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The Knicks–Nets rivalry is a crosstown rivalry between
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
's two
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA) teams: the
New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...
and
Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...
. Both teams compete in Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The New York Knicks were established in 1946 as one of the charter franchises of the NBA, and have been based at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
in
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...
since 1968. The Nets were established in 1967 as a member of the now-defunct
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...
, and joined the NBA in 1976. They have been based at
Barclays Center Barclays Center ( ) is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liber ...
in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
since 2012, though have played in the
New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...
their entire existence. The rivalry began in 1976 when the Nets joined the NBA as part of the
ABA–NBA merger The ABA–NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...
. At the time, the team was known as the New York Nets and played at
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island. The venue is situated approximately east of the eastern limits of the borough of Queens in New York City, a ...
in suburban
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. The team became the New Jersey Nets the following season when they relocated to suburban New Jersey, playing temporarily in Piscataway at
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
before moving to
Brendan Byrne Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, ...
in East Rutherford in 1981, their home until 2010. The Nets played their final two seasons in New Jersey at
Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Sirens of the Pro ...
in
downtown Newark Downtown Newark is the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Downtown is the site of the original Puritan settlement of Newark located at a bend in th ...
. The rivalry became an intra-city series when the Nets relocated to Brooklyn in 2012. When the Nets played in New Jersey, the rivalry had several nicknames, including the Turnpike Classic, The Function at the Junction, Battle of the Hudson River, and The War Between the States. After the Nets' move to Brooklyn, due to the close proximity of the two teams and the overall histories of Brooklyn and Manhattan, media outlets have dubbed the rivalry the Battle of New York, Battle of the Boroughs, or Clash of the Boroughs. The two teams have met in the playoffs three times over the course of their history, with the most recent meeting in 2004.


History


1966–1977: Beginnings

The Knicks and Nets have generally been antagonistic to each other since the beginnings of the Nets franchise. The Nets were originally established in 1966 as a founding member of the
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...
(ABA), to be named the New York Americans, and league had intended for the team to play at the
69th Regiment Armory The 69th Regiment Armory (also known as the 165th Infantry Armory and the Lexington Avenue Armory) is a historic armory for the U.S. Army National Guard at 68 Lexington Avenue, between East 25th and 26th Streets, in the Rose Hill neighborho ...
in Manhattan. The Knicks of the older NBA forced the Armory to back out three months before opening day, forcing the Nets to be left scrambling for a venue with opening day approaching, and it finally settled on the Teaneck Armory in
Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...
. The Nets would continue to be a transient franchise for the remainder of their time in the ABA, unable to establish a permanent home in the
Tri-State area Tri-state area is an informal term in the United States which can refer to any of multiple areas that lie across three states. When referring to populated areas, the term implies a shared economy or culture among the area's residents, typically c ...
until 1972, when they became the basketball tenant of the
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island. The venue is situated approximately east of the eastern limits of the borough of Queens in New York City, a ...
in
Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in central Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead, within the New York metropolitan area. The population was 32,473 at the time of the 2020 United States census ...
. Upon their transfer to the NBA from the ABA due to the
ABA–NBA merger The ABA–NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...
in 1976, the then New York Nets, were cited for "encroaching" on the Knicks' New York City territory at the Nassau Coliseum, and were forced to pay an encroachment fee of to the Knicks. This fee, along with the NBA expansion fee, made it financially impossible for the Nets, who were the ABA champions in 1976, to retain superstar
Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...
. The Nets were forced to sell Erving to the
Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...
in order to meet their financial obligations, and this move sent the team to a period of mediocrity that took them years to recover from. When the Nets decided to move back to the state of New Jersey in 1977, the Knicks once again became an obstacle and threatened to block the move because it would infringe on their exclusive territorial rights to New Jersey. The Nets responded by suing the Knicks on the basis that their actions violated anti-trust laws. The lawsuit was settled between the teams after the league and the state of New Jersey intervened, and the Nets agreed to pay another $4 million to the Knicks for the rights to move.


