Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov spoke to reporters on Monday before Brooklyn’s matchup versus Oklahoma City, touching on a number of topics ranging from the most recent offseason to the future ownership of the Nets franchise. We’ll round up the highlights from the outspoken billionaire owner below (all links lead to Twitter):
- Rumors have indicated Prokhorov is interested in selling his majority stake of the Nets, but he insisted he wasn’t open to the idea of giving up control of the organization, reports Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Despite his insistence, Prokhorov still said “it’s not bad to listen” to offers for the team, notes Bontemps.
- Rather than holding an angry disposition toward Jason Kidd, who pushed for a job with the Bucks in June, Prokhorov says he’s more interested in “getting even” with his team’s former head coach, passes along Andy Vasquez of The Record.
- The Nets lost a reported $144MM last season after spending an exorbitant amount of money on the luxury tax, but Prokhorov didn’t seem fazed by the total, observe Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman and Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “It’s no big deal,” said Prokhorov in reference to his team’s 2013/14 deficit. “I’m ready to spend. We need success now but we also need to be building for the future.“
- Prokhorov doesn’t regret the acquisition of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, despite the latter’s departure in free agency this summer, as Vasquez relays. The reason the Nets decided to let Pierce walk, according to Prokhorov, was because the team wanted its young players to get more time on the floor, notes Mannix.