NBASports & Politics

The Next President Of Russia Might Be The Nets’ Crazy, Jet-Skiing, AK-47-Wielding Owner

Mikhail Prokhorov is best known for being the eccentric Russian owner of the New Jersey Nets. Now, however, he seems to feel as if conquering New Jersey/Brooklyn isn’t quite a sufficient enough conquest. Which is likely the reason why Prokhorov said today that he is entering the race to become the next president of Russia.

According to reports, the Russian-born billionaire will compete against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Earlier in the day, Prokhorov met with reporters and told them he will “break them” this was the “most important decision” of his life. Somewhere Travis Outlaw just shed a tear.

Prohkorov also told reporters that he would conduct a positive campaign, claiming that any criticism of Putin will make up no more than 10% of his campaign. The road to the presidency, however, isn’t going to be an easy one for Prokhorov. He still needs to garner enough support from the Russian people by collecting over 2 million signatures or, at the very least, be nominated by one of the country’s seven political parties. But the latter doesn’t seem like a real possibility.

The mining magnate has opted to collect the required 2 million signatures to back his bid as he was ousted as the leader of the Right Cause party in mid-September. Before being ousted, Prokhorov had planned to participate in the concluded December parliamentary elections as the leader of the Right Cause party.

“It is not in my nature to stop halfway. So for the last two and a half months we sat and worked, very calmly and quietly, and we created all the infrastructure to collect 2 million signatures,” Prokhorov said.

Signatures it is. If Prohkorov wins the presidency, one has to wonder whether or not he’ll have the time to maintain his position as majority owner of the New Jersey Nets. We can cross that bridge when we get there. Until then, his first order of business is to somehow get Dwight Howard to become a member of the New Jersey Nets.

If you would like to learn more about Prokhorov, you should absolutely read Bill Simmons’ “Guide To Mikhail Prohkorov” from 2010.