Renowned writer Malcolm Gladwell has a tough time seeing the owners' side in the NBA lockout, believing that NBA teams should be seen as luxury items, not businesses for profit. In his second piece for Grantland.com, Gladwell takes a look at the Nets, and whether or not they're really making money.

David Stern says that Bruce Ratner "lost several hundred million dollars" on the Nets, but Gladwell notes how much Ratner has benefited from owning the team (and using them to purchase the Atlantic Yards development), and how much money he's bound to make in Brooklyn, with Mikhail Prokhorov taking over the project "with explosive profit potential." 

As Gladwell puts it, the economics of basketball teams are about a lot more than basketball.

• The Nets and NBA Economics - Malcolm Gladwell - Grantland
• What kind of business are the Nets in? - Henry Abbott - TrueHoop