1977–2012: New York vs. New Jersey

Between 1977 and 2012, the Nets played in the state of New Jersey as the New Jersey Nets. During that time, the Knicks generally received more media coverage regardless of team records, despite both teams playing in the New York market. When the Knicks traveled to New Jersey to play the Nets, the arena was often evenly split between fan bases. This was partly because the two teams were separated by only the Hudson River; however, a contributing factor was that tickets in New Jersey were comparatively cheaper than those sold at Madison Square Garden. The atmosphere was often tense amongst fan bases trying to establish control of home court advantage. For most of their respective histories during this period, the Nets and Knicks had traded dominance in the New York area, with the Nets' most successful years occurring in the early 1980s and early 2000s, while the Knicks' biggest success mostly occurring from the late 80s to the late 90s. The teams would meet in the first round of the
1983 NBA playoffs The 1983 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1982–83 NBA season, 1982–83 season. This was the final postseason using the 12-team format and this is the final postseason held of best of 3 series ...
and
1994 NBA playoffs The 1994 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1993–94 NBA season, 1993-94 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champion 1993–94 Houston Rockets ...
, with the Knicks easily defeating the Nets in both cases. The rivalry began to heat up in the early 2000s. With the trade of Stephon Marbury to the Suns for Jason Kidd, the Nets became the class of the Eastern Conference in 2001. Due to the long-noted discrepancy in media coverage between the New York and New Jersey ball clubs, upon being signed, Kidd promised the Nets would no longer play second fiddle to the Knicks. The rivalry was again turned up a notch, when New York native Stephon Marbury, the once-vilified point guard in New Jersey who was traded for Kidd, was traded to the Knicks in 2004. Marbury and Kidd had their own rivalry, with Kidd being the consensus best-point-guard-in-the-league and Marbury declaring himself the league's best point guard. The two stars who had once been traded for one another now found each other on opposite sides of an intense rivalry and their respective teams were motivated to prove their supremacy in the metropolitan area. Some members of the Knicks went so far as to say that they wanted to face New Jersey (the reigning two-time Eastern Conference champion at the time) in the playoffs. The Nets swept the Knicks in the first round of the 2004 playoffs. The series included a highly publicized spat between the Knicks' Tim Thomas and Nets'
Kenyon Martin Kenyon Lee Martin Sr. (born December 30, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a power forward, he played for the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, Los An ...
, in which Thomas all but challenged Martin to a fight and called him "
fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transc ...
."


2012–present: New York vs. Brooklyn

After buying the Nets in 2010,
Mikhail Prokhorov Mikhail Dmitrievich Prokhorov (; born 3 May 1965) is a Russian-Israeli oligarch and politician. He was also an owner of the Brooklyn Nets. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Prokhorov obtained Russian state-owned metals assets at prices ...
took frequent jabs at the Knicks and their ownership. He stated that he wished to "turn Knicks fans into Nets fans" when the team relocated, and that he was happy the Nets caused the Knicks to "overpay" for
Carmelo Anthony Carmelo Kyam Anthony ( ; born May 29, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Anthony played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is a ten-time NBA All-Star Game, NBA All-Star and six-time All-NBA T ...
(by increasing their own offers in the "Carmelo Sweepstakes"). Both sides have begun marketing in earnest throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, often proclaiming they are the sole "team of the borough" with billboards displaying their newly acquired superstars, Carmelo Anthony and
Deron Williams Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in ...
. One of the first moves of Prokhorov's ownership of the Nets in 2010 was to purchase a large painted billboard, featuring himself, then Nets part-owner
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
and the words "Blueprint for Greatness" on the side of a building at 34th Street and Eighth Avenue facing
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
, home of the Knicks. The Knicks responded to the Nets' marketing push with a television commercial stating, "You can walk like us, you can talk like us, but you ain't never gonna be like us." This prompted Prokhorov to respond: "I think we'd more like to be like the Lakers inners of 16 NBA championships"
Marty Markowitz Martin Markowitz (born February 14, 1945) is an American politician who served as the borough president of Brooklyn, New York City. He was first elected in 2001 after serving 23 years as a New York State Senator. His third and final term ended ...
, the former borough president of Brooklyn, has derisively called the Knicks the "Manhattan Knicks" and claimed that any Brooklynite who supported the Knicks was committing "treason". The trash talking between the two teams, including personal insults such as the 6-foot-8 Prokhorov calling Knicks owner James Dolan "that little man", reached a point where NBA commissioner
David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...
felt the need to arrange a meeting between Knicks owner James Dolan and Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov to lessen the tensions between the two. Tensions between the two franchises have flared as of 2019, with the Nets signing both Kyrie Irving and
Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Durant has won two List of NBA champions, NBA champ ...
as free agents, scooping up two players highly sought after by the Knicks.


Comparisons

Media outlets have noted the rivalry's similarity to those of other New York City teams, such as
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's Subway Series rivalry between the
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
's
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
and
National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
's
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
due to the teams' proximity through the
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...
. Historically, the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn competed via the Dodgers–Giants rivalry, when the two teams were known as the
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...
and
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
. Like the Knicks and Nets, the Giants and Dodgers played in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively, and were fierce divisional rivals. The
rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
between the
New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...
and
New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...
of the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
shared this crosstown rivalry from 2015 to 2020 when the Islanders played at the Barclays Center. The Hudson River Derby of
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
is also similar in terms of being crosstown New York City sporting rivals, however,
New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...
play in the Bronx and the
New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...
play in
Harrison, New Jersey Harrison is a town in the western part of Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark, and is located from New York City. Once considered "the bee ...
, not Brooklyn or Long Island; although New York City FC has, at some occasions, played at Red Bull Arena in 2020 and 2021 due to scheduling conflicts with Yankee Stadium and even winterization procedures.


See also

* List of NBA rivalries * Giants–Jets rivalry * Islanders–Rangers rivalry * Devils–Rangers rivalry * Subway Series ** Mets–Yankees rivalry * Hudson River Derby


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knicks-Nets rivalry NBA rivalries Brooklyn Nets New York Knicks 1976 establishments in New York City