LONDON — Since Mikhail Prokhorov purchased the Nets four years ago, he has delivered plenty of flash and a lot of headlines. But, behind the scenes, he always has relied on a team of people close to him to help him run the franchise.
In recent months, however, it appears the dynamics have begun to shift, with Sergei Kushchenko — a longtime Prokhorov associate and his top sports advisor — gradually becoming a bigger presence around the franchise. Meanwhile, Dmitry Razumov — the CEO of ONEXIM Group, Prokhorov’s investment vehicle — has receded into the background.
Up until now, Prokhorov’s point man with regards to the Nets had been Razumov. Whenever the Nets had a big decision to make, Razumov always was involved. He was often cited by the front office for his role in various moves, including helping convince Deron Williams to re-sign with the team in July 2012.
It appears now, however, that Kushchenko — who also is currently in charge of the Russian Biathlon Union, a job Prokhorov previously asked him to take on — is beginning to step into the role Razumov once held.
A member of the franchise’s board of directors since 2011, Kushchenko, 52, unexpectedly attended a practice and game in Brooklyn last month during one of the team’s scheduled board meetings, and will presumably watch Thursday’s game here against the Hawks with Prokhorov. Razumov hasn’t been seen at games since early in the season.
“It doesn’t change a lot,” Kushchenko said of his role within the team through his interpreter before the Nets practiced Wednesday at O2 Arena. “From the very beginning, I was involved. We discuss every move. We talk a lot about everything.”
While Razumov has had a significant role behind the scenes, there’s little doubt Kushchenko’s extensive basketball background — he spent over a decade as a successful basketball executive in Russia — will allow him to step seamlessly into a similar role.
Kushchenko’s appearances around the team have come even as he’s in the midst of preparing for next month’s Olympics in Sochi, Russia. When asked if his role within the Nets organization would grow after the Olympics, his response was short.
“Let’s wait for Sochi first,” he said.
His résumé within the game is an impressive one. Kushchenko spent seven years with Ural-Great, building the club from an expansion franchise in the Russian Super League to one that claimed the league championship in 2001 and 2002 — becoming the only team besides CSKA Moscow to win the Russian Super League title in the last 22 years.
It was at that point Prokhorov — then the owner of CSKA, which had finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the Russian Super League in those seasons — lured Kushchenko away from Ural-Great to become CSKA’s president.
Kushchenko was immediately able to restore the team to its proper place atop Russian basketball, leading CSKA Moscow to the league title in his first year as team president and beginning a still current string of 11 consecutive Super League titles. In addition, CSKA returned to prominence in European competition during his seven years as team president, winning two Euroleague titles, reaching two other finals and finishing in the final four of the competition all seven seasons.
“He is a basketball fanatic,” Andrei Kirilenko said. “I’ve known him since he was at Ural Great. … He’s always been crazy about basketball. He gets involved in a lot of basketball in Russia. I’m not surprised he’s around.
“I think [Prokhorov is] lucky to have Sergey on his side, because he’s really a guy who knows a lot about basketball.”
When asked, however, Kushchenko made it clear he isn’t planning on becoming the general manager of an NBA franchise.
“The NBA is a very high level, and the league is changing every day,” he said. “There’s a big difference [between the NBA and] European basketball, but [the NBA is] very interesting.”
Kushchenko thinks the Nets finally have gotten things back on track after a tumultuous opening two months of the season.
“The expectations were high, and the pressure was high during the year, but right now we can see the parts are clicking and finally we are maybe on the right track right now,” Kushchenko said. “Because there was so much changes, and it always takes time, always takes time to make things work.
“But, right now, it looks like we’re on the right track.”
While he’s still interested in what’s going on with the Nets, Kushchenko is also spending plenty of time trying to live up to Prokhorov’s equally high expectations for Russia’s biathlon teams in next month’s Olympics in their native Russia.
“We would like to have two good gold medals,” Kushchenko, 52, said with a smile. “We would like to. It’s such very close to [our heart] in our country.
“The pressure we have here in Brooklyn is nothing to the pressure on the biathlon in Sochi.”
Now, in addition to trying to help Russia succeed in biathlon, it appears Prokhorov would like Kushchenko to take a more active role in reshaping the Nets into the championship team Prokhorov has insisted they will become since he bought them four years ago.