The Brooklyn Nets unveiled their current visual identity in 2012 when the franchise relocated from New Jersey to Brooklyn, and the team updated its logo set again for the 2024-25 season. The identity is known for its black and white palette, a departure from the red, white and blue colors the franchise had used for decades.[1]
Design and History
The 2012 rebrand introduced two primary logos. One featured a bold shield shape with “NETS” spelled out above a basketball with a block “B” on it, with “BROOKLYN” below the shield. The shield served as a salute to the shield in the Nets’ previous logo.[2] The second logo featured a basketball with a “B” inside, encircled by “BROOKLYN NEW YORK.”[3]
The identity was created by Timothy Morris, a Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey artist who had designed logos for several Jay-Z companies and tours.[4] Jay-Z, then a minority owner of the team, was involved in the design process and pushed for the “B” rather than “BK” in the logo.[5] The black and white color scheme was inspired by New York City Transit Authority subway signs from 1957, the year Brooklyn last had a professional team, the Dodgers.[6]
For the 2024-25 season, the Nets updated their logo set. The primary “shield” design was retired and replaced by the “B-Ball” logo, which features a “B” inside a basketball with thicker and newly positioned lines. The circular logo with the ball inside remained as the team’s “global” logo, now featuring “Nets” along the outer circle’s bottom rather than “New York.”[7]
Two new secondary logos were also introduced. The “Brooklyn Arch” logo is an arched “Brooklyn” wordmark lifted from the front of the Nets’ Icon Edition jerseys, now declared an official team logo.[8] The “Nets Thread” logo is an entirely new design featuring the word “Nets” styled to look like a net around a hoop. According to Brooklyn’s Art Director Jessie Kavana, creating the design required over two years of researching, hand-drawing and crafting.[7]
Meaning and Symbolism
The circular portion of the 2012 shield logo incorporated a prominent “B” inside a basketball to express the team’s new home borough.[2] The black and white palette drew from the old New York subway signage system, including its clean “RollSign” typeface.[2]
The 2024-25 rebrand was described by the team as an effort to resemble Brooklyn as much as possible.[9] The Nets Thread logo traces back to the franchise’s roots in New Jersey while mixing in Brooklyn style.[8]
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