The Nets have played 131 regular season & playoff home games at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center since the team moved there in 2012, but there’s still a sense of detachment. The team’s offices are located in their old East Rutherford practice facility, and they’ll have media day in New Jersey for the second straight year Monday morning.
On a related note, not one player had made a home in Brooklyn. Well, until now. Thaddeus Young has become the first Nets player to make the move to Brooklyn, purchasing a condo in the borough for his family, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com.
“I could’ve waited it out and played out the last year of my contract (and then opted out). But my wife (Shekinah) and kids, they love it here, so I would rather just get something worked out sooner than later, and I think the biggest thing was just getting my kids settled, because my son T.J. (age 5) is just starting school this year, so that was the main objective to just get him settled.
“My wife’s a firm believer in wanting to be settled and stay in one place, and so once she got here, she already had friends that would come up from Philadelphia since I was there for seven years, so it was just a good opportunity.”
Young signed a four-year deal with the Nets worth $50 million this offseason, which will keep him on the Nets into his 30s as Brook Lopez’s frontcourt mate.
He added that he’s been to legendary Brooklyn pizza place Grimaldi’s, but has yet to try Juliana’s (though he’s “eager” to, per Mazzeo), its next door neighbor. Tip for the Young family: Juliana’s is better, and unlike Grimaldi’s, Juliana’s is actually run by Patsy Grimaldi and the Grimaldi family. Yes, it’s confusing.
It also helps that the Nets are slowly descending on Brooklyn for good. Though their primary offices remain in East Rutherford, the team has an office in MetroTech Center, and the team’s new facility in Sunset Park’s Industry City should open in February. That’ll be the big draw for players, but the forward-thinking Young & co. decided to lock into Brooklyn now.
To the Young family: welcome to Brooklyn!
ESPN — Committed to Nets, Thaddeus Young embracing Brooklyn, too
