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January 15, 2012
Brooklyn Awaits Nets, but Their Destination as a Team Is Unclear
New York Times
By Harvey Araton
Here's another indication that supporters of the Atlantic Yards development will have to lower their expectations for everything having to do with this enterprise.
The question of where the Nets are headed as an organization and as a basketball team leads only to a host of potential destinations that range from exhilaration to dread, with an occasional detour into comic relief. Technically, and temporarily, the Nets are in Newark, on their way to a new home next season in downtown Brooklyn. By all other practical means of appraisal, their dateline should be limbo.
Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire who owns the Nets and has declared his candidacy for president of Russia, in Moscow on Friday with a banner that reads “Thank you for your vote.”
Constituted in part for the purpose of future salary-cap flexibility, the Nets are only sporadically competitive while listing four players named Williams, but only one, Deron, whom they desperately want but do not know if they can retain. Symbolizing the arm’s length position he has taken to a long-term commitment, Williams has taken up residence in Manhattan, about halfway between the Nets’ two arenas, the Prudential Center in Newark and the rising Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
On a roster that is exceedingly anonymous by famous athlete standards, the Nets also have players named Shawne (Williams), DeShawn (Stevenson) and MarShon (Brooks).
Now that he has what he wants, developer Bruce Ratner speaks candidly:
“All things being perfect, they would be an N.B.A. championship-caliber team when they went to Brooklyn,” said Ratner, who has a majority stake in the Barclays Center and a minor share of the Nets in a partnership with Prokhorov.
Ratner admitted to having “nothing but anxiety” about the team’s competitive prospects, while adding, “Because of how long it’s taken to build the arena, I’m kind of used to the disappointment of things not happening when they were supposed to.”
NoLandGrab: The promised benefits of Atlantic Yards have not happened "when they were supposed to". The time frame for their arrival may be outside of our lifetime.
Posted by steve at January 15, 2012 6:51 PM