There's Something About Mikhail

Step aside Mark Cuban, there’s a new sheriff in town.

All the recent ado in the league is about LeBron James. LeBron James is obviously every team’s white whale; a jack of all trades basketball player who is a master of all of them and is entering his prime. I’d sell my DVD collection and my left hand to see LeBron in a Celtic uniform. Unfortunately, the Celtics have a core group and no cap space. However, one team, the last place Nets, have a great chance of landing the megastar.

Why would a last place team get LeBron? Well, look at the owner. A Russian BILLIONAIRE who has nothing but money to spend. Not only that, but he has the ability to make LeBron even more of a superstar; with Mikhail Prokhorov, LeBron has the chance to become a star in Russia, China, Europe, wherever. Prokhorov will make sure of this as long as LeBron is wearing a Nets jersey. This is a win-win situation; LeBron has the chance to get marketing deals all over the world, and Prokhorov has a launching pad in LeBron to make his team one of the biggest franchises in the world.

I absolutely love this Russian guy. I wish he could own every Boston team. He’ll be like Mark Cuban minus the loud-mouth, cheerleader quality; he’ll pour money into this team, move them to Brooklyn, sign big names such as LeBron and other top free agents, but only attend 4-5 games a year. Why would he do this? Because he sees this team as an investment. As long as he can turn a profit from this team, he doesn’t care about the titles. Sure, a title and a few playoff runs will help make more money, but if he is making money either way, he doesn’t care. Do you think that this guy will fly from Russia to the armpit of America known as New Jersey to see his basketball team play? Hell no. He’ll make obligatory appearances, and leave it at that as he continues to rain cash upon this lowly franchise. 

David Stern is going to love this guy too. As long as Nets banners, billboards, shirts and what not are present in other continents, so is the NBA logo. Prokhorov will be a cash cow for the league if his investment pays off. Plus, he won’t be screaming at refs like Cuban, someone who Stern openly despises. Stern is going to treat Prokhorov like a son just like Frank Diaz did in Tony Montana in Scarface.

Maybe he’ll be a bust, not on the level of Adam Morrison, but still pretty big. He may own the team for a few years, not grab anyone of note, and sell the team to an American timber tycoon. But if this guy can become a mega-owner and turn the awful Nets into a global team, and more importantly a force in the NBA, he can be a savior to NBA fans, especially Nets fans.

Vote 1 if you think this guy won't deliver or Vote 5 if you think he'll be the real deal.