Herb Turetzky, Brooklyn Nets only scorekeeper, talks history

Herb Turetzky has been the Nets only scorekeeper since they started playing as the New Jersey Americans in the ABA back in 1967, when he was a college student at LIU. The next time he sits down behind the scorers' table will be his 1,269th straight game.

So he has some memories, of Dr. J, J-Kidd, Drazen and everyone in between.  Jake Appleman, author of ""Brooklyn Bounce: The Highs and Lows of Nets Basketball's Historic First Season in the Borough.", heard a lot of them recently and wrote them up for ESPN.

On Drazen Petrovic wondering why Turetzky wanted an autographed ball after a 44-point night: Turetzky told him 44 points in an NBA game is a big deal. Petrovic noted that he had scored over a hundred points before in Europe.

On the Jason Kidd-led finals teams: "It was electric. You had a team of deer running down the floor."

On how Super John Williamson became a Net: "He bumped into Kevin (Loughery) at an airport and he told Kevin, ‘Sign me.’ We lost the first four games or so, and he went up to Kevin and he said, ‘Start me.’ And he did, and we started winning"

On the most ill-fated promotion in the team's history: "They were having a night at Rutgers for Rich Kelley [a 7-foot center]. And they made big growth charts: a full-size picture of Rich Kelley. The day they made the growth chart to give out, Rich Kelley got traded."

• The Nets' history, as told from the sidelines by Herb Turetzky - Jake Appleman - ESPN New York