But I don't expect it. I expect the Knicks to go to their Nov. 1 season opener in Brooklyn against the Nets in a soundproof, tinted bus, rolling anonymously through the Battery Tunnel and slipping into the Barclays Center, a/k/a the Rusty Turtle, in late afternoon. The Knicks will probably treat this like any other road game.

Except it's not any other road game. It's the first major professional sports event in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left town, and though both of these franchises are tormented in their own unique ways, there is an avalanche of good will available to a team clever enough to chase it. The game will be on TNT, the ticket will be hot, and you can be your firstborn that Jay-Z and Beyoncé will be in the house. While Knicks fans may be crabby after the departure of Jeremy Lin, there's an undeniable appeal to the historic crosstown opener. Who wouldn't want to be there? Lin's escape made some Knicks fans claim they'd given up, but the Knicks are like a bag of rosemary-and-olive-oil potato chips you crumple up and try to hide from yourself in the cupboard. As bad as they are for you, as much as they make you hate yourself, it's hopeless. You're going back for more.

The worst thing for the Nets would be a season opener in which Knicks fans infested the Rusty Turtle and turned it into an MSG away from home. This is what happened to Nets games in Jersey, and this is among the reasons they left, and why the team is spending the summer trying to build a hurried loyalty with the borough. There was a free-agency celebration at City Hall, and there are folksy signs around town introducing players like a family moving into the first-floor apartment. Deron Williams is a "father of four," and Gerald Wallace is an "off-season fisherman." Heading east on the BQE toward Williamsburg there's a hello from recent hire Joe Johnson saying he's a "lifelong Razorback." No disrespect to the University of Arkansas, but nobody in Brooklyn cares. Tell us if Joe gets his pizza at Di Fara or Spumoni Gardens.

The best thing the Nets have going for them is that they are not the Knicks. Though their off-season hasn't been perfect—the latest failed seduction of Dwight Howard was a letdown—Brooklyn is wisely being open and neighborly as the Knicks seclude themselves. How comical is it that the Knicks have offered so little about Lin's departure? Lin was the Knicks' most popular player, and a wise organization, no matter how irritated it was about the point guard's contract maneuver, would have stepped forward and offered an explanation as to why it let him go. Instead, owner Jim Dolan's team walls itself off, leaves the narrative to others, lets the frustration boil, lets it linger into the start of the coming season. This is typical. Here is a brief list of all the canny, innovative public-relations moves of the Dolan Knicks era:

Which brings us back to the Brooklyn Bridge. You might think it's silly, but it's exactly the kind of crowd-pleasing move the Knicks could use right now. I don't want to hear about logistical concerns—if they can figure out a way to get presidents and heads of state around the city and a Shrek balloon down Central Park West in the Macy's parade, they can handle an open-air walk by some basketball players.

Here's the best part: It would upstage the Nets. If this is going to be a true rivalry—and let's be honest, it was pretty much a lame-o rivalry when the Nets were in Jersey—then there's got to be some good-natured goosing. (Nothing crass/bush league, just fun.) Nov. 1 is supposed to be Brooklyn's day, and here would be New York's most recognizable basketball club invading the borough's most iconic symbol, like a scene from a movie.

So get the Knicks to the Bridge! If not, the Nets are free to use the idea when they come to Manhattan. Works both ways.

The best thing the Nets have going for them is that they are not the Knicks.

Yes. I'd much rather have been the N*ts the last two years. Some truly stunning basketball.

What a media stooge. The sun rises and sets on what a franchise can possibly do to write your stories for you.

Yes. Dolan's a reclusive annoying stupidly rich idiot owner. Still beats the hell out of being a doofus writer for the latest Rupert Murdoch toilet paper.

holfresh wrote:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443477104577551270770571542.html?mod=sports_newsreel

The Knicks should walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm serious. I guess they could squeeze into a 2 or 3 subway, ride from Madison Square Garden to Atlantic Avenue, but the Bridge would be so much better. Get down to City Hall and have the entire team stroll across the span, confident and together. Hire a bunch of NYPD for security. Whole thing would take less than 45 minutes. It'd be a brilliant public-relations move, with an old New York touch of showbiz.

But I don't expect it. I expect the Knicks to go to their Nov. 1 season opener in Brooklyn against the Nets in a soundproof, tinted bus, rolling anonymously through the Battery Tunnel and slipping into the Barclays Center, a/k/a the Rusty Turtle, in late afternoon. The Knicks will probably treat this like any other road game.

Except it's not any other road game. It's the first major professional sports event in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left town, and though both of these franchises are tormented in their own unique ways, there is an avalanche of good will available to a team clever enough to chase it. The game will be on TNT, the ticket will be hot, and you can be your firstborn that Jay-Z and Beyoncé will be in the house. While Knicks fans may be crabby after the departure of Jeremy Lin, there's an undeniable appeal to the historic crosstown opener. Who wouldn't want to be there? Lin's escape made some Knicks fans claim they'd given up, but the Knicks are like a bag of rosemary-and-olive-oil potato chips you crumple up and try to hide from yourself in the cupboard. As bad as they are for you, as much as they make you hate yourself, it's hopeless. You're going back for more.

