In an interview with Championat, a Russian sports site, Avery Johnson spoke about how Mikhail Prokhorov has the same passion, if not the same involvement, as Mark Cuban who he worked with in Dallas. "He worried about the coaches and the players, making everything possible...Mikhail Prokhorov is doing the same thing now with the Nets."

Asked if Prokhorov has the same passion as Cuban, Johnson replied, "Yes, unconditionally. And he has proven it repeatedly."  Johnson says that Prokhorov's purchase of the Nets has given him hope that he will achieve his goal of a championship.  But he still has problems pronouncing Russian names, talking about the support he gets from Prokhorov's aides. "Dmitry Razumov and Sergey Kus ... ... chen Cove. Stop-stop! Sergei KU-Shchen-KO - see, I can improve my Russian (laughs)."

• Johnson: I wanted to be a coach and a champion (Google Translate) - Zurab Chitaya & Murat Araslanov - Championat