Jay-Z Not As Confident in Nets Future as Mikhail Prokhorov

Jay-Z and Mikhail Prokhorov both own a stake in the New Jersey Nets.  They share a title of owner, but they may not share a level of confidence in the team’s immediate future.  I say that because Jay-Z had some interesting comments about whether or not he is recruiting LeBron James to sign with the Nets.  When asked about Knicks president Donnie Walsh’s plan to get as many people as possible to recruit King James to Madison Square Garden as a home next season — including Yankees players — Derek Jeter expressed that he sees no point in doing that.

Although he obviously isn’t going to try and convince James to sign with the Knicks, Jay-Z said that he wasn’t going to try very hard to persuade him to sign with the Nets either.  Here’s what Jay-Z said about recruiting LeBron James in a recent Rolling Stone interview:

That’s his decision. We’re friends — we’ve still gotta hang out! I don’t want to convince somebody to do something, then have to see him and say, ‘Uh, yeah, we’re 4-30 … sorry.'”

Don’t worry, I’m not trying to make a huge deal out of nothing.  I know he’s probably kidding around, and of course Jay-Z’s going to try to convince the biggest free agent name on the market (who also happens to be his close friend) to sign with the team he’s a part-owner of.  What struck me as a bit funny about the comments is how much they differ from the message Prokhorov delivered in his video to Nets fans, when he wouldn’t rule out an NBA Championship next season.  Jay-Z is most likely just playing it cool to maintain his image, and he and LeBron probably had a laugh about it.  He can say whatever he’d like, but at the end of the day we all know he cares a lot more than Kobe Bryant about where The King plays next season.

Source:
Jeter, Jay-Z not recruiting James to N.Y. [ESPN New York]