Nyets (Nets basketball team nickname)
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov expressed an interest, in September 2009, of buying the New Jersey Nets professional bastketball team and then moving the team to a new arena to be built in Brooklyn. The Nets were quickly dubbed the “Nyets”—Russian for the word “no.”
The Nets—a team with a long history of losing since joining the NBA in 1976—had often been called the “Nots.”
Wikipedia: New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association that plays in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division. They are currently based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and play their home games at the Izod Center. The team is planning to relocate to the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, but legal issues have complicated the move.
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On September 24, 2009, Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia’s richest man according to Forbes magazine, confirmed his intention to become majority owner of the National Basketball Association’s New Jersey Nets. Mr. Prokhorov sent an offer to the team owners saying that the control shareholding of the basketball club be sold to his company, Onexim, for a symbolic price. In return, Prokhorov is ready to give a loan for the construction of a $700-million arena in Brooklyn and attract additional funds in Western banks. Mr. Prokhorov stated that he initiated the deal to push the Russian basketball to a new level of development.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Main Entry: nyet
Pronunciation: \ˈnyet\
Function: foreign term
Etymology: Russian
: no
Nets Daily
NetsDaily Off-Season Report #23
September 19th, 2009, 6:14 pm by NetIncome
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Okay, let’s say Prokhorov does buy the Nets. Does that mean, the team will change its name to the Brooklyn Nyets? And as one poster asks, would the cross river rivalry take on a decidely negative tone…you know…Nix vs. Nyets?
Our answer: We hope not…but then again, Brett Yormark is in charge of marketing.
Real Clear Sports
September 24, 2009
Call Them the New Jersey Nyets
By Art Spander
Does this mean the Cold War is over? You only wish Mikhail Gorbachev still were around. He was the Soviet president who in a misinterpreted warning to the West - the U.S. and allies, not the division always won by the Lakers - said, “We will bury you.’‘
Instead, the Russians are buying us out.
The guy considered the richest man in Russia, a label that once might have been a comedian’s punch line, Mikhail D. Prokhorov is going to become the principal owner of the New Jersey Nyets, um, Nets.
bleacher report
New Jersey NYets: With a Russian Owner Likely Coming In, Will the Nets Move Out?
By Sean Wagman
written on September 24, 2009 Opinion
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Now, this season it looks very likely that the NBA will have its first ever non-North American owner in Mikhail Prokhorov. Prokhorov is a 44-year-old Russian billionaire who is a former amateur basketball player.
Prokhorov was ruled as the richest man in Russia by Forbes and has an estimated net worth of $9.5 billion. With Prokhorov’s “dough,” the New Jersey Nets will be able to move forward with their plans to move the team to Brooklyn.