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May 22, 2010
CROOKLYN: NBA's Nets Sold to Russian Billionaire
The Huffington Post
By Dave Zirin
Contrasting much of the fawning attention given by some of the press to Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, this article reminds us that the NBA, due to money woes, has turned a blind eye to the oligarch's dealings.
Prokhorov, it was revealed in April, has extensive business arrangements with Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe. These dealings have been very lucrative yet could, if they continue, be in violation of US sanctions, now that Prokhorov has become league owner. Whatever one may think of the hypocrisy of the United States enforcing sanctions on Mugabe while linking arms with numerous noxious regimes, it is a stubborn fact that the nearly 90-year-old strongman has spent a career brutally repressing social movements -- when he hasn't looted the country with his IMF-backed structural adjustment programs.
When news of the Prokhorov-Mugabe partnerships became public, Representative Bill Pascrell Jr. said, "This is disgusting. Obviously, the Board of Governors of the NBA didn't do their job properly when they vetted this deal." Prokhorov was also arrested in 2007, although not charged, for arranging prostitutes for guests at a French Alpine Villa. The pressure on France by the Russian government to release Prokhorov was said to be very intense.
Yet NBA commissioner Stern vociferously denied that there was anything even slightly shady in Prokhorov's past, saying, "We are pleased that the NBA's Board of Governors approved Mikhail Prokhorov's purchase of majority ownership of the Nets, welcoming into the NBA ownership ranks the league's first majority investor from outside of North America." He has also told everyone to just "call him Mike."
Posted by steve at May 22, 2010 9:30 AM