Formerly based in New Jersey, the Brooklyn Nets have played a combined 53 seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). The team has won two ABA championships, but it has yet to win the NBA's Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, although it reached back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. Jason Kidd finished second and first, respectively, in points per game for the Nets during those seasons, but the point guard is more renowned for his playmaking abilities. Kidd is the franchise's all-time leader in assists. Read on to learn about the Nets' top-five all-time leaders in that category:
Jason Kidd
Image by Bridget Samuels | Flickr
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, Kidd last played for the New York Knicks in 2012-13 and previously spent four-and-a-half seasons in Dallas. He played the prior seven seasons with the Nets and was an All-Star in five of those seasons. The 6-foot-4 native of San Francisco, California, also led the league in assists per game five times, two of which were as a member of the Nets. Through 506 regular season games in New Jersey, Kidd averaged 14.6 points, 9.1 assists, and 7.2 rebounds per game. His 4,620 total assists is the most in Nets franchise history by a considerable margin.
Kidd, who was originally selected second overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1994 NBA Draft, was even better in the playoffs. He averaged a career-best 19.6 points per game during the team's NBA Finals run in 2002 and improved upon that the following year by averaging 20.1 points per game in 20 playoff games. Kidd is a nine-time All-Defensive and six-time All-NBA team member. He also won Rookie of the Year in 1995. He served one season as the Nets coach in 2013-14 and spent the four subsequent seasons as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. He is now an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bill Melchionni
A three-time ABA All-Star, Bill Melchionni was a member of both of the Nets ABA championship-winning teams in 1974 and 1976, although he played substantially fewer minutes in those years. He was much more effective during the 1970-71 and 1971-72 seasons, as he led the league in assists per game in both of those years with 8.3 and 8.4, respectively. Through 502 games with the Nets franchise, Melchionni had a total of 3,044 assists and averaged 12.4 points, 6.1 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game. In 2018, NBA.com ranked him as the Nets' 15th-best player of all-time.
Kenny Anderson
A native of Queens, New York, Kenny Anderson played 14 seasons in the NBA, but was never as effective as he was during his five-year stint with the Nets. Selected by the team out of Georgia Tech as the second overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft, Anderson improved steadily during his first two seasons and averaged a career-best 18.8 points and 9.6 assists per game in 1993-94 and was named an All-Star for the first and only time in his career. He had 2,363 total assists and averaged 15.3 points, 7.8 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game throughout 304 games with the Nets before he was dealt to the Charlotte Hornets along with Gerald Glass in exchange for Kendall Gill and Khalid Reeves. He played only 38 games with Charlotte and later played for an additional seven teams, including the Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, and Boston Celtics.
Deron Williams
Image by Shinya Suzuki | Flickr
Selected third overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2005 NBA Draft, Deron Williams spent five-and-a-half seasons with the team before he was traded to the Nets in 2011 for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, and two first-round draft picks. While he averaged a career-best 10.7 assists per game while with the Jazz, Williams was still a credible playmaker with the Nets and averaged at least six assists per game in each of his five seasons with the team. In 277 games with the Nets, the Parkersburg, West Virginia, native had 2,078 assists, or 7.5 per game. In contrast, he averaged 9.1 assists per game through 439 games with the Jazz. In 2015, he was waived by the Nets and later played for the Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Darwin Cook
Affectionately known as "Sparkplug" for his ability to provide an offensive spark off the bench, Darwin Cook was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the fourth round of the 1980 NBA Draft. Fortunately for the Nets, Cook was cut by the Pistons after only three days with the team. He was subsequently signed by the Nets and played with the team for six seasons, during which time he accumulated 2,248 assists and averaged 10.1 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game. He averaged career-high marks in points (13.2) and assists (5.5) per game in 1982-83. In 1986, Cook was traded to the Washington Bullets and later played with the San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets before retiring from the NBA in 1989.