When Mikhail Prokhorov first became the majority owner of the Brooklyn Nets, he assured Nets fans that a title would come to the city of Brooklyn. He was so sure that the Nets would win a title, he even said if they didn’t, he would get married.
Well, it’s been five years and neither of those thing have happened but instead, the Russian billionaire will make a commitment to the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center. He’s in discussions with minority owner Bruce Ratner to become the full owner of the team.
Following from Josh Koshman and Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
Under the deal being discussed, he would kick in little cash beyond forgiving the roughly $31 million Forest City owes him to cover team losses, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Onexim Group, Prokhorov’s investment vehicle, earlier extended until Sept. 8 a deadline for when Forest City needs to pony up about $6 million to cover its share of the Nets’ losses for the 2015-16 season. That’s on top of the $25 million it owes for past seasons.
Prokhorov currently owns 80 percent of the Nets franchise and 45 percent of Barclays Center from his deal back in 2010. It was previously reported that Prokhorov was interested in becoming full owner of the team after he failed to sell his ownership stake earlier this year.
With the Nets having a new approach across the franchise, the ‘continuity’ idea starts from the ownership and with Prokhorov looking to commit himself to the team, hopefully everyone will follow suit and start something great.
