Try as they might, Nets make no progress with Spike Lee

There would be no greater success for the "Prokhorov Plan" of "turning Knicks fans into Nets fans" than turning Spike Lee, Brooklyn resident and semi-official Knicks mascot..

It's not working but the other night, there seemingly was progress. Lee showed up for the Nets - Warriors game wearing a black-and-white head gear with the word "Knicks" prominently displayed. He noted proudly that he walked to the game.  That's better than what he usually wears to Nets - Knicks games: an orange-and-blue Russian "ushanka," which we have always taken as a more than subtle diss of the Nets ownership.

Lee got an earful from both Billy King and Mr. Whammy. They tried their best to convince him on the Nets' ascendancy. King might also have spoken to him about a role in a re-make of "He Got Game." Chris Lavinio -- @BeaconChris on Twitter -- caught both in plea mode before  the Warriors game, where we did notice he cheered for Golden State.

Lee, whose loving portrait of 1980's Brooklyn "Do the Right Thing" remains a classic, has said nice things about the Nets.  Back in August, he praised the Nets hiring practices.

"Oh yeah," he responded. "Everytime I go there, I see people who look like me who have a job. it's great.

"It's great that people can walk to work. They ... I have to give it up to Jay Z and Prokhorov [a name he badly mangles] and (Bruce) Ratner. They made a decision that they were going to hire people from the neighborhoods surrounding Barclays Center and further out, that 'we should look like what Brooklyn looks like.' And its a beautiful thing."

And in a discussion with Matt Stucko of YES Wednesday, Lee said, "Good luck to the Nets the rest of the season." That's progress. Oh yeah, he's expected to be at the game Friday to see "Jesus Shuttlesworth," aka Ray Allen play.