The worst thing for the Nets would be a season opener in which Knicks fans infested the Rusty Turtle and turned it into an MSG away from home. This is what happened to Nets games in Jersey, and this is among the reasons they left, and why the team is spending the summer trying to build a hurried loyalty with the borough. There was a free-agency celebration at City Hall, and there are folksy signs around town introducing players like a family moving into the first-floor apartment. Deron Williams is a "father of four," and Gerald Wallace is an "off-season fisherman." Heading east on the BQE toward Williamsburg there's a hello from recent hire Joe Johnson saying he's a "lifelong Razorback." No disrespect to the University of Arkansas, but nobody in Brooklyn cares. Tell us if Joe gets his pizza at Di Fara or Spumoni Gardens.

The best thing the Nets have going for them is that they are not the Knicks. Though their off-season hasn't been perfect—the latest failed seduction of Dwight Howard was a letdown—Brooklyn is wisely being open and neighborly as the Knicks seclude themselves. How comical is it that the Knicks have offered so little about Lin's departure? Lin was the Knicks' most popular player, and a wise organization, no matter how irritated it was about the point guard's contract maneuver, would have stepped forward and offered an explanation as to why it let him go. Instead, owner Jim Dolan's team walls itself off, leaves the narrative to others, lets the frustration boil, lets it linger into the start of the coming season. This is typical. Here is a brief list of all the canny, innovative public-relations moves of the Dolan Knicks era:

Which brings us back to the Brooklyn Bridge. You might think it's silly, but it's exactly the kind of crowd-pleasing move the Knicks could use right now. I don't want to hear about logistical concerns—if they can figure out a way to get presidents and heads of state around the city and a Shrek balloon down Central Park West in the Macy's parade, they can handle an open-air walk by some basketball players.

Here's the best part: It would upstage the Nets. If this is going to be a true rivalry—and let's be honest, it was pretty much a lame-o rivalry when the Nets were in Jersey—then there's got to be some good-natured goosing. (Nothing crass/bush league, just fun.) Nov. 1 is supposed to be Brooklyn's day, and here would be New York's most recognizable basketball club invading the borough's most iconic symbol, like a scene from a movie.

So get the Knicks to the Bridge! If not, the Nets are free to use the idea when they come to Manhattan. Works both ways.

Ever since the Nyets moved out of the Swamp, there's been nothing but big talk about them on our forums and they have not done jack and most likely will not do jack. So many idiots are putting them on a pedestal but they may fall off and on their arses. Put it this way, I love the fact that the Nyets haven't done anything and are being crowned the champion of the Metropolitan Area. That is really setting them up for failure, big time and not even Jaye-Zeee can save them. Well they went out and got the Kardasian to marry one of their cats for attention and it blew them out of the Swamp. Can you imagine if our beloved Knicks were not up to par? I'm glad that we have such a powerful team because it's obvious that a lot of people are tripping and hating. Even the Russian guy's poking fun as if his team has ever been to the playoffs. I honestly do not think the Nyets are in the Knicks league even though they're trying to be like the Knicks. I know that that the Nyets are desperate but they're going overboard. The Kardasian thing blew up in their faces and they still haven't learned. That owner boasts about how he's going to turn Knicks fans into Nyets fans and I know for sure that it's not going to happen. The Knicks will always be the Lakers of New York. Take that Nyets.

SupremeCommander wrote:good article. but the last time the Knicks were 'fan friendly' was before Dolan fired Marv Albert for stating the truth

Yeah - I forgot about Marv ... that was awful - I like marv but can do without the sodomy

infinitilov100 wrote:

holfresh wrote:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443477104577551270770571542.html?mod=sports_newsreel

The Knicks should walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm serious. I guess they could squeeze into a 2 or 3 subway, ride from Madison Square Garden to Atlantic Avenue, but the Bridge would be so much better. Get down to City Hall and have the entire team stroll across the span, confident and together. Hire a bunch of NYPD for security. Whole thing would take less than 45 minutes. It'd be a brilliant public-relations move, with an old New York touch of showbiz.

But I don't expect it. I expect the Knicks to go to their Nov. 1 season opener in Brooklyn against the Nets in a soundproof, tinted bus, rolling anonymously through the Battery Tunnel and slipping into the Barclays Center, a/k/a the Rusty Turtle, in late afternoon. The Knicks will probably treat this like any other road game.

Except it's not any other road game. It's the first major professional sports event in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left town, and though both of these franchises are tormented in their own unique ways, there is an avalanche of good will available to a team clever enough to chase it. The game will be on TNT, the ticket will be hot, and you can be your firstborn that Jay-Z and Beyoncé will be in the house. While Knicks fans may be crabby after the departure of Jeremy Lin, there's an undeniable appeal to the historic crosstown opener. Who wouldn't want to be there? Lin's escape made some Knicks fans claim they'd given up, but the Knicks are like a bag of rosemary-and-olive-oil potato chips you crumple up and try to hide from yourself in the cupboard. As bad as they are for you, as much as they make you hate yourself, it's hopeless. You're going back for more.

