Mikhail Prokhorov

Mikhail Prokhorov—the Russian billionaire poised to become the majority owner of the Nets and partial owner of the Brooklyn Barclays Center where they'll play— told 60 Minutes he's “real excited to take the worst team of the league and turn it to be the best.” The chiseled basketball fan was the subject of two in-depth profiles recently that offered a glimpse into the life of Russia's second richest citizen. He says it was New York that drew him to the Nets. “I love huge cities: the feeling of pace, of energy. Outside of my hometown, Moscow, New York is the place I feel most comfortable," he wrote in an email to the Times.

Regarding his homeland and vast fortunes—17.8 billion at last count—Prokhorov told Bloomberg Market magazine that Russia in the early 1990s was “cowboy territory with no sheriff.” But apparently not anymore since, he claimed, the last time he paid a bribe was 15 years ago.

Regarding basketball, he admitted he watches Nets games only “from time to time on DVDs which they send me.” Asked if he'd fish for big-name players like LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, he said “We will certainly try to use a large number of free agents over the next two seasons.” And though he won't immediately replace the Nets' financial officers with fellow countrymen as his blog suggested, in the future he may: “I do plan to incorporate a young, talented Russian manager with a successful background in European basketball into the team’s management, someone who can develop to the level of N.B.A. basketball over time and fully grasp basketball as a business,” he said.