If you are a fan of either the New York Knicks or the Brooklyn Nets, you should know one thing: the two teams don’t like each other. As has been the case ever since Mikhail Prokhorov purchased the New Jersey Nets back in 2010, the hatred between the crosstown rivals extends right up to the ownership level.
From the New York Post yesterday:
Play nice, guys.
That essentially was the directive given to owners James Dolan of the Knicks and Mikhail Prokhorov of the Nets this past season during a meeting orchestrated by NBA Commissioner David Stern, who wanted to snuff any lingering tension between the two and prevent a full-blown feud, multiple league sources told The Post.
Sources also tell The Post that the meeting was “friendly and cordial” and was held in order to prevent “a wave of spitballs going back and forth over the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.”
Evidence of the rigid relationship between Prokhorov and Dolan includes subtle jabs, grand signage, direct insults, sarcasm, and much, much more.
With the two sides set to share the NBA All-star festivities in 2015, commissioner David Stern apparently felt that enough was enough and though the two sides are rivals on the court, they are business partners off it and need to exist as such.
According to The Post, spokesmen for both the Knicks and the Nets declined comment on the apparent meeting.
As for Prokhorov’s view?
One source maintained Prokhorov stokes the rivalry fires because he believes the feud “is great for both teams” and insisted it is “not at all personal” against Dolan, the Garden chairman and Cablevision CEO.
And of course, there’s always this.