The worst thing for the Nets would be a season opener in which Knicks fans infested the Rusty Turtle and turned it into an MSG away from home. This is what happened to Nets games in Jersey, and this is among the reasons they left, and why the team is spending the summer trying to build a hurried loyalty with the borough. There was a free-agency celebration at City Hall, and there are folksy signs around town introducing players like a family moving into the first-floor apartment. Deron Williams is a "father of four," and Gerald Wallace is an "off-season fisherman." Heading east on the BQE toward Williamsburg there's a hello from recent hire Joe Johnson saying he's a "lifelong Razorback." No disrespect to the University of Arkansas, but nobody in Brooklyn cares. Tell us if Joe gets his pizza at Di Fara or Spumoni Gardens.

The best thing the Nets have going for them is that they are not the Knicks. Though their off-season hasn't been perfect—the latest failed seduction of Dwight Howard was a letdown—Brooklyn is wisely being open and neighborly as the Knicks seclude themselves. How comical is it that the Knicks have offered so little about Lin's departure? Lin was the Knicks' most popular player, and a wise organization, no matter how irritated it was about the point guard's contract maneuver, would have stepped forward and offered an explanation as to why it let him go. Instead, owner Jim Dolan's team walls itself off, leaves the narrative to others, lets the frustration boil, lets it linger into the start of the coming season. This is typical. Here is a brief list of all the canny, innovative public-relations moves of the Dolan Knicks era:

Which brings us back to the Brooklyn Bridge. You might think it's silly, but it's exactly the kind of crowd-pleasing move the Knicks could use right now. I don't want to hear about logistical concerns—if they can figure out a way to get presidents and heads of state around the city and a Shrek balloon down Central Park West in the Macy's parade, they can handle an open-air walk by some basketball players.

Here's the best part: It would upstage the Nets. If this is going to be a true rivalry—and let's be honest, it was pretty much a lame-o rivalry when the Nets were in Jersey—then there's got to be some good-natured goosing. (Nothing crass/bush league, just fun.) Nov. 1 is supposed to be Brooklyn's day, and here would be New York's most recognizable basketball club invading the borough's most iconic symbol, like a scene from a movie.

So get the Knicks to the Bridge! If not, the Nets are free to use the idea when they come to Manhattan. Works both ways.

Ever since the Nyets moved out of the Swamp, there's been nothing but big talk about them on our forums and they have not done jack and most likely will not do jack. So many idiots are putting them on a pedestal but they may fall off and on their arses. Put it this way, I love the fact that the Nyets haven't done anything and are being crowned the champion of the Metropolitan Area. That is really setting them up for failure, big time and not even Jaye-Zeee can save them. Well they went out and got the Kardasian to marry one of their cats for attention and it blew them out of the Swamp. Can you imagine if our beloved Knicks were not up to par? I'm glad that we have such a powerful team because it's obvious that a lot of people are tripping and hating. Even the Russian guy's poking fun as if his team has ever been to the playoffs. I honestly do not think the Nyets are in the Knicks league even though they're trying to be like the Knicks. I know that that the Nyets are desperate but they're going overboard. The Kardasian thing blew up in their faces and they still haven't learned. That owner boasts about how he's going to turn Knicks fans into Nyets fans and I know for sure that it's not going to happen. The Knicks will always be the Lakers of New York. Take that Nyets.

Only one talking a about the N*ts for the last few weeks is you.

The article says how the Knicks can upstage the N*ts.

totally over your head.

infinitilov100 wrote:

infinitilov100 wrote:

holfresh wrote:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443477104577551270770571542.html?mod=sports_newsreel

The Knicks should walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm serious. I guess they could squeeze into a 2 or 3 subway, ride from Madison Square Garden to Atlantic Avenue, but the Bridge would be so much better. Get down to City Hall and have the entire team stroll across the span, confident and together. Hire a bunch of NYPD for security. Whole thing would take less than 45 minutes. It'd be a brilliant public-relations move, with an old New York touch of showbiz.

But I don't expect it. I expect the Knicks to go to their Nov. 1 season opener in Brooklyn against the Nets in a soundproof, tinted bus, rolling anonymously through the Battery Tunnel and slipping into the Barclays Center, a/k/a the Rusty Turtle, in late afternoon. The Knicks will probably treat this like any other road game.

Except it's not any other road game. It's the first major professional sports event in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left town, and though both of these franchises are tormented in their own unique ways, there is an avalanche of good will available to a team clever enough to chase it. The game will be on TNT, the ticket will be hot, and you can be your firstborn that Jay-Z and Beyoncé will be in the house. While Knicks fans may be crabby after the departure of Jeremy Lin, there's an undeniable appeal to the historic crosstown opener. Who wouldn't want to be there? Lin's escape made some Knicks fans claim they'd given up, but the Knicks are like a bag of rosemary-and-olive-oil potato chips you crumple up and try to hide from yourself in the cupboard. As bad as they are for you, as much as they make you hate yourself, it's hopeless. You're going back for more.

The worst thing for the Nets would be a season opener in which Knicks fans infested the Rusty Turtle and turned it into an MSG away from home. This is what happened to Nets games in Jersey, and this is among the reasons they left, and why the team is spending the summer trying to build a hurried loyalty with the borough. There was a free-agency celebration at City Hall, and there are folksy signs around town introducing players like a family moving into the first-floor apartment. Deron Williams is a "father of four," and Gerald Wallace is an "off-season fisherman." Heading east on the BQE toward Williamsburg there's a hello from recent hire Joe Johnson saying he's a "lifelong Razorback." No disrespect to the University of Arkansas, but nobody in Brooklyn cares. Tell us if Joe gets his pizza at Di Fara or Spumoni Gardens.

