A long form piece was written by ESPN.com Reporter Zach Lowe this week about how the Nets almost changed their name to the Swamp Dragons in 1992.
Awesome work here from Prof. @ZachLowe_NBA: The legend of the Swamp Dragons https://t.co/AzhH5M7iA5 pic.twitter.com/gM8hOla8TV
— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) April 8, 2016
Lowe wrote an oral history around the decision and desire behind closed doors and in NBA circles for the Nets (of course it’s the Nets) desire to capitalize on the cartoonish mascot and logo trend that dominated the 90s and change their name to the New Jersey Swamp Dragons.
In the story former Nets President John Spoelstra said the team was last in the NBA in merchandising sales and playing in the huge New York market as a franchise that had never won anything or had the cache of the New York Knicks, the team desired to have a more memorable and creative moniker than the basic “Nets” moniker they still have.
Here is a quote from Spoelstra in the story:
“…it was like calling the Yankees the “New York Second Bases.” The team never had a chance with that name.”
Spoelstra went as far as to try to have the team drop New Jersey from it’s name and create a sponsorship with Nike to be the “Nike Nets” or maybe even the “Nike Swamp Dragons”.
This highly creative and outside of the box marketing partnership was ultimately shut down but seemed ahead of its time.
According to the oral history, when Spoelstra first presented the idea to former NBA Commissioner David Stern in a meeting, living up to his name, David told Spoelstra “This is the dumbest f***ing idea I have ever heard.”
The story states that the expansion Raptors and Grizzlies were entering the league around that time and had more cartoonish logos to capitalize on the trend that the Charlotte Hornets started with their bright turquoise and purple uniforms and logo that kids loved.
After Swamp Dragons was turned down, the Nets began playing with the idea of being the Fire Dragons and adding black and red to their color scheme.
Here are some merchandise pieces and court designs shared in Lowe’s story that the Swamp Dragons or Fire Dragons may have moved forward with had David Stern been crazy enough to give them the go ahead:
It’s a shame we almost lived in a world where the Swamp Dragons were playing the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs for an NBA Championship.
