Practice in the Park placed Brooklyn fans beside an outdoor court, close enough to watch the Nets work before a new season began. On Sunday, the players, basketball and neighborhood celebration will return.<\/p>\n
The advertised practice won\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Nets Fest will serve as the organization\u2019s open-to-the-public community event this year, turning the annual preseason gathering into a four-hour fan festival at Major Owens Community Center in Crown Heights. Instead of centering drills, the free event will emphasize access to current players and alumni through meet-and-greets, autograph and photo opportunities, interviews, panels and fan Q&As.<\/p>\n
The shift is an experiment, not a declared permanent break. Team representatives said the organization wanted to try a different format this season and create more opportunities for direct interaction between fans and players.<\/p>\n
The Nets will evaluate how Nets Fest works before deciding how to approach the event next year. One representative said the setup also could welcome a broader audience.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s Practice in the Park at Potomac Playground in Bedford-Stuyvesant drew the highest attendance for an open practice in franchise history, according to the organization. The Nets are changing a popular event while celebrating their 60th season, with former players joining the current roster for the new gathering.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DN_NYDNflcon_14590874.jpg\")
The Brooklyn Nets’ DeMarre Carroll warms up with young fan Chauncey Brown, 9, of the Bronx at the Brooklyn Nets’ open practice and block party at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 2 in Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 14, 2017. (Kevin C. Downs for New York Daily News)<\/p>\n
In a statement supplied for this story, the Nets called the new event a \u201creimagined experience\u201d built from many elements fans came to know and enjoy at Practice in the Park. Its programming, the team said, is designed to bring fans closer to players and alumni through stage events, meet-and-greets and other activities.<\/p>\n
Still, basketball remains prominent. Skills challenges and competitions will share the schedule with children\u2019s activities, live entertainment, interviews and fan question-and-answer sessions. Vendor Village and Artist Alley will feature local businesses and artisans, while Brooklyn Marketplace will include nonprofits and community organizations. Local food vendors and other Brooklyn-based cultural experiences will fill out the afternoon.<\/p>\n
Practice in the Park launched at Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2017 as an open team workout surrounded by a block-party atmosphere. Over the years, concerts, youth basketball, celebrity games, giveaways and community programming gathered around the drills. The Nets moved the event to Potomac Playground in 2024 and returned there last year with an even broader menu of games, contests, vendors and neighborhood activities.<\/p>\n
By then, the practice remained the anchor, though it no longer carried the entire event. Nets Fest gives the surrounding features the floor. The open workout is absent from the schedule; fans will meet players, hear from them and participate alongside them.<\/p>\n
![\"Young](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DN_NYDNflcon_14590889.jpg\")
Young fans practice with the Brooklyn Nets at the Nets’ open practice and block party at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 2 in Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 14, 2017. (Kevin C. Downs for New York Daily News)<\/p>\n
The move also changes the setting, bringing the event from an outdoor playground in Bedford-Stuyvesant to an indoor community center in Crown Heights. Team representatives emphasized programming and access, not venue logistics, while discussing the new approach.<\/p>\n
Nets Fest runs from noon to 4 p.m. and is free and open to fans. Once it ends, the organization will begin assessing its next move. Brooklyn\u2019s response will help decide what gathers around the court next fall, and whether a practice sits at its center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Practice in the Park placed Brooklyn fans beside an outdoor court, close enough to watch the Nets work…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,135013,9,24,63,135014],"class_list":["post-363812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-nets-fest","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-practice-in-the-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}