Russian sports fans don't believe that Mikhail Prokhorov's acquistion of the Nets will lead to "enhanced prestige" for Russian basketball, according to a poll conducted by a Russian sports site. Prohkhorov has said one rationale for his purchase is the improvement of Russian basketball...both on the court and in the front office.
Only 14.7% of the 20,265 respondents believed the purchase will lead to better Russian basketball and 31.3% had a generally negative feeling about the deal. In comments, Russians said they think Prokhorov should have used the money to invest in Russian teams.
More than a third of those polled--33.6%--expressed indifference. A little more than 12% thought Prokhorov's move would help Russian players land rpster spots in the NBA while 7.9% thought it would accelerate the convergence of European and North American basketball.
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