It's an old business adage: Act Locally, but Think Globally.
The Mikhail Prokhorov Era is five weeks old and already the Nets are moving in that direction...and rapidly. The latest? Not only will the Nets play two preseason games in Beijing and Guangzhou, China, in October. They'll play two regular season games in London this March! That's the report out of New Jersey Newsroom.
Evan Weiner, of New Jersey Newsroom, has exclusive interviews on the Nets' plans to go global with Rod Thorn and Irina Pavlova, president of Prokhorov's newly minted Onexim Sports and Entertainment Holdings. Brett Yormark had conceived of the Nets as a "global brand" and Yi Jianlian helped him get to China. But with a Russian owner who's a billionaire 17 times over, those plans have now taken a giant leap forward.
"That's only the first step," said Pavlova, talking about her boss' purchase of the team. "We also have one of the two (NBA) Chinese players (Yi Jianlian) on our team that we are very excited about. I think really is no limit to how global the New Jersey Nets brand can become. I think Mikhail Prokhorov brings a new dimension to this team."
Everyone admits it won't be easy the next two years, getting from Point A (the Meadowlands) to Point C (Brooklyn) via Point B (Newark), but it sure will be interesting!
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Nets Basketball: First Newark, then Brooklyn ... and then the world - Evan Weiner - New Jersey Newsroom