RealClearSports: Call Them the New Jersey Nyets

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

Does this mean the Cold War is over? You only wish Mikhail Gorbachev still were around. He was the Soviet president who, in a misinterpreted warning to the West -- the U.S. and allies, not the division always won by the Lakers -- said, "We will bury you.''

Instead, the Russians are buying us out.

The guy considered the richest man in Russia, a label that once might have been a comedian's punch line, Mikhail D. Prokhorov is going to become the principal owner of the New Jersey Nyets, um, Nets.

Times indeed have changed. The Twitter Generation may not be aware, but the Russians, actually the U.S.S.R., of which Russia was the major part, used to be the bad guys. Now they're the wealthy guys.

A strange week over here in the United States. Jerry Jones opens this billion-dollar stadium, for which he is proverbially slapped for indulgence, and then a few days later people are enthusiastic because Prokhorov is going spend millions to take control of an NBA team.

Prokhorov's offer is being called a "rescue package'' for current Nets owner Bruce Ratner, who bought the Nets six years ago with the idea of hauling them to Brooklyn, where apropos of nothing a great many Russian émigrés have settled over the decades.

Six years ago, another Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, purchased the English Premier League soccer team Chelsea, which was immediately nicknamed "Chelski'' by a lot of skeptical journalists. When it comes to games with round balls and nets, money seemingly is no object to the Russians.

Nor is it a problem for Jerry Jones, a man who, despite coming across as pretentious and arrogant, still should be allowed to do what he wants with his.

Nobody stood around and took shots at Louis XIV when he was having Versailles expanded to 700 rooms. Of course, if they had, it would have been the guillotine. Why can't we be magnanimous toward Jones and his Cowboys palace?

The reaction to Prokhorov investing $200 million generally has been favorable, although there is that skeleton in the closet ... a 6-foot-9 one: Prokhorov was once a basketball forward. In January 2007 Prokhorov was arrested while on vacation at a French ski resort for supplying prostitutes to friends. He was released after several days, charges were dropped and Prokhorov said he will not do business again in France until there's an apology.

Prokhorov started out selling jeans in Moscow in the 1980s and, lo and behold, suddenly had a large stake in Norilsk Nickel, the largest producer of nickel and palladium on the globe.

In April, according to the New York Times, he was pressured by the Russian government into selling his stake just before the world financial crisis hit the Russian stock market.

He thus had something like $14.9 billion, and even after hosting his usual number of fancy parties still had a large reserve of cash and securities.

Already owner of a share of the Russian hoops team CSKA Moscow, Prokhorov said one reason for his investing in the Nets is to provide Russian basketball a financial revitalization by allowing coaches and players to attend NBA training programs.

The league already has played official games in China and Europe. Commissioner David Stern has suggested, if not predicted, the NBA will create a new conference or division of teams from cities such as Madrid and Paris. For a Russian to control a team is only another step in the process.

Consider some of the owners in big-time sports, Dan Snyder of the Redskins, Mark Cuban of the Mavericks, even Al Davis of the Raiders, individuals making waves, making enemies, making money.

To borrow from Doris Kearns Goodwin, they are a team of rivals.

What's one Russian billionaire more or less added to the blend?

It's simply that not very long ago, until the late 1980s, when Russians and Americans were involved the relationship was "them'' and "us.'' We boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. They boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

To think a quarter-century later a Russian would be involved with a franchise playing the one game invented in the United States would have been inconceivable.

Japanese have invested in the Seattle Mariners. Conversely, Americans run Manchester United and Liverpool, two of most famous soccer teams on the globe. The Brits thought owners from the U.S. would muck up their sport. It hasn't happened.

On Prokhorov's intent, Cuban of the Mavericks, a maverick in his own right, if a very intelligent once, said, "I love the idea. It will bring a whole new perspective, and with the dollar struggling, an entrée to new financial markets.''

Money talks, no matter the language.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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