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February 23, 2012
The Three Things The Nets Can Do To Survive in Brooklyn
The Sports Fan Journal
by Jason Clinkscales
Bruce Ratner purchased a seemingly distressed property, dressed it up for staging purposes and sold a majority of it in record fashion within a few years.
Bruce Ratner essentially flipped the New Jersey Nets.
Whoa! Stop right there. "Distressed?" The New Jersey Nets were two-time defending NBA Eastern Conference Champions. Distress only set in once Ratner bought the team as the necessary Trojan horse in his land-grabbing scheme.
We’re still months away from seeing Brooklyn Nets merchandise, as the Nets are playing out the string in Newark. However, there are a few things the Nets need to do once they arrive in The City’s most boisterous borough in order to not only make headlines, but to finally build a permanent identity.
...The truth is that the future Brooklyn Nets are going to struggle for a while. They very well might struggle for another thirty-five years, despite their new home. This is a franchise that has had brief periods of success couched under generations of mismanagement, disinterest and just plain bad luck. There are plenty of examples of franchises that have experienced the same small peaks and deep valleys, but a handful of them have been able overcome their history. We don’t know how the Nets will buck or follow the trend, but they’re giving themselves a decent shot by embracing Brooklyn. However, what remains to be seen is how Brooklyn itself will embrace the Nets.
Posted by eric at February 23, 2012 11:18 AM