NY Post: Did Vladimir Putin pressure Mikhail Prokhorov to sell the Brooklyn Nets?

Did Vladimir Putin pressure Mikhail Prokhorov to sell the Brooklyn Nets?, the New York Post's Josh Kosman and Brian Lewis wrote 3/1/22, citing unnamed sources:

Events that led Prokhorov’s 2019 sale of the Nets and Barclays Center to Chinese billionaire Joe Tsai stretch back five years earlier.... the US and European Union had begun to apply sanctions on Russia for taking over Crimea.

But as tensions between the US and Russia over Crimea grew, Putin in 2016 also began pressuring Prokhorov to sell the Nets, according to sources. That’s because Putin, especially during times of political turmoil, will test the loyalty of oligarchs with assets in the West to show they won’t get too close to the US or Europe, according to one source close to the situation.

A spokesman for Prokhorov denied the pressure, saying he was always open for discussion about a sale, which began in 2017, and he made a huge profit. After all, Prokhorov as of his investment in 2010 said a sale was part of his vision.

The Post noted that, as of 2015, Prokhorov's absence from Brooklyn was related to tending to business back home, given sanctions.

Breathing room

Given Russia's invasion of neighbor Ukraine, it's surely in the NBA's interest that Prokhorov sold. The Post reports that the league "had been concerned that tougher sanctions against Russian oligarchs could force it into an awkward spot for having approved Prokhorov as an owner."

Now Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is divesting from his Chelsea FC soccer club in the UK.

NetsDaily added:

There were indeed rumors of Putin’s displeasure with Prokhorov’s ownership of the Nets after US relations with Russia soured starting in 2014, four years after Prokhorov bought the Nets from Bruce Ratner, One source told ND at the time that Putin wanted Prokhorov to sell and that Prokhorov had relayed that information to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The same source however said the pressure ultimately relented.

At the same time, the Nets Russian ownership with that the U.S. government was threatening. In 2018, the US Treasury in discussing possible economic sanctions on oligarchs published a list of Russia’s richest that included Prokhorov’s name. Although people around Prokhorov feared that he could be sanctioned, he was not. If he had been, the US government would have seized control of the team and arena. (The Treasury list was reportedly compiled not from any intelligence reports but cut-and-paste from Forbes 400 list of the world’s wealthiest.)

That was after Prokhorov began marketing the team. Tsai first bought 49% of the team in April 2018.