NBA News Wire
Reports: Nets owner eyes partial sale
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov reportedly is exploring a possible sale of a piece of the club, and a prospective buyer might be the group that owns the Los Angeles Dodgers.
According to NetsDaily.com and ESPNNewYork.com, Prokhorov met in Russia with Guggenheim Partners executive Todd Boehly, whose group purchased the Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012.
Prokhorov is seeking a “combination of assets” with Guggenheim, NetsDaily.com reported. The story said the Russian magnate would retain controlling interest in the Nets, and Nets minority owner Bruce Ratner would still control the team’s home arena, Barclays Center.
The team and the arena are each valued at more than $1 billion.
ESPNLosAngeles’ Ramona Shelburne tweeted that an anonymous Dodgers source said, “We don’t see any transaction likely to occur re: the Brooklyn Nets.”
Dodgers chairman Mark Walter later told Shelburne, “As for the Nets, I have not seen their numbers. They are a terrific franchise. I would be happy to look at their information and any proposal anyone wanted to make to me — as I would with any proposal.”
According to Grantland.com, the Nets lost $144 million in basketball-related business in 2013-14. The next biggest loser among NBA teams was the Washington Wizards, who were listed with a $13 million deficit.
Prokhorov, who owns 80 percent of the Nets and 45 percent of Barclays Center, paid $223 million for the then-New Jersey Nets in 2010 and moved the team to Brooklyn.
