May 17, 2010: Introduction video
Less than a week after officially taking over the Nets, Prokhorov released an introductory video for fans, complete with awkward closeups and ballsy predictions. The top comment from the YouTube video says it all: “I love this video so much. It’s like a hostage video. I love this guy.”
The video is the source of Prokhorov’s famous “championship within 5 years” prediction. Here’s exactly what he said: “If everything goes as planned, I expect us to be in the playoffs next season, and championship in one year, minimum, and maximum in five years. ” The Nets didn’t make the playoffs in 2010-11, but his team still has two years to comply with the championship demands of the terrorist from a Steven Segal movie in this video.
2010 was also the summer of big name free agents, including the pipe dream of getting LeBron James to come to the Nets. Why would free agents choose the Nets?
“The excitement is with the Nets. We will have the desire to win that is unmatched anywhere in the league. This will be the first class organization, with all supported needs in terms of resources and stability in the front office. And the estate of the art arena to play in. And also, this will be the first truly global team in the NBA, with exceptional international exposure no other team can reach. And there will be the fans of the Nets from New Jersey to Brooklyn to Moscow. And I feel pretty sure I can convince the very best of the best that the Nets is the placed, that they want to be.”
With Prokhorov’s commitment to winning and a promised global reach, combined with tons of cap space, the Nets signed… Johan Petro (three years, $10 million), Jordan Farmar (three years, $12 million), Anthony Morrow (three years, $12 million) and Travis Outlaw (five years, $35 million). Petro is in Atlanta after the Joe Johnson trade, Morrow is in Dallas after having been traded twice, Farmar is out of the league and Outlaw is in Sacramento after the Nets amnestied him in 2011.
