Nets Lose Key Executive to Knicks

With Barclays Center rising fast, the Nets have lost one of the key members of the team that got it moving...to the Knicks!

Alex Diaz, the 37-year-old general manager of Barclays Center, is leaving the Nets and moving across the East River to a similar job with MSG. Diaz will be senior vice president and general manager of facilities operations, which include Madison Square Garden and the Theater at MSG, Sports Business Journal reports.

Diaz, recruited five years ago from the Heat where he was general manager of the American Airlines Arena. Diaz was viewed as one of the organization's rising stars. Diaz contributed to the Barclays Center design and the creation of its standard operating procedures. He also oversaw the May 2008 opening of the Barclays Center Showroom in Manhattan. The Nets, Diaz and MSG all declined comment to SBJ.

Barclays will be a big part of the team's next marketing campaign, dubbed "Past [Present] Future", which "celebrates the team’s history, direction and future plans".

• Diaz heads across town to Garden - Fred Dreier - Sports Business Journal