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Exclusive Interview With Little-Known Blogger Helps Legend of Mikhail Prokhorov Grow

May 21, 2010, 6:00 PM UTC

â†µâ†µBy now, it's clear that new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is one of the most eccentric figures the NBA's ever had, right? But what we might not have anticipated was him (or someone on his team; Prokhorov reportedly doesn't have a cell phone or an office computer) being one of the more Internet-savvy and creative owners in recent years when it comes to the media. Certainly, he seems fairly likely to be out there on that front, too, given his one-on-one sitdown with a previously unremarkable blog run by recent J-school grad Vinnie Rotondaro. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe origin story of the tactic is as odd as the tactic itself.â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥And how did this come to be? It’s a story of luck and of an unusual public-relations strategy employed by Mr. Prokhorov.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Mr. Rotondaro said that he received an email about three weeks ago. It was light on details. In the note, he was asked if he would be interested in an exclusive interview with someone really important. It didn’t say who. If he was interested in pursuing this further, he should call this number. â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥These are the sort of emails that journalists routinely receive and routinely delete. â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Mr. Rotondaro wisely decided to call.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“I was kind of weirded out,” he said. “But they left a number and you might as well call back, right?”â†µâ‡¥

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So Rotondaro set up a meeting with Prokhorov at one of his favorite bars, and conducted a pretty good interview with the Russian, quizzing him on his family, his pizza preferences, and his chances of making the Nets a cultural attraction in Brooklyn. I’ll let you imagine Michael Jordan doing something similar with a Charlotte scribe.â†µâ†µIn doing this, Prokhorov and his team earned a bit of goodwill from the Brooklyn blogger consortium, reinforced the eccentric’s mystique they have cultivated so far, and sent a not-so-subtle message to the big boys (ESPN, the New York papers) who might expect him to play nice with the established American sports media structure. Prokhorov doesn’t have to do that, this move says, and won’t if he doesn’t want to.â†µ

â†µâ†µThat might be bad news for the folks at those organizations, who may now feel like they’re on the outside looking in at one of the more fascinating figures New York has at the moment. But for Rotondaro (who will apparently follow up with Prokhorov over pizza at some point) and bloggers who dream of being afforded the access the establishment has, this may be a nugget of hope.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(HT: Sports Journalism Center.)â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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