By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
More than one year after acquiring 49% of the Brooklyn Nets, Joseph Tsai, is close to completing a deal with Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov for the remaining 51%, per the New York Post. The report states that he will pay a record 2.35 billion dollars to become the full owner of the NBA organization.
Tsai purchased 49% of the Nets last year for 1 billion dollars. The co-founder of Alibaba Group, a global internet company with business in e-commerce, cloud computing and digital entertainment had an option to buy the remaining 51% for 1.35 billion dollars ahead of the 2021-22 season, but improved the offer even earlier.
Prokhorov, 54, became the first non-North American team owner in the NBA in April of 2012 and moved his team to Brooklyn. Seven years later he is prepared to complete the largest sale in history for a North American sports franchise.
Since the 2012-13 season, the Nets made it to the playoffs four times and to the conference semifinals once, in 2014. Last year they made their postseason comeback after a three-year drought. Coming in this summer were Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan, among others.