Late yesterday morning news in the sports world surfaced that Russia’s richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, had signed a provisional deal to buy 80 percent of the New Jersey Nets along with half of a Atlantic Yards project, the site of the proposed future arena to house the team in Brooklyn, NY

The surprise blockbuster is a huge win for most parties involved.  Current Nets’ principal owner, Bruce Ratner now will have the much needed capital to push forward with his true passion behind his Nets ownership, the Atlantic Yards commercial and residential development without the headaches of managing the franchise.  Prokhorov, whose already cherry-picked several NHL players to defect to his Russian league will now become the first Non-North American owner of any major American Sports Franchise, certainly giving him bragging rights amongst its fans.  The NBA of course loves it because the very internationally ambitious Commissioner David Stern now has access to tapping yet another foreign marketplace with rising NBA interest.

“Interest in basketball and the NBA is growing rapidly on a global basis, and we are especially encouraged by Mr. Prokhorov’s commitment to the Nets and the opportunity it presents to continue the growth of basketball in Russia,” Stern said in a statement.

However the one party for whom the deal leaves uncertainty is Jigga.  Since the deal has yet to be ratified its unclear how Jay-Z interest will be affected.  Since he was roughly a 2% minority shareholder on the Ratner team, my inexperience logic would assume along with the sale his percentage too would be liquidated.  And although the deal would most certainly mean the Nets  would be headed to Brooklyn and increase the chance of the team landing Lebron James it could spell an end to Jay-Z’s dream of “owning” a piece of the first NBA franchise to play its games in his hometown.  As I said the details are sketchy and as the press releases and statements come out, I’ll be sure to update the story.