Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Shaq To Save Nets In Jersey?

In a interesting op ed from Star Ledger columnist Steve Politi, he discusses the problems the Nets have been having in trying to develop their new home in Brooklyn New York. The deal has been postponed for years already after it was proposed in 2004. The new ground breaking was supposed to commence this Spring, but there are prevailing rumors, according to Politi, that the architect Frank Gehry may have his contract with the Nets broken up.

So where do the Nets go? Logic would tell everyone that they should go to Newark's Prudential Center which is home to the first place Devils. Having an NBA franchise in the heart of a big baseketball town like Newark makes too much sense.

Politi then goes on to speculate that Shaquille O'Neal the future Hall of Fame center from the L.A. Lakers and Miami Heat, will one day buy the franchise from Bruce Ratner and keep them in Jersey. Politi comes to this conclusion from intrerviews he had with Shaq, as the big man said he had a strong interest in real estate in the Newark area, his childhood home, as well as owning a NBA franchise, and is puzzled that the Nets have not made a deal with the Devils to share the arena. READ ENTIRE ARTICLE FOR YOURSELF!

It's all speculation. Personally, I find it hard to believe that a guy who is as big as Shaq would want to come back to New Jersey to own the Nets, of all teams. A superstar like him, who has played in LA and Miami would logically want to be a west coast guy owning a team that gets him some national and international publicity. If he did come east, the Knicks are a sexier team to own then the Nets; but James Dolan will never sell the Knickenbokers.

As for the Nets, if Brooklyn does not work out, and all signs point to that it won't, Ratner should sell the team to a New Jersey/New York business man who is smart enough to put the team where it belongs in Newark. Otherwise, there is a new arena in Kansas City, Missouri that may lure the New York Islanders in a couple of years, and the Nets could always follow.

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