A+Touch+of+Stardom+Finally+Strikes+the+Prudential+Center

__A Touch of Stardom Finally Strikes the Prudential Center__ By Joseph Natale

Last time we checked, and Google confirms it, the Diamond District ran down West 47th Street in New York between 5th and 6th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. But on Sunday afternoon however, it ran right through Mulberry Street in Downtown Newark, at the Prudential Center. Presidential suite 107 was glowing for the Nets game vs the Atlanta Hawks, illuminated by bottles of Cristal, icy wrists, and Louis Vuitton bag straps.

During the game, Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian Billionaire, cordially invited the multitude of celebrities who have been in attendance at the Center lately, up to his suite upon hearing of their presence. One watching the game on TV could have easily mistaken it for an episode of TMZ. This seemingly meaningless game on a Sunday afternoon no less, between a couple of teams with losing record, still managed to attract all of these eminent celebrities.

Mikhail Prokhorov has a net worth of 13.4 billion dollars as reported by Forbes.com. That’s small however compared to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 18.0 billion. Music icon and Nets minority owner Jay-Z is worth $785 million, while his superstar diva wife Beyonce has $451 million. Then at the bottom of this list lie tennis pro Maria Sharapova and celebrity phenom Kim Kardashian, who are worth $25 million and $5.45 million, respectively. The question lies, however, what do all of these people have in common, besides seven plus figure dollar signs? They are apparently all newly part of the Nets faithful, and all of them could be found before the game in the same star studded suite Sunday afternoon.

Prokhorov and Jay-Z can be seen on any given night in Newark, as they are both owners of the Nets. Bloomberg however, was caught at the Nets game Sunday for the first time, as he claims he has “converted”, after the recent success of the Knicks. “It’s always fun to root for the underdog,” he said. After one of our reporters jokingly questioned the mayor, “Just like when you run for president in 2012, right Mr. Bloomberg?” He chuckled at the comment. As for Nets coach Avery Johnson, he’s proud to see that the mayor has “come over to the dark side,” as he put it, claiming that it was like a sort of “slap in the face” for the local rival team across the River.

Kim Kardashian, of course, was in attendance in her full fur coat to watch her new boyfriend Kris Humphries, Forward and number 43 on the Nets. Nets newly acquired player Sasha Vujacic aimed to impress future wife Maria Sharapova, who also sat courtside to watch her fiancé come off the bench to score 10 points in the win vs. the Hawks. Vujacic though, who played on the Los Angeles Lakers before the trade, is used to the Hollywood scene. For first year coach Avery Johnson though, the overwhelming attention and glam is something new, and he is loving every bit of it. “Any buzz we can get we’ll use it for our team,” Johnson said. “As long as it doesn’t distract from the team, I embrace it.”

And the Nets, who are just 8-20 on the season at the moment, feel like any attention they can get right now, they’ll take. Rap mogul Jay-Z agrees, saying with a smile “It’s a good time to come out and enjoy a game in Newark right now”. He hopes that these celebrities will continue to draw in big crowds and bring in more dollar signs for the Nets, who will need all they can get in the coming year to aid their move to Brooklyn. With all the speculation regarding the Nets future at the moment, guard Jordan Farmar says that the ball club is going to approach their games like Humphries and Kardashian are approaching their relationship, and “just seeing where it goes.”