The best thing the Nets have going for them is that they are not the Knicks. Though their off-season hasn't been perfect—the latest failed seduction of Dwight Howard was a letdown—Brooklyn is wisely being open and neighborly as the Knicks seclude themselves. How comical is it that the Knicks have offered so little about Lin's departure? Lin was the Knicks' most popular player, and a wise organization, no matter how irritated it was about the point guard's contract maneuver, would have stepped forward and offered an explanation as to why it let him go. Instead, owner Jim Dolan's team walls itself off, leaves the narrative to others, lets the frustration boil, lets it linger into the start of the coming season. This is typical. Here is a brief list of all the canny, innovative public-relations moves of the Dolan Knicks era:

Which brings us back to the Brooklyn Bridge. You might think it's silly, but it's exactly the kind of crowd-pleasing move the Knicks could use right now. I don't want to hear about logistical concerns—if they can figure out a way to get presidents and heads of state around the city and a Shrek balloon down Central Park West in the Macy's parade, they can handle an open-air walk by some basketball players.

Here's the best part: It would upstage the Nets. If this is going to be a true rivalry—and let's be honest, it was pretty much a lame-o rivalry when the Nets were in Jersey—then there's got to be some good-natured goosing. (Nothing crass/bush league, just fun.) Nov. 1 is supposed to be Brooklyn's day, and here would be New York's most recognizable basketball club invading the borough's most iconic symbol, like a scene from a movie.

So get the Knicks to the Bridge! If not, the Nets are free to use the idea when they come to Manhattan. Works both ways.

Ever since the Nyets moved out of the Swamp, there's been nothing but big talk about them on our forums and they have not done jack and most likely will not do jack. So many idiots are putting them on a pedestal but they may fall off and on their arses. Put it this way, I love the fact that the Nyets haven't done anything and are being crowned the champion of the Metropolitan Area. That is really setting them up for failure, big time and not even Jaye-Zeee can save them. Well they went out and got the Kardasian to marry one of their cats for attention and it blew them out of the Swamp. Can you imagine if our beloved Knicks were not up to par? I'm glad that we have such a powerful team because it's obvious that a lot of people are tripping and hating. Even the Russian guy's poking fun as if his team has ever been to the playoffs. I honestly do not think the Nyets are in the Knicks league even though they're trying to be like the Knicks. I know that that the Nyets are desperate but they're going overboard. The Kardasian thing blew up in their faces and they still haven't learned. That owner boasts about how he's going to turn Knicks fans into Nyets fans and I know for sure that it's not going to happen. The Knicks will always be the Lakers of New York. Take that Nyets.

I still have not heard one player say they want to play for the Nyets. They had to kidnap Deron Williams because he would not go there willingly and same with JJ. The Knicks do not have that problem.

Brilliant!

Nalod wrote:

infinitilov100 wrote:

holfresh wrote:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443477104577551270770571542.html?mod=sports_newsreel

The Knicks should walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm serious. I guess they could squeeze into a 2 or 3 subway, ride from Madison Square Garden to Atlantic Avenue, but the Bridge would be so much better. Get down to City Hall and have the entire team stroll across the span, confident and together. Hire a bunch of NYPD for security. Whole thing would take less than 45 minutes. It'd be a brilliant public-relations move, with an old New York touch of showbiz.

But I don't expect it. I expect the Knicks to go to their Nov. 1 season opener in Brooklyn against the Nets in a soundproof, tinted bus, rolling anonymously through the Battery Tunnel and slipping into the Barclays Center, a/k/a the Rusty Turtle, in late afternoon. The Knicks will probably treat this like any other road game.

Except it's not any other road game. It's the first major professional sports event in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left town, and though both of these franchises are tormented in their own unique ways, there is an avalanche of good will available to a team clever enough to chase it. The game will be on TNT, the ticket will be hot, and you can be your firstborn that Jay-Z and Beyoncé will be in the house. While Knicks fans may be crabby after the departure of Jeremy Lin, there's an undeniable appeal to the historic crosstown opener. Who wouldn't want to be there? Lin's escape made some Knicks fans claim they'd given up, but the Knicks are like a bag of rosemary-and-olive-oil potato chips you crumple up and try to hide from yourself in the cupboard. As bad as they are for you, as much as they make you hate yourself, it's hopeless. You're going back for more.

The worst thing for the Nets would be a season opener in which Knicks fans infested the Rusty Turtle and turned it into an MSG away from home. This is what happened to Nets games in Jersey, and this is among the reasons they left, and why the team is spending the summer trying to build a hurried loyalty with the borough. There was a free-agency celebration at City Hall, and there are folksy signs around town introducing players like a family moving into the first-floor apartment. Deron Williams is a "father of four," and Gerald Wallace is an "off-season fisherman." Heading east on the BQE toward Williamsburg there's a hello from recent hire Joe Johnson saying he's a "lifelong Razorback." No disrespect to the University of Arkansas, but nobody in Brooklyn cares. Tell us if Joe gets his pizza at Di Fara or Spumoni Gardens.

