New Jersey Nets a Winner: Prokhorov Just What the Doctor Ordered

Despite the lackluster location in Newark, NJ, despite a roster without much consistent talent, and despite the fact that the New Jersey Nets for a good portion of the season were flirting with the possibility of winning the fewest games in the NBA’s history, he bought the team.

And thank goodness he did.

Mikhail Prohorov purchased the NBA’s worst franchise earlier this year, and, so far, he has proven to be the visionary, charismatic guy that could just turn the lowly Nets around and forge them in to a respectable franchise.

The Russian billionaire, reported to be worth between $9 billion and $10 billion, is a workaholic (supposedly working as much as 15 hours per day) and a dedicated businessman who also has a distinct passion for the sport of basketball.

This past week Prokhorov made his NBA debut of sorts, holding an extensive press conference in Manhattan and then representing his team at the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, where his team netted the third overall pick.

After listening to and reading about his vision for the Nets, it is clear that the franchise has a winner on its hands.

Despite his somewhat broken English, Prokhorov was able to convey his vision, one of a globalized team, and one that could compete relatively soon for prime spots in the NBA playoffs.

Irinia Pavlova, the woman Prokhorov appointed to be the president of Onexim Sports and Entertainment, the holding company that will manage Prokhorov’s stake in the Nets, classified his love for the game as “passionate.” But perhaps the most important factor for Prokhorov is that he is a fan of basketball.

From his own mouth, Prokhorov has proclaimed that the Nets organization will receive all of the resources it needs and that he is determined to turn the Nets into a top-flight franchise:

"We will have a desire to win that is unmatched anywhere in the league. This will be a first-class organization with all the support it needs in terms of resources and stability in the front office and the state-of-the-art arena to play in."

Unlike many owners around the sporting world who remain hands off and disengaged from their teams, Prokhorov will be different because he cares about the state of the franchise.

Despite his location in Russia, Prokhorov will reportedly attend at least 25 percent of New Jersey’s home games this season, and if he’s willing to make that many trips halfway across the globe, you can bet that he will be closely following his team from the comfortable confines of his Russian home.

It’s always a plus to have an owner who can double as a passionate fan because it means that he won’t accept failure from the team and its employees. While Prokhorov said that he will accept a failure rate of about 25 percent from his employees (apparently that’s approximately how often he fails in his own business ventures), it is safe to assume that a subpar performance from a player, coach, or a front office member will not be taken lightly, particularly if it becomes a pattern.

This standard should remind everyone that, while Prokhorov is undoubtedly a fan, he is also a savvy businessman who knows how to be successful and expects to obtain a great deal of success from his business ventures.

According to NBA Commissioner David Stern, he expects Prokhorov to turn the Nets around by using smart business tactics and by carefully managing the organization:

"He’s going to do it by hard work and good management…by making sure that people understand that he’s committed to the entertainment experience at the Prudential Center, to commodious reception for Nets' fans, and by selling tickets and sponsorships and suites and club seats and the kinds of things that distinguish successful franchises from unsuccessful franchises."

If a franchise is managed poorly from the business end, it is not unfair to assume that the product on the floor is going to be less than satisfactory as well.

Prokhorov knows what needs to be done to create a successful business transaction. And while we all like to think that our sports are a break from the business world, at the professional level, sports are just as much of a business as it is a break.

One of the distinct business and marketing advantages that Prokhorov and the Nets will have over their NBA peers going forward is the broad global market that the franchise will be able to tap in to.

Beyond the obvious fact that Prokhorov is from Russia, which will presumably lead to an increased interest from Russia as a whole, the planned move from Newark to Brooklyn will place the Nets in one of the most ethnically diverse locations in the entire country.

As a foreigner, Prokhorov will have a better understanding of what it will take for the Nets to attract a more global fan base, and that can only benefit the Nets.

Billionaires generally operate globally, and as a foreign billionaire, Prokhorov will without a doubt provide the Nets with exposure that no other team can come close to, a rate of exposure that should only increase once the team makes the move to Brooklyn:

"This will be the first truly global organization in the NBA, with exceptional international no team can reach. There will be fans of the Nets from New Jersey, to Brooklyn, to Moscow."

It’s an ambitious statement, but then again, Prokhorov is an ambitious guy.

If the Nets can become that global basketball icon that he envisions, Prokhorov could make New Jersey a destination that many big name players (cough…LeBron James…cough) looking to broaden their worldwide brand.

Prokhorov has a vision for this team, and he clearly is confident about what he and his staff can accomplish in a very short time span:

"How fast can we build a championship team? If everything goes as planned, I expect us to be in the playoffs next season and [win a] championship in one year minimum and five years maximum."

However, claiming that the Nets will be a championship caliber team in just five seasons may be a little too ambitious even for this billionaire. Now Prokhorov without a doubt has a plan to turn the Nets into a competitive franchise that could realistically become one of the most widely appealing franchises in the NBA.

But regardless of whether or not Prokhorov’s newest business venture reaches his lofty expectations in such a short period of time, the Russian billionaire clearly has a plan for this franchise, and it is a safe bet that, five years from now, fans of the NBA won’t be looking at the Nets as the lowly franchise as they are now.

Only time will tell, but Prokhorov may be just what the doctor ordered for the badly ailing Nets.

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