NBA owners and players are trying to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. So far, training camps and some preseason games have been canceled, but the constant threat of the entire season getting flushed down the drain hangs over things. One team that might actually benefit from such a thing could be the New Jersey Nets.

The Nets are spending the season in Newark before moving to Brooklyn. A year off could help new fans forget that the team has been one of the more forgettable franchises in recent years. One little tool that the team isn’t using to help people move on from the recent past is a new name.

Mogul/rapper and minority team owner Jay-Z, a Brooklyn native, announced Monday that the team’s name will stay Nets. His other big announcement, which was made overlooking the under-construction Barclays Center, is that the arena will open in September 2012 with a series of eight concerts by him before the opening tipoff of the Brooklyn Nets season.Continue reading...

Mikhail Prokhorov already has proven that he can jump through hoops, making a splash in the world of American professional hoops with his ownership of the NBA's New Jersey Nets team. Now, he wants to show the world that he’s got electric-car chops as well.

The Russian billionaire has just unveiled the Yo, a hybrid of electric and gasoline and natural-gas powertrains that he maintains will get Prius-beating mileage and yet demonstrate as much range as the most indefatigable American-built SUV.Continue reading...