Now that Joe Tsai, the Nets’ minority owner, is closing in on his purchase of Barclays Center, that opens the door to accelerating his takeover of the rest of the team. But what does that means for fans?
Once Tsai completes the deal for the team, worth an NBA-record $2.35 billion, and adds the arena to go with it in a move first reported by The Post, the Nets will swap one wealthy foreign owner for another. What will change and what stays the same?
The deep pockets, for one, will remain. Tsai will replace Mikhail Prokhorov as the third-richest principal owner in the NBA; both men are estimated to have net worths in the vicinity of $10 billion. And sources have consistently said Tsai will give general manager Sean Marks the money needed to win.
But expect Tsai to be more visible. More visible around the Nets and the NBA and even more visible in New York.
Despite being the co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba — and presumably taking an even bigger role with founder Jack Ma slated to step down next month — Tsai surely will be around the Nets more than his predecessor.
Tsai already has attended more games the past two seasons than Prokhorov did over the past several years combined. Yes, Tsai splits his time between Hong Kong and La Jolla, Calif., but he attended the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, and lived, worked and even met his wife Clara in New York.
“New York is an incredible city. I have an affinity for New York,” Tsai told The Post in May. “My first job after law school was in New York. I met my wife here. So New York to me is my second home.”
Tsai and his wife — a philanthropic investor — already are committed to charity work in that second home. They also were heavily involved in putting together the Reform Alliance, lobbying to change state probation and parole laws.
Expect Tsai to be more front-and-center than Prokhorov ever was. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind, whether talking about communism or rebuking President Donald Trump’s trade war on China. And when Tsai becomes the Nets’ principal owner, he could become a power player in the NBA.
Tsai is already on the board of NBA China — at league commissioner Adam Silver’s behest. And once he takes the reins of the Nets — giving him control of the NBA franchise, the Long Island Nets, the Liberty and the Nets Gaming Crew — he will be one of just four owners with an NBA, G-League, WNBA and esports team.
But fans who suffered through lean years will just want to see what he does with those teams.
Despite the disastrous results when Prokhorov tried to grab the NBA brass ring, he did spend over $120 million in luxury taxes. The Russian billionaire operated largely in cash. Will Tsai (whose portfolio is more stocky-heavy), be willing to similarly spend, especially when neither the Nets nor Barclays have thrown off much cash?
By all accounts, the answer is yes.
“I feel extremely lucky to come into this situation when I do have an opportunity to take over the team — exercising the option — I feel like I’ve inherited something that’s very, very good, that’s kind of passed on from the prior ownership,” Tsai told The Post. “And that’s a fine situation to be in.”
Marks handed over a third of a billion dollars in contracts on one day to Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan. It’s a daunting commitment before even considering Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen will be due for raises soon. That kind of expenditure has “luxury tax” written all over it, but sources have said Tsai is committed long term.
“[Tsai and Prokhorov] have both shown the support we need from a basketball operations department,” Marks said. “The ultimate goal for everybody is to win the whole thing.”
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The post How Nets will be different under future owner Joe Tsai appeared first on Fox USA Live.
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