The best thing the Nets have going for them is that they are not the Knicks. Though their off-season hasn't been perfect—the latest failed seduction of Dwight Howard was a letdown—Brooklyn is wisely being open and neighborly as the Knicks seclude themselves. How comical is it that the Knicks have offered so little about Lin's departure? Lin was the Knicks' most popular player, and a wise organization, no matter how irritated it was about the point guard's contract maneuver, would have stepped forward and offered an explanation as to why it let him go. Instead, owner Jim Dolan's team walls itself off, leaves the narrative to others, lets the frustration boil, lets it linger into the start of the coming season. This is typical. Here is a brief list of all the canny, innovative public-relations moves of the Dolan Knicks era:

Which brings us back to the Brooklyn Bridge. You might think it's silly, but it's exactly the kind of crowd-pleasing move the Knicks could use right now. I don't want to hear about logistical concerns—if they can figure out a way to get presidents and heads of state around the city and a Shrek balloon down Central Park West in the Macy's parade, they can handle an open-air walk by some basketball players.

Here's the best part: It would upstage the Nets. If this is going to be a true rivalry—and let's be honest, it was pretty much a lame-o rivalry when the Nets were in Jersey—then there's got to be some good-natured goosing. (Nothing crass/bush league, just fun.) Nov. 1 is supposed to be Brooklyn's day, and here would be New York's most recognizable basketball club invading the borough's most iconic symbol, like a scene from a movie.

So get the Knicks to the Bridge! If not, the Nets are free to use the idea when they come to Manhattan. Works both ways.

Ever since the Nyets moved out of the Swamp, there's been nothing but big talk about them on our forums and they have not done jack and most likely will not do jack. So many idiots are putting them on a pedestal but they may fall off and on their arses. Put it this way, I love the fact that the Nyets haven't done anything and are being crowned the champion of the Metropolitan Area. That is really setting them up for failure, big time and not even Jaye-Zeee can save them. Well they went out and got the Kardasian to marry one of their cats for attention and it blew them out of the Swamp. Can you imagine if our beloved Knicks were not up to par? I'm glad that we have such a powerful team because it's obvious that a lot of people are tripping and hating. Even the Russian guy's poking fun as if his team has ever been to the playoffs. I honestly do not think the Nyets are in the Knicks league even though they're trying to be like the Knicks. I know that that the Nyets are desperate but they're going overboard. The Kardasian thing blew up in their faces and they still haven't learned. That owner boasts about how he's going to turn Knicks fans into Nyets fans and I know for sure that it's not going to happen. The Knicks will always be the Lakers of New York. Take that Nyets.

Only one talking a about the N*ts for the last few weeks is you.

The article says how the Knicks can upstage the N*ts.

totally over your head.

We do and should not have to adjust to the Nyets. You don't want to get it. The thread includes the Nyets. I'm tired of hearing about them. Every time someone mentions the Nyets you seem to wet your pants with excitement.

When the developer Bruce Ratner set out to buy the New Jersey Nets and build an arena for them in Brooklyn, he recruited Jay-Z, the hip-hop superstar who grew up in public housing a couple of miles from the site, to join his group of investors.
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Jay-Z, who owns about one-fifteenth of a percent of the Brooklyn Nets, and Mikhail D. Prokhorov, the Russian billionaire who owns 80 percent, got equal billing in a billboard near Madison Square Garden.
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Jay-Z, second from right, helped break ground in 2010 for the Nets’ Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
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Mr. Ratner may have thought he was getting little more than a limited partner with a boldface name and a youthful following that could prove useful someday. But Jay-Z’s contributions have dwarfed the $1 million he invested nine years ago. His influence on the project has been wildly disproportionate to his ownership stake — a scant one-fifteenth of one percent of the team. And so is the money he stands to make from it.

Now, with the long-delayed Barclays Center arena nearing opening night in September and the Nets bidding in earnest for Brooklyn’s loyalties, Jay-Z will perform eight sold-out shows to kick things off. But away from center stage he has put his mark on almost every facet of the enterprise, his partners say.

He helped design the team logos and choose the team’s stark black-and-white color scheme, and personally appealed to National Basketball Association officials to drop their objections to it (the N.B.A., according to a person with knowledge of the discussion, thought that African-American athletes did not look good on TV in black, an assertion that a league spokesman adamantly denied). He counseled arena executives on what kind of music to play during games. (“Less Jersey,” he urged, pushing niche artists like Santigold over old favorites like Bon Jovi.)

He even coached them on how to screen patrons for weapons without appearing too heavy-handed. (“Be mindful,” he advised oracularly, “and be sensitive.”)

In the two and a half years since groundbreaking, as taxi-roof advertisements promised “All access to Jay-Z,” and sponsorship salespeople trumpeted how “hip and cool” he and his wife, Beyoncé, would make the arena, he and the Nets have effectively written a new playbook for how to deploy a strategic celebrity investor.

If it has been done elsewhere — see Usher with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Will Smith with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony with the Miami Dolphins — no team has come close to making as much out of a famous part-owner.

And none of the dozens of other current and former part-owners of the team have played so public a role — not even Mary Higgins Clark, the best-selling author, though she read to children at a Nets literacy event.

“He is it,” Mr. Ratner, the developer, said in an interview. “He is us. He is how people are going to see that place.”

