Dwight Howard Staying in Orlando Is the End of the Nets Franchise as We Know It

March 15th, 2012 clearly has to go down in the history books for the Nets for being the worst day in their existence.

Having literally been only a few hours away from what would have been the biggest acquisition in their franchise, the New Jersey Nets watched an evidently confused Dwight Howard announce he would remain with his Orlando Magic. 

Once the storm blew over Newark, all that was left was the same sub .500 Nets team that stood there before, and without an All-Star center.

To make the situation worse, Deron Williams is wasting no time telling the media he will most certainly become a free-agent this summer.

"

I'm not (struggling), you know why? Because I said the whole year, "I'm going to play this year out and see what happens." So I haven't flip-flopped and gone back and forth, Williams said. I'm just the same me. It's not even close to being in the same situation (via NJ.com).

"

The entire Nets nation cringed after hearing those words flagrantly eschewed from the mouth of their floor general.

...And then you have the Nets facing the Magic the following night and losing by 14!

There couldn't have been a worse week for the Dwight-less Nets.

Brooklyn will usher in the Nets next year, and the uncertainty of how talented their team will be is something Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z will most definitely lose sleep over. It's a hard reputation to live up to. Brooklyn hasn't experienced a professional sports team since the Dodgers bounced in 1957.

It's simply not enough to have a first-class arena under the direction one of hip-hop's moguls, the Nets need to be good too. 

Sad to say, the Brooklyn Nets won't be the thriving NBA team ownership promises under the leadership of Gerald Wallace.