Matt Taibbi rips into Mikhail Prokhorov
by BigTom on Sep 21, 2010 10:28 AM EDT
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Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone magazine was on Don Imus's "Imus in the Morning" radio program this morning. Here's what he said about Prokhorov.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-2mOmtHXGM
Imus and Taibbi discussed a number of sports-related topics, so they didn't spend too much time on Prokhorov, but here's what I recall from this morning.
- Taibbi lived in Russia for ten years and was there when Prokhorov got his money. So he says he's privy to the Russian perspective on Prokhorov.
- Taibbi called Prokhorov "a gangster" (not in a flattering way, mind you) -- that he was a member of a small group of investors who rigged the system to accumulate their wealth.
- Prokhorov basically illegitamely acquired a metal company. To this day, the factory pollutes the area. In fact, not a single tree grows within a 30-mile radius of the plant. When it snows, the snow is yellow or black rather than white due to the sulfuric exhaust pollution given off by the plant.
- Russians view Prokhorov as a symbol of that decrepit time-period in Russia where gangsters ran wild and corrupted the system to make their billions. In contrast, for some reason, Prokhorov's viewed as a hero here in America, because he's tall and media savvy. (Again, this is my recollection of Taibbi's words).
- Imus asked Taibbi, if Prokhorov is so bad, didn't David Stern do a background check? Taibbi said the NBA gave Prokhorov a clean bill of health, implying that Stern and co. are all too willing to turn a blind eye to injustices back home in Russia if it helps them make inroads over there with their own NBA product.
- Prokhorov is probably in a win-now mode with regard to the Nets, because Russian oligarchs don't like to wait around for results. They want results now, not later.
- Prokhorov struck out on the LeBron sweepstakes and instead got guys like Anthony Morrow (he cited Morrow), but "the Nets are still miles away from competing."
The topic then turned to football. The impression I was left with by Taibbi is that Prokhorov is a lucky opportunist at best, a sleazy industrialist at worst who's image here in America has been carefully crafted and calibrated via the media.
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Hold on, let me get over my shock
that the collapse of a corrupt socialist government was followed by more corruption in the allocation of wealth and companies.
OK, I’m over it and await the next bit of muckraking
Please Prokhorov never again listen to the fools that told you it was a good idea to retain Rod Thorn
Would it be muckraking if Proky owned the Knicks?
Not sure why Net fans are so blindingly quick to defend an owner with what appears to be a well documented past of uhm “shadiness.” Taibbi has worked in Russia as a player AND reporter, has since written for the Nation, Rolling Stone and has been a frequent guest of both Bill Maher and Rachel Maddow. He seems to have bigger fish to fry than Proky but I guess anyone disparaging the owner of “our team” must be a muckraker.
"Proky is NBA dumb!"
Yes it would still be muckraking
I’m neither blind to nor defending Proky’s past. Taibbi provided interesting historical anecdotes, but nothing newsworthy.
I’ve never once thought Proky was clean, but then again, I can’t think of a single obscenely wealthy person that got to where they are honestly unless they inherited it. Even then, the money they have was dirty before they got it.
Please Prokhorov never again listen to the fools that told you it was a good idea to retain Rod Thorn
exactly
not that i’m defending anything wrong that Prokhy has done, but spare me with this nonsense. You have people who are rich as hell right now in this country whose hands are dirtier than a pig’s snout, and Taibbi knows this very well
"Anthony Randolph has hall of fame skills" - GALLO!
by MrDollarBills on Sep 21, 2010 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions
overstatement, no, cpaw?
C’mon now, you’re smart enough to know that the old “ah, they’re all crooks” adage is BS. You know there is a difference in dirtiness between Charles Dolan who greased corrupt political palms (like Joe Margiotta) all over Long Island to get his Cablevision monopoly built and Proky, who has seen most of his competition get whacked.
I LOVE the Nets. My half-joke signature (which I’ll change the very second Melo comes on board) aside, as a fan I’m MUCH more confident with them winning under Proky’s watch than Ratner’s. That said, as objective people, we all know Proky comes with a much greater level of “dishonesty” than Ratner or Dolan could even imagine.
Forgetting, trying to discredit. or looking beyond all that is the first step in legitimizing Kremlin-backed Proky as just another “businessman” when we both know he clearly is not.
By the way, just off the top of my head I can name several self-made billionaires (or near billionaires) who have obscene records of being nothing but fair and honest. From Warren Buffett to Stephen Speilberg to Oprah Winfrey to Ben Cohen, there is a lot of proof showing that sometimes, not usually, but sometimes people can make it to the top without ethical compromises.
Even Joe Taub (who owned this team from 1979-1998) was a self-made millionaire who got out of ADP early and spent most of his life after that contributing to causes, including the Nets. Bruce Ratner was no Joe Taub. But Proky is no Bruce Ratner. People like Taibbi (who has a long history of exposing “dirtier than a pig’s snout Americans”) should be applauded for reminding us of that even if Proky does build a dynasty here.
"Proky is NBA dumb!"
Not an overstatement
In a country where the children of a bootlegger where considered the greatest political family in our history, crime syndicates run massive portions of the entertainment business, and the philanthropist descendants of the robber barons are treated like royalty, I fail to see how Proky is any different. Rockerfeller, Carnegie and Vanderbilt all ran enterprises that were shady and involved lots of deaths. Proky simply had the benefit of politicians and spies.
I hold the post-Perestroika Russian oligarchs in the same regard I do the robber barons.
Please Prokhorov never again listen to the fools that told you it was a good idea to retain Rod Thorn
As do I
I hold the post-Perestroika Russian oligarchs in the same regard I do the robber barons.
…And that’s why I applaud Taibbi, a contemporary reporter, but not a historian of the Homestead Strike, Chicago gangland wars, Papa Joe, or the Memorial Day Massacre.
"Proky is NBA dumb!"
At least 1 blatant flaw with this guy
is that pollution from any plant wouldn’t mean the snow over the plant is a weird color… I doubt that the impact would be so direct… For example, acid rain is terrible in Western and upstate New York, but is caused by the pollution coming from plants in Ohio. The air patterns shift environmental impacts broadly.
Small point, sure… but it makes you question this guy’s motives/knowledge.
Prokhorov is a gangster? Wow, shocking.
Got rich through less than respectable, or illegal means?
Sounds like he’d fit right in here in America.
"Anthony Randolph has hall of fame skills" - GALLO!
How dirty do you want to get
For the most part Prokhorov is still a relative unknown to the American public even with his numerous appears on TV over the last several months.
Like I pointed out in another post, we can laugh about it now, but when someone finds something really damning it won’t matte how the team is doing or what they’ve done, they will be measured by actions of Prokhorov.
We know Proky has dirt on him. So far it’s your standard fare of dealings with despots and taking money from the masses. Apparently that’s something just about everyone can live with.
Yes the NBA “vetted” him, checked with the State Dept., but their due diligence probably only went so far as not to hurt the deal because they need Prokhorov’s money. Rest assured they have “just in case” contingency should ish go sideways so that they scapegoat and disavow any real knowledge if something deep and dark falls out of Prokhrov’s closet. It comes down to how dirty does someone want to get.
by R-D on Sep 21, 2010 3:22 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Give him a medal!
I am glad that Matt Taibbi is not another one of those who kiss the feet of Proky. We should all thank him for seeing Proky for what he really is. It’s so good to see more dirt dug up on him. It make me think that he wasn’t given a thorough investigation and should be given one right away.
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