Former President Bill Clinton was a surprise visitor to Barclays Center for Friday night's game with the Thunder. Sitting courtside a few seats away from Nets minority owner Bruce Ratner opposite the Nets bench, he had a good view of a bad game.
But in an interview with ESPN's Chris Broussard offered hope to Nets fans ... so much so that you'd think that he, like Sir Paul McCartney, is a Nets fan.
"I like this Brooklyn team and when Brook Lopez got hurt, it hurt them," Clinton volunteered to Broussard. "And they're getting people like Deron back into the lineup and getting used to it.
"This is a good game for them. They'll be learning. Tonight, the only person Oklahoma City really had to defend was Joe Johnson. They were double-teaming him and he couldn't get open and they didn't have an answer. But this is really good for them. They won 10 of their last 12 games and they'll learn from this and they'll go. I like this team and they'll do fine."
Clinton got to know Lopez last summer when the Nets center joined the former President on a tour of East Africa.
Before the game, he told Nets executives he loves Barclays Center, thinks it's great for Brooklyn and noted that he had followed saga Ratner went through to get it built. Then, on leaving the arena, he posed with fans for pictures.