As much as his partners, including Mikhail D. Prokhorov, the Russian billionaire who bought 80 percent of the team in 2009, are getting out of him, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, is benefiting handsomely, too, beginning with free use of one of 11 exclusive “Vault” suites, for which paying customers are charged $550,000 a year.

Suite owners will have access to a Champagne bar serving Armand de Brignac, an expensive bubbly that Mr. Carter promotes and in which he holds a financial interest, according to a biography by a writer for Forbes. The arena will contain a 40/40 Club, an iteration of his sports-bar-style nightclub chain. There will be a Rocawear store, selling his clothing line, on the arena’s exterior. Even the advertising agency used by the Nets, Translation, is half-owned by Mr. Carter.

There is also an important intangible asset, particularly for a rapper: the bragging rights that Mr. Carter has enjoyed as a part-owner since Mr. Ratner’s group paid $300 million to acquire the Nets. His slender stake was enough for Mr. Carter to thump his chest in his lyrics, promising to “bring you some Nets.”

Mr. Carter has capitalized further on his Nets investment by extending the Jay-Z brand into endorsement deals normally reserved for elite athletes. He stars, wearing a Nets cap, in a Budweiser TV commercial that was broadcast during the Olympic Games. And he was named executive producer of the basketball video game, “NBA 2K13.”

All told, he has achieved a remarkable feat of leverage with his tiny sliver of the team, which was reduced from one-third to one-fifteenth of a percent upon Mr. Prokhorov’s purchase of the Nets, according to people aware of the deal terms. (Mr. Carter, who declined to be interviewed for this article, retains a slightly larger sliver of the arena itself — just under a fifth of a percent.)

As if to slam that point home, when the Nets placed a 222-foot-tall billboard near Madison Square Garden depicting Mr. Carter and Mr. Prokhorov as their “blueprint for greatness,” the two were shown at the same size, with Mr. Carter up front.

Mr. Ratner said he was seeking both sizzle and “credibility — which we needed badly,” when he first approached several other celebrities in 2003 about helping him acquire the team. Then he was introduced to Mr. Carter by Drew Katz, the son of one of the Nets’ principal owners, after Jason Kidd, then the Nets’ marquee point guard, suggested that Mr. Carter buy the team.

Mr. Carter’s credibility was indisputable: a product of the Marcy Houses, he had an early career as a drug dealer (and kept a “stash spot” two blocks from the arena site, according to one of his songs) before becoming one of the most successful rap artists of all time. He had also shown talent as a businessman, creating his own record label and what soon became a wide range of other business ventures.

Mr. Ratner was wary. He often says he overcame his concerns about Mr. Carter’s more offensive lyrics — celebrating gangster culture and denigrating women — only after learning there were cleaned-up “radio versions” of the songs, too. And Mr. Carter, he said, appeared nervous about having to meet with David Stern, the N.B.A. commissioner, who asked him to discuss his guilty plea to stabbing a record producer in 1999. (Mr. Carter described the incident, for which he received three years’ probation, as a symptom of “the world I lived in once,” Mr. Ratner recalled.)

Mr. Carter’s involvement frustrated opponents of Mr. Ratner’s development plans in Brooklyn who saw the arena and proposed residential and office towers as a subsidized land grab that could ruin the neighborhood. They complained that residents who might have been wary of Mr. Ratner’s promises to create jobs, nonetheless trusted Jay-Z, who invoked his roots and insisted he could never support “anything that’s against the people.”

“Bringing in someone who grew up in public housing, with a rags-to-riches story, who could identify with Brooklyn and African-Americans, that was slick,” said City Councilwoman Letitia James, a critic of the project. Mr. Ratner played down Mr. Carter’s importance in overcoming opposition. “Had Jay-Z not come along,” he said, “we’d still have an arena.”

In the early years, as the Nets made playoff runs, Mr. Carter freely associated himself with the team, attending games and suggesting how to entertain V.I.P.’s in style, said Brett Yormark, chief executive of the Nets. “He and I would talk about how we could use New Jersey as a lab experiment for Brooklyn,” he said.

He also made himself useful to the basketball staff, persuading Shareef Abdur-Rahim of the Portland Trail Blazers to accept a 2005 trade to the Nets (an injury scuttled the deal) and giving Vince Carter a pep talk after he played poorly in two playoff games in 2007 (he responded with 37 points in the next game).

But the rap star pulled back from the Nets as their fortunes faded and they failed to make the playoffs after the 2007-8 season. “He’s very brand-conscious,” a Nets official said.

It was only after the Barclays Center had cleared all hurdles in December 2009 that Mr. Carter unabashedly stepped forward. He courted LeBron James on behalf of the Nets in 2010 and pursued Carmelo Anthony a year later. And when the Nets’ newest star, Deron Williams, needed advice on where to buy a home, Mr. Carter told him to call.

Aaron Goodwin, an agent who has represented many young players who became N.B.A. stars, said Mr. Carter’s involvement had improved the image of the Nets in athletes’ eyes. “They’re going to take the phone call now,” he said. “They’re going to take the flight in. They’re going to listen. In years past, the Nets wouldn’t have gotten that. But now they’re in the game.” Mr. Yormark said Mr. Carter was not receiving a fee for his advice or any special deals for his businesses. Yet he has attended both quarterly meetings of the arena’s board of directors, sitting to Mr. Ratner’s right, and keeps in frequent touch by phone and e-mail with Mr. Yormark.

