Mikhail Prokhorov Faces Off Against the Knicks
At 6-foot-eight, with dark hair and pale skin, New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov looks like a London vampire, or the kind of guy you would see playing the bad guy on TV.
Prokhorov has an estimated worth of $13.4 billion, making him arguably the richest man in professional sports. He’s pretty evenly rivaled with Paul Allen, who owns the Portland Trailblazers and co-owns Microsoft. These traits aren’t to be taken lightly. But probably most of all is Prokhorov’s vow to James Dolan, the Cablevision and Knicks’ owner: “We will turn Knicks fans into Nets fans.”
It’s hard to imagine Prokhorov doesn’t believe it. He has the assets to make it possible and hasn’t stalled in beginning the process. In a first step, he moved the Nets to Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards for the upcoming season, a geographic change that will have demographic effects.
During the bidding process of LeBron James, the Knicks were pulling out all the stops to get “King James.” They made fancy presentations, wine and dined, and even hired a marketing consultancy firm to predict that if James chose to play for them, he would become the world’s first billionaire athlete. The Nets, on the other hand, hardly batted an eyelash over James. They were too busy making infrastructural changes that are bound to have a lasting impact. In fact, during the Knicks’ wooing process, they unleashed a massive 225’ X 95’ billboard in New York depicting Prokhorov and part owner Jay-Z, stating “The Blueprint for Greatness.”
Even more fascinating was the fact that this wasn’t your average run of the mill airport billboard—this was put up on the corner of 34th and 8th, which is about a block away from Madison Square Garden. When asked if this was an attack on the Knicks franchise, Nets CEO Brett Yormark said that it was merely a “coincidence.” Sure. The truth is that this was more than an attack—it’s the first blow of modern franchise warfare.
And after a rather ho hum decade for the Knicks, taking them out just may be possible. Just 30 days into the 2008 NBA season, they sent away their top two scorers, Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford for Al Harrington, Tim Thomas, and Cuttino Mobley. The value of the trade wasn’t matched, but what the Knicks really wanted in the move was to clear cap space, which they were able to do. This was in direct anticipation of the 2010 free agency, for which the Knicks hoped to preside over and win Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, or LeBron James. The idea was that they’d have a shabby team for two years, and then the real show would start. But of course we know now that the show isn’t going to start, since all of those three guys teamed up in Miami.
It’s true that the Knicks got Amare Stoudemire, but that’s still no excuse for such bombastically unsuccessful team planning. Ultimately, it isn’t such a big deal that the Knicks failed to get any of these guys—they never really seemed open to influence—but what does matter is that it’s become a symbol for what the Knicks have slowly turned into. A losing team with a waivering brand cachet. Whereas in the old days, and even up well into the nineties, the Knicks were a staple basketball team, today the same thing can’t be said. Especially when a rival team can put up a huge mural in your backyard and get away with it.
If the Knicks still have any gusto, what they should do is put another one up, preferably facing the Nets'. That would show a willingness to go to battle, which is what the fans need to see now.
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