Brooklyn Nets Rumors
Tsai is also banking on the NBA’s international growth, especially in China where he has deep ties, sources said. In just one sign of how hot China is getting for the NBA, tech company Tencent Holdings last month announced a five-year expansion of its existing digital media partnership with the basketball league. And it agreed to pay $1.5 billion for the rights — or triple the previous price of $500 million, a source said. China’s demand for the NBA — and the Nets specifically — could grow exponentially if Tsai were to recruit a Chinese player, which he has said he wants to do. “I think it’s just a matter of time,” he told Netsdaily.com in May.
In addition to the team, Tsai also forked over $700 million for the Barclays Center arena, the Nets’ home since they moved to Brooklyn. Because the arena also comes with $325 million in debt, the total cost to Tsai sits at $3.38 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.
The Nets won’t start training camp for about six weeks, and the regular season for another month after that. But they’re clearly trying to get a head start, gathering on their own to work out en masse. Much of the roster spent the past few weeks gathered almost 3,000 miles away from Brooklyn, building chemistry with informal workouts in Los Angeles. It’s noteworthy that it was newcomer Kyrie Irving — whose leadership skills were questioned when he played in Boston — who led the way.
“It was basically player-driven,” Theo Pinson told The Post at a Nets youth camp at Hellenic Classical Charter School in Park Slope. “Kyrie was out there, and we wanted to get with him, so we just all went out there and just worked out together.”
Considering the considerable turnover on the Nets roster — all the aforementioned players except Pinson, LeVert and Dinwiddie are newcomers — it’s auspicious that they’re working out together to develop chemistry. It’s even better that it’s both player-driven and organized by Irving. “It’s good. It gives us a little head start going into camp. Just getting not just on the court and [basketball-wise], but off the court also: playing ‘[NBA] 2K’, going to dinner and stuff like that. It’s been fun,” Pinson said.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Former Turner Sports executive David Levy has emerged as a serious candidate to replace Brett Yormark as CEO of the Brooklyn Nets, league sources tell ESPN.
Albert Nahmad: It’s a fun but difficult exercise to try to figure what Mikhail Prokhorov profited from his investment in the Nets and Barclay’s Center. I spent a few minutes on it, and here’s what I’ve been able to come up with:
