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March 17, 2010
Jordan, officially OK'd by owners, puts his rep on the line
NBA.com
by Art Garcia
This story is mostly about Michael Jordan being approved as the new owner of the Charlotte Bobcats (which means compulsive gamblers are now welcome in the owners' circle, along with landgrabbers and other people with questionable pasts). But the story includes this update:
Prokhorov-Nets deal on track
[NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam] Silver said the New Jersey Nets sale to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov remains on track to be completed in early-to-mid April.
"It would be our hope that the deal would be completed by the Board of Governors meeting," said Silver, referring to April 16 gathering of the league's owners in New York.
Silver said the financial hurdles between Prokhorov and current Nets owner Bruce Ratner have been cleared. Issues related to the new arena in Brooklyn still need to be resolved. Ground was broken last week and the Barclays Center is scheduled to open in 2012.
"What is largely holding up the Prokhorov deal are factors outside the control of either the buyer or the seller, or the league for that matter," Silver said. "Those are various legal procedures in Brooklyn. We're only a certain number of weeks away from that deal being consummated."
The news above makes clear the obvious jumping-the-gun error in this story:
Business Insider, 15 Finance Kings And The Sports Teams They Own
Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire chairman of Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold producer, and President of Onexim Group, owns 80% of the NJ Nets.
Prokhorov only recently bought the team in September of last year. Now he's the primary owner alongside part owners Jay Z and Bruce Ratner.
NoLandGrab: The distinction between agreeing to buy the team and actually closing on the purchase was apparently lost on Business Insider.
Posted by eric at March 17, 2010 2:39 PM