Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has insisted that he remains committed to the team and never intended on selling a majority stake in the franchise.
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Prokhorov had not been at the Barclays Center since November, but he is set to attend two games this week as he ruled out selling a majority stake, but did concede that he would be willing to discuss moving a minority stake in the Nets.
“Well, I think there are several possibilities — one of them you can ask my (minority) partner, Bruce Ratner, it’s up to him to decide. Or we (together) can sell, for example, 49 percent to give to somebody else,” Prokhorov said, ESPN reports.
“But for the time being, nothing is on the table, and as soon as we hear of any changes in capital structure, we’ll announce it in a very open way as we usually do.”
Prokhorov added that due to the volatile economy in Russia in recent times, he has been focused on organising and managing his assets better, but now that everything has been sorted out, he hopes to attend more games in the playoffs should the Nets make the post-season.
According to ESPN, Prokhorov hired an investment banking firm in January to help explore a sale of the team, but he decided to part ways with them in March as talks of a sale broke down.
The Russian businessman owns 80 percent of the team and 45 percent of the Barclays Arena after he bought the Nets for $200m in May 2010.
While he also added that he has full confidence in general manager Billy King to ensure that the franchise continues to move forward in years to come, he is also hopeful that Brook Lopez will re-sign with the team as he has the option of opting out of his contract this summer.
Brooklyn are currently 36-42 for the season which currently leaves them in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, although the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat remain just a game behind them with just four games remaining in the regular season.
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