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If there was a rationale for Mikhail Prokhorov's visit to Duke, it went beyond instructing his team in Tescao, Tibetan Martial Arts. The Russian oligarch, with an estimated fortune of $10 billion, didn't say so directly, but his high profile training session seemed to be about assuring everyone that he intends to stay in the basketball business ... and have fun doing it.
"I have said many times that I have no plan to sell controlling interest of the team...
"I think my preference was to come personally, and to say hello to the players and to the coaches. I think it’s very important for the new team to have special team building, and of course the commitment of ownership as part of the team.
"But I also wanted to share with them my own experience with martial arts, and I really will be happy if it helps them in some way."
He said as well he wants to "surprise the doubters" THIS year. it's not all about NEXT year.
"You see, I don't want us to be in the mindset of focusing on the next summer. I think we have a great opportunity to have good results this year in the East. We have a plan to search for opportunities and really I don't have to you tell guys about that. So our task for next season is that we will surprises our doubters."
In fact, he told Tim Bontemps, Ron Boone and the gathered team players, staff, etc., that he hopes to attend more games. He said he plans on attending a "minimum" of 25 percent, which would be 20 regular season games. He's never made to that many in the past. In fact, Lionel Hollins said it's only the second time he and his boss have met.
Over the next few days and weeks, he may have more reason to make the 5,000-mile journey. He said he and Bruce Ratner continue their talks to consolidate ownership of the Nets and Barclays Center in his hands. They will be among his biggest assets. One has to wonder if he has other business to attend to on the trip.
But as Des Bieler of the Washington Post noted, with this kind of wacky performance art, more Prokhorov "can only be good news for all of us."
So who looked good on the second day of practice? Chris Carrino and Tim Capstraw thought Brown looked "incredibly comfortable" and ready to make an impact in his second year.
- Mikhail Prokhorov reiterates he's not selling the Nets - Rod Boone - Newsday
- Mikhail Prokhorov does funny drills at Nets camp - Rod Boone - Newsday
- Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets owner, demonstrates dribbling drills at camp (Video) - Rod Boone - Newsday
- Welcome to crazy exercise time with Mikhail Prokhorov - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
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Mikhail Prokhorov won’t even talk about Deron Williams - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- Prokhorov visits Nets at training camp - C.L.Brown - ESPN
- Here's Mikhail Prokhorov bouncing a tennis ball on a board while dribbling a basketball, and other weird things - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Owner Mikhail Prokhorov Made the Nets Do His Strange Workouts - Marcel Mutoni - SLAM
- Team owner Mikhail Prokhorov is doing weird stuff at Nets training camp - FOX Sports
- Mikhail Prokhorov Shows Up to Nets Practice, Is in Better Shape Than His Players - Brett Pollakoff - Complex
- Mikhail Prokhorov led the Nets in dribbling exercises, and it was amazing - Dan Devine - Yahoo! Sports
- Mikhail Prokhorov Hijacks Nets Practice, Demonstrates Insane Dribbling Workouts - Tom Ley - Deadspin
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Mikhail Prokhorov lead Nets players in drills at camp Wednesday - Kurt Helin - NBC Sports
- Prokhorov on Tibetan Martial Arts and Nets Team Chemistry (Video) - Chris Carrino & Tim Capstraw - Brooklyn Nets
- Training Camp: Coach Lionel Hollins Interview (Video) - Chris Carrino & Tim Capstraw - Brooklyn Nets
- Day Two Recap of Nets Training Camp (Video) - Chris Carrino & Tim Capstraw - Brooklyn Nets
- Prokhorov Plays Nets Trainer for the Day (Gallery) - Brooklyn Nets