates in black-and-white monochrome, making the Brooklyn Nets a unique and distinct entity.
2024 – today
Font and Colors
The logo’s main components are two elements: a basketball (on its own, in an athlete’s hands, or as a background) and the word “Nets” (the second part of the team’s name). Each version builds on a unique combination.
In the early versions of the logo, handwritten text predominated. It was the main one, set against a background of classic serif letters. In the foreground were “nets” with curves, and in the background was the elongated “NY” from the word “New York.” After moving to New Jersey, the club replaced the old name with the new city name. Then the text changed: instead of long, serifed characters, squat, blocky signs appeared. After the recent redesign, the club chose the RollSign font.
The palette precisely replicates the national flag of the USA: the emblem features red, blue, and white colors in different proportions. The exception is the current version, which is monochrome black and white.