At his best, Phil Mushnick, who writes on the media for the Post, is cranky, a curmudgeon. At his worst, we have his column Friday.

Mushnick, who has long criticized Jay-Z's street language and lyrics, writes about the Nets new black-and-white colors with a vehemence not matched recently in the mainstream media, and certainly not in New York. Here's a sampling...

As long as the Nets are allowing Jay-Z to call their marketing shots — what a shock that he chose black and white as the new team colors to stress, as the Nets explained, their new "urban" home — why not have him apply the full Jay-Z treatment? Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N------s? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B----hes or Hoes. Team logo? A 9 mm with hollow-tip shell casings strewn beneath. Wanna be Jay-Z hip? Then go all the way!

Immediately, criticism started pouring in over the 'Net, with New York Magazine calling it a "horribly racist assessment" and SportsGrid noting, "Things are about to get very, very uncomfortable for ol’ Phil in the coming days."

Mushnick later told website Bob's Blitz, "Such obvious, wishful and ignorant mischaracterizations of what I write are common. I don't call black men the N-word; I don't regard young women as bitches and whores; I don't glorify the use of assault weapons and drugs. Jay-Z, on the other hand.....Is he the only NBA owner allowed to call black men N--ers?"

• Nets on Jay-Z track - Phil Mushnick - New York Post
• New York Post Columnist Goes Full-Racist on Jay-Z’s Brooklyn Nets - Joe Coscarelli - New York Magazine
• Phil Mushnick's Racist Jay-Z Nets Column - Sarah Devlin - Sports Grid
• Phil Mushnick, NY Post Writer, Says Brooklyn Nets Should Be Called 'New York N-----s' Because Of Jay-Z Involvement - Huffington Post
  
• Stay classy, New York Post: 'Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N---s?' - Nate Jones - Metro
• Columnist Phil Mushnick Says Brooklyn Nets Should Be Called 'Brooklyn N-Word' - Brad Kallet - WFAN
  
• Phil Mushnick's racially insensitive comments on Jay-Z, Brooklyn Nets cause stir - Chris Littman - The Sporting News
• New York Post Columnist Phil Mushnick On Jay-Z, "Bitches," "Hoes," And The "New York N-----s" - James King - Village Voice
• Phil Mushnick Says Under Jay-Z’s Influence, the Brooklyn Nets May As Well be the “New York N——s” - Stephen Douglas - The Big Lead
• Phil Mushnick, NY Post writer: Brooklyn Nets should be called 'New York Ni**ers' because of Jay-Z ownership
  - The Grio
• NY Post columnist goes off the rails on Jay-Z: ‘Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N——s?’ - Rick Chandler - NBC Sports
• New York post columnist “jokes” Nets should be “New York N——s” - Kurt Helin - NBC Sports
• Shut Up Whitey. Phil Mushnick Wrote Something Racist In The New York Post - Deadspin
  
• NY Post columnist jokes that the Nets should be called the ‘Brooklyn N——’ - Kelly Dwyer - Ball Don't Lie
• New York Post Columnist Calls Jay-Z’s Brooklyn Nets, The “New York Ni**ers” - Latifah Muhammad - HipHop Wired
• NY Post Publishes Insanely Racist Column About Jay-Z And Nets - Ben Yakas - Gothamist
• NY Post columnist Phil Mushnick under fire for 'racist' digs at Jay-Z - Cam Tucker - Vancouver Sun