Prokhorov tweaks Cuban over Deron duel
MIKHAIL PROKHOROV isn’t going to lose Deron Williams without a fight. Or, more specifically, a “kickboxing throwdown.” Whatever that means. A new wrinkle was added to the wealthiest feud in sports Tuesday, when the Nets owner needled Mark Cuban by issuing a warning: Sign Williams in free agency and deal with a trained fighting expert.
“May the best man win,” Prokhorov quipped. “If he wins, I will crush him with the kickboxing throwdown.” Cue the Ivan Drago jokes. These are the same NBA owners who last season exchanged barbs about each other’s manhood. They’re just billionaires being billionaires, except the battle for Williams’ signature is serious basketball business. The future of the Brooklyn Nets hangs in the balance. Their $1 billion arena — just five months from opening — needs a star, and Williams is the only one they’ve got. He’s also the last one left in free agency.
Prokhorov, speaking to the American media for the first time since last January, felt compelled to meet with Williams on Monday, a day before watching the lackadaisical Nets officially get eliminated from playoff contention with a 107-88 loss to the 76ers in Newark. But the Russian oligarch stopped short of saying he is confident the point guard will re-sign.
Tuesday’s game certainly didn’t help the cause. The Nets were outrebounded, 53-36, while Williams scored 14 points on 12 shots.
“For the time being, it’s top secret for us,” Prokhorov said at the Barclays Center construction site, adding, “I think we have a very good discussion.
“He really wants to win. And I want to win maybe even more. Really I don’t want to go into details. But really I think at this stage, we are on the same page.”
The Nets can offer Williams an extra year and more money (about $28 million) than any other team this offseason, but Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks represent an opportunity for the point guard to return to his hometown.
If it’s a basketball decision, the Mavericks are defending NBA champs built around an aging core (Dirk Nowitzki). The Nets have an inauspicious history and an intriguing upside.
“I think he wants to win and he wants to be part of a great franchise,” Prokhorov said. “We have the same view on this.”
Too bad the Nets are still in a rebuilding phase, as noted by Prokhorov, whose declaration of a championship by 2015 seems like a long shot equal to his hopes of becoming the Russian president. “The Nets, like the arena, is under construction. In the building stage,” he said. “I will keep my prediction of a championship. . . . We will make the Brooklyn Nets the champions of the NBA. And I am very committed with this.”