Book excerpt: From the time that the Nets sold Julius Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers upon entering the NBA in 1976, until the point when they acquired Jason Kidd from the Phoenix Suns in a trade in 2001, the Nets were plagued by a series of events that were by turns tragic, ill-timed, unfortunate or just plain self-destructive.At least, until 2002, when so many of the ghosts of a quarter-century of misfortune (and occasional mismanagement) were virtually exorcized.These are the Nets. Their history is like that of no other sports organization in America. So lace up your old nylon Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers, inflate that old red, white and blue basketball you've got sitting in the garage and come join us for a long, strange trip back through Nets lore.