Jay-Z sits courtside with wife Beyonce during a Nets game.
Credit: Getty Images
A week ago, Jay-Z announced he was creating Roc Nation, a sports agency group, and Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano would be the first client.
On Tuesday, a report surfaced indicating the Brooklyn-born rapper would be selling his small share of the Nets, a team he helped rebrand following the move from New Jersey last year.
According to a report by Yahoo Sports, Jay-Z will be selling his 0.067 share, or 1/15th interest, in the team that he was an original investor in along with Bruce Ratner. Jay-Z would need to sell his share in the team if he wants to begin representing NBA players for Roc Nation as speculated.
“I would say he had an enormous amount to do with the rebranding of the team,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said before Tuesday night’s game with Philadelphia. “I’m not close to it at all, but it’s what I heard and read and saw he was huge. You’d be hard to overstate what he was to the rebranding, so that would be disappointing.”
Since his involvement with the Nets began, Jay-Z has been one of the symbols of the team in Brooklyn along with Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. He opened the building with a concert in late September and has attended several games.
According to Forbes Magazine, the Nets have a value of $530 million and, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Jay-Z’s share is worth roughly $350,000.
Daily Joe Johnson watch
Joe Johnson has missed 18 of his last 27 shots in his last two games after missing the previous five with a sore left heel.
The team announced he was a game-time decision earlier Tuesday but they decided to play him with the hopes of managing his minutes to prevent further injury.
The Nets will play six games over the final nine days of the season but are one of six playoff teams facing the same situaion, which is why health is a priority.
“I think we’re gonna look at other people perhaps a bit more or not go big, big minutes at least in back-to-backs,” Carlesimo said to reporters at the morning shootaround. “If we go big minutes tonight, we’re probably not going to go big minutes tomorrow. It would be great if we could get through tonight and have something in the tank for tomorrow, but I really think we’ve gotta go day-to-day. I’m looking at it very cautiously and I’m very concerned with what we have left.”
Nets honor Ebbets Field
Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of the first game played at Ebbets Field, which was located in neighboring Flatbush on Bedford Avenue and before the game the Nets celebrated the occasion by displaying the 1955 World Championship banner on the court before the game.
Coincidently, the Dodgers also opened Ebbets Field with a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.
