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TagsBY MIKE VORKUNOV
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
The man taking over the New Jersey Nets is a paradox. He is a cipher that has already gained the reputation of an owner who will make things happen. He is thrill seeker and attention grabber who until last night hid from the spotlight.
Mikhail Prokhorov made his debut to America Sunday night, and in turn most NBA fans and all but the most devout of his constituents, on CBS when he was profiled by "60 Minutes."
He was portrayed as a party boy, a risk taker, a bon vivant and a man who will not settle for monogamy. He is a 6-foot-8 multi-billionaire with a yacht whose location he cannot remember and a penchant for partying. Prokhorov called a three-day imprisonment by the French government "fun."
Ostensibly, he came off as capricious and unattached to anything but his inner drive, wherever that may lead that day.
So what is there to make of Prokhorov? Why have the Nets outsourced their hopes and dreams from the usual array of megalomaniacal American profiteers to a Russian oligarch?
There is little doubt that he is smart. You don't get to be where he is, a multi-billionaire who rose through the anarchy of post-USSR Russia, without intelligence. You have to be canny and cunning to get through the Wild Wild East that it became. You don't get to be an oligarch without learning how to play the mob, the government and even your own friends.
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He is driven by competition. Prokhorov funds the country's biathlon federation. As an owner of the Russian basketball club CSKA Moscow they won two European Championships under his guidance and finished in the final four in eight of the last nine years. The team developed a reputation for forsaking Russian basketball in order to win. No one has accused Bruce Ratner of forsaking anything to help the Nets win.
"I am addicted to sport," he told "60 Minutes." "Without sport I feel bad. In this case it's some kind of drug."
Many, suffering from cognitive dissonance, have already called him the Russian Mark Cuban. In his nascent days as an owner Cuban was portrayed as someone who threw money around freely, with no cost too high or whim too unattainable. Some see Prokhorov's new nickname as perhaps an insult, but since buying the team in 2000 Cuban has become one of the best owners in the NBA and transformed the Dallas Mavericks from a franchise that languished in mediocrity to a top-notch organization.
Prokhorov will have the same task. The Nets run the risk this season of tying the mark for fewest wins in a season. Should they eclipse the mark the season will be much less distinguishable but only slight less embarrassing.
This season, however, seems more an anomaly than the beginning of a trend. While there is no coach and the role of team president Rod Thorn is in question, Prokhorov will acquire a team that has three good if not valuable building blocks in Terrance Williams, Devin Harris and Brook Lopez — none older than 27. The Nets also have a 25 percent chance at the first pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, meaning a John Wall or Evan Turner is within their grasp. They may even have a chance at a marquee free agent this summer, depending on which purported analyst you subscribe too.
All of this, it seems, should feed well into the ego and actions of Prokhorov. From all that has been written and seen of him, it is doubtful he will sit idly as the NBA world revolves around him. As he told "60 Minutes," "For me life, business in particular, is a big game."
For more Rutgers and Seton Hall basketball news, follow Mike Vorkunov on Twitter at @Mike_Vorkunov
