Mikhail Prokhorov Pens Pro-LeBron Letter, Shows He’s The Anti-Gilbert

by David Helene | 12:27 pm, July 30th, 2010

The NBA: Where letter-writing happens.

Just 3 weeks after Cavs owner Dan Gilbert wrote The Letter in response to The Decision–one that defined every stereotype of the ’strongly-worded letter’ and immortalized Gilbert in the pantheon of sports absurdities–Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has written a letter of his own.

The message? The Nets owner is ready to move on from The Decision.  And, truly, it’s time for us to do the same:

In Prokhorov’s words:

“What surprises me is the amount of negative commentary directed at the three top free agents (especially LeBron James) who decided to play on the same team and to create a great franchise together. Of course, any club owner dreams of having those players, including me, but all questions of how the announcements were made aside, I respect their choice, and no one has the right to judge them.”

Likely, the visceral reaction of many basketball enthusiasts will be to scoff at Prokhorov’s endorsement.

After all, when approaching The Decision, it is truly impossible to broach the subject without calling into question the nature of its form.

But, despite the fact that it is easy to accuse Prokhorov of being out of touch with the gravitas of the situation–an accusation made even easier by the fact that the Nets owner indicated that he is currently in Moscow–we do concede that he touches upon a few worthy points.  His most convincing:

“We are seeing the birth of a new, dynamic team with such star players, and all of us can await the new season with great anticipation.”

Indeed, we are.

Here’s Prokhorov’s letter in full:

The players are signed, the “Decision” is made, but the passions around this year’s extraordinary class of NBA free agents refuses to die down. What surprises me is the amount of negative commentary directed at the three top free agents (especially LeBron James) who decided to play on the same team and to create a great franchise together. Of course, any club owner dreams of having those players, including me, but all questions of how the announcements were made aside, I respect their choice, and no one has the right to judge them.

I want to say that I support LeBron, the best athlete in the NBA. He had a truly difficult choice to make. Any move he made was sure to be viewed as wrong, and to leave many unhappy fans. Basing his decision on achieving results on the basketball court shows that the sportsman won the day, not the showman or the businessman. What is wrong with that?

We are seeing the birth of a new, dynamic team with such star players, and all of us can await the new season with great anticipation. I wish them success and give them my moral support. I will be happy for us to beat the Miami Heat in the conference finals, maybe not this season, but in the very near future.

Mikhail Prokhorov; Moscow