Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said today that he won’t surrender control of the franchise, and will remain the team’s majority owner, but will seek out a local minority ownership partner to “strengthen” the team’s presence in New York, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com.
According to Bloomberg’s Scott Soshnick (via Twitter), the Nets have hired Steve Greenberg of Allen & Co. to help find a local investor to buy a minority stake in the franchise. Net Income of NetsDaily adds (via Twitter) that Prokhorov is only interested in selling a piece of the Nets — he won’t also sell a portion of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, the parent company that owns the Barclays Center.
Here are several more Nets- and Knicks-related notes from out of New York:
- The Knicks – and head coach Jeff Hornacek – finally trusted Joakim Noah in a key situation on Monday, and it backfired on them, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Meanwhile, Fred Kerber of The New York Post examines the Noah situation and wonders whether it’s a blip on the radar or the start of a $72MM disaster.
- In an interview with Karizza Sanchez of Complex.com, Iman Shumpert was asked about Phil Jackson‘s “posse” comment regarding LeBron James, and replied that the Knicks president has “always got a comment.” More from Shumpert, who grew up rooting for the Bulls and was traded away from the Knicks by Jackson: “You traded me away from New York, cool. It’s all business, it’s all love, whatever. But I’m a grownup now. You not my hero no more. The Bulls era is gone, Mike is gone, Pippen is gone, you ain’t coaching the Bulls no more. So, I don’t care what you got to say about ’Bron.”
- Sean Kilpatrick has appeared in 52 NBA games, including 40 with the Nets, but none were better than Tuesday’s win over the Clippers, in which he scored 38 points grabbed 14 rebounds, both career highs. After the win, Kilpatrick spoke to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders about how Nets GM Sean Marks changed his life.
- Can 2016 first-rounder Caris LeVert become a foundational piece for the Nets? Reed Wallach of NetsDaily takes a closer look.
Yep, Noah still sucks