During the Nets’ free-agency deal making this summer — obtaining Joe Johnson and re-signing Mr. Williams, among others, in hopes of improving upon their 22-44 record last season — Mr. Yormark received a call from Mr. Carter, who was following the team’s moves on television. “He said he was watching ESPN,” Mr. Yormark said, “and the size of our logo was too big, because the word Brooklyn was getting cut off on the ticker at the bottom of the screen. He said, ‘Call ESPN and get them to fix it.’ And he was right. And then they fixed it.”

When Mr. Yormark next sat down for a meeting with Mr. Carter, he recalled, the rap star reminded him of this, saying: “Brett, I’m watching. And every detail matters.”

infinitilov100 wrote:

martin wrote:

infinitilov100 wrote:

Nalod wrote:

infinitilov100 wrote:

holfresh wrote:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443477104577551270770571542.html?mod=sports_newsreel

The Knicks should walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm serious. I guess they could squeeze into a 2 or 3 subway, ride from Madison Square Garden to Atlantic Avenue, but the Bridge would be so much better. Get down to City Hall and have the entire team stroll across the span, confident and together. Hire a bunch of NYPD for security. Whole thing would take less than 45 minutes. It'd be a brilliant public-relations move, with an old New York touch of showbiz.

But I don't expect it. I expect the Knicks to go to their Nov. 1 season opener in Brooklyn against the Nets in a soundproof, tinted bus, rolling anonymously through the Battery Tunnel and slipping into the Barclays Center, a/k/a the Rusty Turtle, in late afternoon. The Knicks will probably treat this like any other road game.

Except it's not any other road game. It's the first major professional sports event in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left town, and though both of these franchises are tormented in their own unique ways, there is an avalanche of good will available to a team clever enough to chase it. The game will be on TNT, the ticket will be hot, and you can be your firstborn that Jay-Z and Beyoncé will be in the house. While Knicks fans may be crabby after the departure of Jeremy Lin, there's an undeniable appeal to the historic crosstown opener. Who wouldn't want to be there? Lin's escape made some Knicks fans claim they'd given up, but the Knicks are like a bag of rosemary-and-olive-oil potato chips you crumple up and try to hide from yourself in the cupboard. As bad as they are for you, as much as they make you hate yourself, it's hopeless. You're going back for more.

The worst thing for the Nets would be a season opener in which Knicks fans infested the Rusty Turtle and turned it into an MSG away from home. This is what happened to Nets games in Jersey, and this is among the reasons they left, and why the team is spending the summer trying to build a hurried loyalty with the borough. There was a free-agency celebration at City Hall, and there are folksy signs around town introducing players like a family moving into the first-floor apartment. Deron Williams is a "father of four," and Gerald Wallace is an "off-season fisherman." Heading east on the BQE toward Williamsburg there's a hello from recent hire Joe Johnson saying he's a "lifelong Razorback." No disrespect to the University of Arkansas, but nobody in Brooklyn cares. Tell us if Joe gets his pizza at Di Fara or Spumoni Gardens.

The best thing the Nets have going for them is that they are not the Knicks. Though their off-season hasn't been perfect—the latest failed seduction of Dwight Howard was a letdown—Brooklyn is wisely being open and neighborly as the Knicks seclude themselves. How comical is it that the Knicks have offered so little about Lin's departure? Lin was the Knicks' most popular player, and a wise organization, no matter how irritated it was about the point guard's contract maneuver, would have stepped forward and offered an explanation as to why it let him go. Instead, owner Jim Dolan's team walls itself off, leaves the narrative to others, lets the frustration boil, lets it linger into the start of the coming season. This is typical. Here is a brief list of all the canny, innovative public-relations moves of the Dolan Knicks era:

Which brings us back to the Brooklyn Bridge. You might think it's silly, but it's exactly the kind of crowd-pleasing move the Knicks could use right now. I don't want to hear about logistical concerns—if they can figure out a way to get presidents and heads of state around the city and a Shrek balloon down Central Park West in the Macy's parade, they can handle an open-air walk by some basketball players.

Here's the best part: It would upstage the Nets. If this is going to be a true rivalry—and let's be honest, it was pretty much a lame-o rivalry when the Nets were in Jersey—then there's got to be some good-natured goosing. (Nothing crass/bush league, just fun.) Nov. 1 is supposed to be Brooklyn's day, and here would be New York's most recognizable basketball club invading the borough's most iconic symbol, like a scene from a movie.

So get the Knicks to the Bridge! If not, the Nets are free to use the idea when they come to Manhattan. Works both ways.

Ever since the Nyets moved out of the Swamp, there's been nothing but big talk about them on our forums and they have not done jack and most likely will not do jack. So many idiots are putting them on a pedestal but they may fall off and on their arses. Put it this way, I love the fact that the Nyets haven't done anything and are being crowned the champion of the Metropolitan Area. That is really setting them up for failure, big time and not even Jaye-Zeee can save them. Well they went out and got the Kardasian to marry one of their cats for attention and it blew them out of the Swamp. Can you imagine if our beloved Knicks were not up to par? I'm glad that we have such a powerful team because it's obvious that a lot of people are tripping and hating. Even the Russian guy's poking fun as if his team has ever been to the playoffs. I honestly do not think the Nyets are in the Knicks league even though they're trying to be like the Knicks. I know that that the Nyets are desperate but they're going overboard. The Kardasian thing blew up in their faces and they still haven't learned. That owner boasts about how he's going to turn Knicks fans into Nyets fans and I know for sure that it's not going to happen. The Knicks will always be the Lakers of New York. Take that Nyets.

