4. Opening Night 1982-83
C – Daryl Dawkins, PF – Buck Williams, SF – Albert King, SG – Otis Birdsong, PG – Darwin Cook
The most successful Nets teams of the 1980s came in back-to-back years, with the same starting lineup on opening night both seasons. The 1984 opening round playoff series win against the defending NBA champion Philadelphia 76ers was the first playoff series win in the franchise’s NBA history dating back to 1976, the only series win of the ‘80s, and more than they ever had in the 1990s.
(Starting to see why Jason Kidd is such a big deal in the swamp?)
The stars of the team were Charles Linwood “Buck” Williams and Otis Lee Birdsong. Williams made the All-Star Team in his NBA Rookie of The Year campaign in 1981-82 for the Nets, and would go on to make the team with New Jersey again in 1983 and 1986, as well as earning a Second Team All-NBA selection. The Nets signed four-time All-Star Birdsong in 1981, and the ninth of Bessie Birdsong’s twelve children would make another All-Star team in 1984 during his seven-season tenure in New Jersey.
Rounding out the star power was Darryl “Chocolate Thunder” Dawkins, whom the Nets pried away from the Sixers for a first-round draft pick in the summer of 1982. Hampered in Philly by unrealistic expectations coming out of high school, the highlight reel dunking denizen of Lovetron provided a solid inside presence for the Nets from 1982-84 before injuries took down his career. As for Darwin Cook and Albert King, they weren’t stars, but they weren’t liabilities, either.
With regards to the games, the Nets beat the pre-Jordan Chicago Bulls 114-102 on opening night 1982, and disposed of Dominique Wilkins’ Atlanta Hawks 126-108 to kick off the 1983-84 season.
