時事新聞:俄羅斯富豪欲收購NBA新澤西網隊
俄羅斯首富普羅霍洛夫(Mikhail Prokhorov)欲收購新澤西網隊(New Jersey Nets)的控股股權，這一舉動令美國籃球協會(National Basketball Association, NBA)麻煩最多的一支球隊馬上擁有了現金，可以在紐約市的布魯克林建造早就說過的球場。
Russia's richest man is buying a controlling stake in the New Jersey Nets in a move that instantly turns one of the National Basketball Association's most troubled franchises into a team with the cash to build a long-promised arena in Brooklyn, N.Y.
普羅霍洛夫是一位經歷豐富的億萬富翁，身價估計爲95億美元。他提出的初步報價是以2億美元收購新澤西網隊80%的股權，並擁有該隊未來主場的部分所有權。網隊過去10年兩次打進NBA總決賽，但從未奪冠，成爲笑柄，而且在其35年曆史的大多數時候在NBA裏都只有捱打的份。
Mikhail Prokhorov, a colorful billionaire whose fortune has been valued at $9.5 billion, offered an initial $200 million for an 80% stake in a team and part ownership in its future home. Despite reaching the NBA finals twice in the last decade, the team has never won an NBA championship and has served as both a punch line and, for most of its 35 years, a punching bag for the NBA.
這樁交易可能幫助挽救網隊現老闆拉特納(Bruce Ratner)所開發的名爲Atlantic Yards的位於布魯克林的球場項目。交易仍有待州法院批准這個項目的開發。
A deal, contingent on state court approval of the Atlantic Yards development, would help salvage the Brooklyn real-estate project advanced by current owner, developer Bruce Ratner.
如果得到至少75%的NBA股東批准，普羅霍洛夫就會成爲首位來自海外的NBA球隊老闆，也是試圖通過染指廣受媒體關注的體育市場而吸引人們注意的最新一位俄羅斯富豪。阿布拉莫維奇(Roman Abramovich)或許是最出名的俄羅斯富豪，他出名的原因在很大程度上是因爲擁有英超聯賽(English Premier League)豪門切爾西俱樂部(Chelsea)。
If he receives approval from at least 75% of the NBA's owners, Mr. Prokhorov will become the first non-North American owner of an NBA team, and the latest Russian oligarch to seek the spotlight of owning a sports franchise in a major media market. Roman Abramovich, perhaps the best-known of Russia's oligarchs, is now a celebrity in large part because he owns the soccer team Chelsea, one of the top franchises in the English Premier League.
