As the Brooklyn Nets honor Biggie and Bed-Stuy, the team's Bar Network ignores his (and Jay-Z's) old neighborhood

The Brooklyn Nets this season have gone all-in on Biggie Smalls and his Bed-Stuy neighborhood--or have they?

As I wrote in November, citing the team's promotion of its 2018-19 Nike City Edition uniform:

A multi-color "Brooklyn Camo" pattern inspired by Biggie runs down the sides of the jersey and shorts and along the sleeve and neckline piping. A customized *BED-STUY* mark for each player has been designed by renowned graffiti artist Eric Haze and been placed above the jersey's jock tag.

From Brooklyn Vegan, 11/22/19, Barclays Center Biggie mural & ‘Bed Stuy’ Nets uniform unveiled (with Joey Bada$$’s help):

A new mural of The Notorious B.I.G. will hang in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in the coming months, as part of a new Bed-Stuy themed campaign from the Brooklyn Nets, which honors the late rapper’s home neighborhood. The mural, designed by artist David Hollier, was first unveiled at Bed-Stuy space The Brooklyn Bank on Thursday (12/21), and features a sketch of Biggie Smalls in a Brooklyn Nets cap, formed by lyrics from his 1997 hit “Sky’s The Limit.” The mural’s reveal was also celebrated with an intimate, brief performance from fellow Bed-Stuy native Joey Bada$$.

And the Nets are also supporting the revival of a music program at Bed-Stuy’s Madiba Prep Middle School of Social Justice and Innovation in Biggie’s honor, according to the article.

It's not the only connection to Bedford-Stuyvesant. Remember how fractional team owner, and "resident credibility-totem" (to quote David Roth) Jay-Z shouted out Bed-Stuy at his last concert, or how his journey from the Marcy Houses (in Bed-Stuy) to Barclays was part of an advertisement?

Bed-Stuy and EB-5 and gentrification

Thanks for the reminder--I'll add the "Bed-Stuy Boomerang" to my post #EB5https://t.co/56joUc9QJ7 pic.twitter.com/lKzw2Q5W3H

— Norman Oder (@AYReport) December 23, 2019

The Budweiser connection

Also, as Sports Pro Media reported 11/25/19, in Brooklyn Nets and Anheuser-Busch sign wide-ranging partnership, with the subheading "Beer, Biggie and Barclays Center get prime billing in multi-year deal," not only does the beer maker have various branded areas inside the Barclays Center, it's become the presenting sponsor of the Nets’ City Edition activities--the days that uniform gets worn.

From the article:

Anheuser-Busch has also unveiled a special Budweiser logo that will appear on signage around Barclays Center during City Edition games this season. The logo, which features a crown above the letter ‘B’, is designed to pay homage to the late Brooklyn-born rapper Biggie Smalls - aka The Notorious B.I.G - and his famous ‘King of New York’ photo.

The Nets Bar Network has clusters

From the Nets:

The Brooklyn Nets Bar Network is a network of bars throughout the New York City area where Nets fans can watch each road game throughout the 2019-20 season. Head to any of the bars below for exclusive Nets giveaways and specials!

A screenshot of the map is at right. It omits a few places in Staten Island and Queens, but it's notably how the bars, in Brooklyn, cluster in Bay Ridge, Park Slope/Downtown Brooklyn, and Williamsburg.

As I tweeted, "None in Central Brooklyn, either, Bed-Stuy/Crown Heights, etc., the historic heart of BK's black population. Presumably this is a work in progress @BrooklynNets?"

No response.

A work in progress?

Sure, the Bar Network could be a work in progress--there are several other neighborhoods beyond Bed-stuy that presumably contain basketball fans.

And perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the Bar Network, like everything else with the Nets, has a sponsor, in this case Mexican beer maker Modelo.

And maybe Modelo doesn't have the right relationships (yet) with bars in other parts of Brooklyn. (Or maybe Modelo is an odd beer to associate with basketball?)

That's not to see that some bars on the list, like Bleachers on Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope near the arena (and shown in the photo below right), don't have a significant black clientele.

But for a sports team/franchise that's gotten a lot of mileage out of the Bed-Stuy collection, it seems a glaring absence, at least for now.

Also missing: New Jersey

Another absence, as noted by NetsDaily (via Net Income, aka Bob Windrem) on Twitter, is that of the team's not-so-long-ago home.

Nets have set up a Bar Network of nearly 40 local bars and taverns for Nets fans to visit on road game nights. All are in City or on Long Island. None in New Jersey. A missed opportunity to revisit the marketing possibilities for the state where they played for 35 years. SMH.

— NetsDaily (@NetsDaily) December 19, 2019