Back in 2010, Mikhail Prokhorov bought the Nets for $223 million in cash; assumption of about $180 in debt $60 million in working capital for basketball operations. In return, he got 80 percent of the Nets and 45 percent of Barclays Center.
It was seen as a good deal, not necessarily a great deal. The Nets after all were a poor team in a poor venue. They had just come off a 12-70 season and played in what was fast becoming a decrepit arena, IZOD. Bruce Ratner, Prokhorov’s predecessor, had just resolved the most difficult of arena lawsuits and Barclays was starting to rise at Atlantic and Flatbush.