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January 4, 2008
Nets push back move to Brooklyn until 2010
The Newark Star-Ledger
By Dave D'Alessandro and Maura McDermott
After the Bergen Record story ran yesterday, The Star-Ledger called up a seemingly exasperated Ratner spokesperson, who explained that they already explained this delay away:
"We said three weeks ago we plan to be playing in the Barclays Center during the 2010 calendar year," Baum said, alluding to a New York Times story from Dec. 12. "That could mean the latter part of 2009-10, or the start of 2010-11."
It is not unprecedented for teams to move their operations in the middle of a season. The Miami Heat moved from a very short distance from Miami Arena to American Airlines Arena in the middle of the 2001-02 season. Though when asked whether this is desirable for the Nets to follow suit, Baum merely replied, "It's a possibility."
NoLandGrab: Ratner's PR team had totally failed to manage expectations earlier in 2007 — even though Atlantic Yards watchdog Norman Oder had already recognized the signs of a delay in the arena opening — and they're doing it again.
Spokesperson Barry Baum's attempt to spin the story is already leaning toward fiction — Norman Oder has already noted the signs that indicate that the arena opening would likely be delayed until at least January, 2011.
Posted by lumi at January 4, 2008 6:23 AM