Mikhail Prokhorov hinted last October that the Nets' 22-hour stay in Moscow might become an annual thing with "Russia's Team" holding part of its training camp in Moscow...and Brett Yormark and Prokhorov vowed that if the NBA wants a team to open new frontiers like a regular season game in London or a pair of exhibition games in Beijing, the Nets will raise their hands every time.
Well, it's at least theoretically possible that the Nets could spend some training time in Moscow or some other Russian locale this fall, but as for preseason games overseas, forget it. The NBA is not playing any overseas games this October. The prospect of a lockout has made that impossible.
Still, Yormark was in Moscow this week preaching the gospel of globalization and giving an interview to Soviet Sport, a leading Russian sports site. In a discussion of the Nets and Russia, he said, "Perhaps in the future we will hold an exhibition game in Russia and will open training camp", adding a Nets "support team" recently visited Moscow and that Avery Johnson will be visiting in September.
As for signing a Russian player, Yormark was diplomatic: "The main objective of Billy King is to invite to the Nets those players who are really the best players. They are not chosen on national principle." He also said he would look into using Maria Sharapova to help market the team in Russia.
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