Only one talking a about the N*ts for the last few weeks is you.

The article says how the Knicks can upstage the N*ts.

totally over your head.

We do and should not have to adjust to the Nyets. You don't want to get it. The thread includes the Nyets. I'm tired of hearing about them. Every time someone mentions the Nyets you seem to wet your pants with excitement.

if you are tired of posting in threads that may include the Nets, stop posting in them.

This forum is Pro Nyets. It would make perfect sense to change the name to UltimateNets.com. It seems that it's being used to try to make Nyets relevant. Non Knicks fans are allowed to do what they want and are not being monitored. I'm sure a lot of Knicks fans have the similar complaints but they are afraid to get booted. Haters seem to control this board so this site that used to be great for Knicks fans is no fun anymore. This is unbelievable.

LOL get the **** outta here, you're full of it

holfresh wrote:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443477104577551270770571542.html?mod=sports_newsreel

The Knicks should walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm serious. I guess they could squeeze into a 2 or 3 subway, ride from Madison Square Garden to Atlantic Avenue, but the Bridge would be so much better. Get down to City Hall and have the entire team stroll across the span, confident and together. Hire a bunch of NYPD for security. Whole thing would take less than 45 minutes. It'd be a brilliant public-relations move, with an old New York touch of showbiz.

But I don't expect it. I expect the Knicks to go to their Nov. 1 season opener in Brooklyn against the Nets in a soundproof, tinted bus, rolling anonymously through the Battery Tunnel and slipping into the Barclays Center, a/k/a the Rusty Turtle, in late afternoon. The Knicks will probably treat this like any other road game.

Except it's not any other road game. It's the first major professional sports event in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left town, and though both of these franchises are tormented in their own unique ways, there is an avalanche of good will available to a team clever enough to chase it. The game will be on TNT, the ticket will be hot, and you can be your firstborn that Jay-Z and Beyoncé will be in the house. While Knicks fans may be crabby after the departure of Jeremy Lin, there's an undeniable appeal to the historic crosstown opener. Who wouldn't want to be there? Lin's escape made some Knicks fans claim they'd given up, but the Knicks are like a bag of rosemary-and-olive-oil potato chips you crumple up and try to hide from yourself in the cupboard. As bad as they are for you, as much as they make you hate yourself, it's hopeless. You're going back for more.

The worst thing for the Nets would be a season opener in which Knicks fans infested the Rusty Turtle and turned it into an MSG away from home. This is what happened to Nets games in Jersey, and this is among the reasons they left, and why the team is spending the summer trying to build a hurried loyalty with the borough. There was a free-agency celebration at City Hall, and there are folksy signs around town introducing players like a family moving into the first-floor apartment. Deron Williams is a "father of four," and Gerald Wallace is an "off-season fisherman." Heading east on the BQE toward Williamsburg there's a hello from recent hire Joe Johnson saying he's a "lifelong Razorback." No disrespect to the University of Arkansas, but nobody in Brooklyn cares. Tell us if Joe gets his pizza at Di Fara or Spumoni Gardens.

The best thing the Nets have going for them is that they are not the Knicks. Though their off-season hasn't been perfect—the latest failed seduction of Dwight Howard was a letdown—Brooklyn is wisely being open and neighborly as the Knicks seclude themselves. How comical is it that the Knicks have offered so little about Lin's departure? Lin was the Knicks' most popular player, and a wise organization, no matter how irritated it was about the point guard's contract maneuver, would have stepped forward and offered an explanation as to why it let him go. Instead, owner Jim Dolan's team walls itself off, leaves the narrative to others, lets the frustration boil, lets it linger into the start of the coming season. This is typical. Here is a brief list of all the canny, innovative public-relations moves of the Dolan Knicks era:

Which brings us back to the Brooklyn Bridge. You might think it's silly, but it's exactly the kind of crowd-pleasing move the Knicks could use right now. I don't want to hear about logistical concerns—if they can figure out a way to get presidents and heads of state around the city and a Shrek balloon down Central Park West in the Macy's parade, they can handle an open-air walk by some basketball players.

Here's the best part: It would upstage the Nets. If this is going to be a true rivalry—and let's be honest, it was pretty much a lame-o rivalry when the Nets were in Jersey—then there's got to be some good-natured goosing. (Nothing crass/bush league, just fun.) Nov. 1 is supposed to be Brooklyn's day, and here would be New York's most recognizable basketball club invading the borough's most iconic symbol, like a scene from a movie.

So get the Knicks to the Bridge! If not, the Nets are free to use the idea when they come to Manhattan. Works both ways.

Brooklyn is not what it was... It's a Babilon.
It's a mix of Chinies/Indian/Russian/Jewish/Sub-Saharian cultures. And this mix does not care about Knicks/Nets bbal sentiments.
They need their own show, their own drama, their own team. And they are getting it.