The timely merger of Brooklyn Nets and Brooklyn Icon

They're interwoven, like the herringbone pattern on the Barclays Center court or the black-and-white threads in the newly revealed Nets uniforms: Jay-Z and the Brooklyn Nets.

Howard Beck writes Sunday night on the extraordinary linkage between the global "icon", as the Nets have refered to him and the team he owns a tiny sliver of.

The concert, Beck writes, "was a hip-hop show, a self-tribute, a Brooklyn pride rally and a Nets pep rally all in one." Indeed, as Beck reports, the team's black and white logo was everywhere. And then there was "the moment," when illuminated from back stage, he strode on stage, in one motion opened the show and introduced the Nets uniform.

"The plan to have Jay-Z introduce the new uniforms was a poorly kept secret, yet expectation was still high,"writes Beck. "And while Nets officials never confirmed the rumors, it quickly became clear just how much they had planned for the moment."

Jay-Z's concert was an overwhelming success. Now, it's up to the Nets.

• For the Nets, a Coming-Out Concert - Howard Beck - New York Times