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‘Grey’s Anatomy” star Ellen Pompeo grew up following the Celtics during the Larry Bird era, had her first date with her husband Chris Ivery at an LA Clippers game and frequently goes to see the Lakers.
“Basketball is my only sport,” an enthusiastic Pompeo, 42, tells The Post. “I’m such a fan of the game.”
But now she’s supporting the newly minted Brooklyn Nets. When season tickets at the team’s soon-to-open Barclays Center went on sale this year, Pompeo and her husband snapped up courtside seats. They’re planning to be there Nov. 1, when the Nets kick off their season and become the borough’s first professional team since the Dodgers left in 1957.
“I’m a Brooklyn Nets fan now,” says the TV star, who plans to spend more time in New York with her hubby and child, 3-year-old Stella Luna, when her “Grey’s Anatomy” run ends. “Brooklyn is already an iconic city. My husband lived in Bed-Stuy as a little kid, and it’s important for us to have East Coast roots for our daughter.”
Pompeo isn’t the only basketball fan cozying up to the new-and-improved team. More than 10,000 season tickets have been sold to date, says Brett Yormark, CEO of the Nets and Barclays Center — and of those 10,000 season ticket holders, only 10 percent owned seats when the Nets were based in New Jersey. Yes, 90 percent of the Nets’ new season ticket holders are recent converts.
So who are these newbies betting on black-and-white?
“When you look at our season ticket base, you’re talking about roughly 45 percent from Brooklyn, 25 percent from Manhattan, 12 percent from New Jersey, and the rest is from the outer boroughs and Long Island,” explains Yormark. “We’re a fresh new alternative in the marketplace.”
After languishing in Jersey for decades, the Nets are finally ready to woo New Yorkers — something the Knicks have had a monopoly on since the 1940s.
ESPN’s Bill Simmons, a god to NBA fans, gave his blessing to Knicks fans who jump ship. “If you’re going to switch your allegiance to Brooklyn, it has to happen this summer. But I’m fine with it,” he tweeted.
Peter Catlin, a 42-year-old Hell’s Kitchen resident who lives only blocks from Madison Square Garden, is one longtime Knicks fan who snapped up season tickets for the Nets this year.
Although he has shared Knicks season tickets with pals since 1996, he feels no guilt about supporting their New York rivals, blaming the Knicks for “rising costs and a diminished product.”
“I have virtually the same tickets in both arenas [25 rows up from the court],” says Catlin. “The Nets charge $90 [per ticket] and the Knicks charge $120.”
In fact, Nets tickets start even cheaper than that — the least-expensive seat in the house is $15, while Knicks tickets start at $45.
“I like how aggressive the new Nets owner [Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov] is,” he continues. “There is a great deal of hope in Brooklyn, while the Garden is filled with angst, desperation and denial. I’m fed up with [Knicks owner] James Dolan. His complete disregard for loyal money-paying customers has driven me to Brooklyn.”
Long Island resident Steven Zuller is the CEO of Franklin Group, a printing and marketing company just a five-minute walk from the Barclays Center on Flatbush Avenue. Also a Knicks season ticket holder, he was motivated by his love of basketball and the proximity of his office to buy a 16-person capacity suite right next to the one owned by point guard Deron Williams.
His clients, some of them Knicks fans as well, have been hounding him for tickets already.
“The level of excitement for the Nets is huge. People really want to be part of this from the ground up. I think the arena is going to be an iconic landmark,” says the 43-year-old. “I’ve been a Knicks fan my whole life, but I started following the Nets the last few years.”
Another bonus for the father of four daughters aged 7 to 17: the arena’s major concert offerings, including Barbra Streisand, Jay-Z and Justin Bieber.
“They’re big sports fans, but they’re more interested in the concerts and want to go to Justin Bieber. In Jersey, they weren’t too excited — but now that it’s Brooklyn, it’s a whole other story.”
The monumental move of the Nets from New Jersey to Brooklyn has been in the making for years. In 2003, the Nets laid out controversial plans to develop an arena in the Prospect Heights section, complete with a Frank Gehry design.
But the road to opening night has been riddled with turmoil — from anti-development activists to budget issues, and even an architect change. The new arena, designed by Manhattan-based firm SHoP Architects and AECOM, now sports a facade inspired by a Brooklyn brownstone and boasts 18,200 seats for basketball games. Jay-Z — who also owns a minority stake — will christen the arena with eight concerts starting Sept. 28.
The Nets will take on the Knicks in their opening game, a matchup that will stoke the flames of a classic New York rivalry. Yormark says he pushed for the team’s first-game face-off with the Knicks.
“We asked the scheduling committee for it,” he says. “We wanted the most dramatic opening, and what’s more dramatic?”
Much of the Nets excitement has been sparked by the marketing and branding genius of Jay-Z, who designed the team’s new, sleek black-and-white logo. His involvement also hooked Hollywood.
“[A season ticket] was absolutely an investment,” says Pompeo, who knows Jay-Z socially. “Anything Jay touches turns to gold. He’s an American dream story. This will eventually be the best team in the league. I can put my name on that.”
The team even taunted the Knicks by sticking a Nets billboard of the Brooklyn-bred rapper and Prokhorov on a building looming directly above Madison Square Garden. Prokhorov lay down the gauntlet, saying he wants to convert Knicks fans.
Spike Lee, the most famous supporter of the Knickerbockers, has said he’s sticking by his men. But singer Ne-Yo and MTV’s Sway Calloway have nabbed season tickets, while others, such as Brooklyn-based actress Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jim Cramer of “Mad Money,” have inquired about buying seats in the arena.
Park Slope resident Antone Hernton bought floor seats in New Jersey two years ago, just to put himself in a good position to buy quality seats in the new arena.
“It’s wonderful that I can see [Barclays Center] every day. I’m just waiting for my tickets,” says Hernton, a professor at Medgar Evers College, who once rooted for the Knicks.
“Honestly, it was partly that they were coming to Brooklyn,” adds Hernton, who has three sons he’ll take to the games. “And I had waited five years to get Knicks tickets. When my number came up, I was disappointed [with the Knicks]. So I decided to bet on the future.”
“Brooklyn is just hot. I feel it. You can see it. It’s just exploding even all the way down from Fort Greene to Clinton Hill. The ripple effect is fantastic.”
Yormark says he’s noticed incredible enthusiasm for the Nets among Brookyn youths all over the borough.
“I went to a YMCA [to volunteer], and it was 800 kids all wearing black-and-white,” he says. “I never saw that in New Jersey.”
kirsten.fleming@nypost.com
Net yourself some tickets!
Game prices for the hottest — OK, only — team in Brooklyn
SEATS at the Barclays Center range from $15 to $3,000 per game, with floor seats starting at $500 per game.
“All Access” season tickets start at $99 per game, or approximately $4,356 per season, offering first crack at all arena events and all-you-can-eat food at certain concession stands during every game.
Non “All Access” seats start at $65 per game, or approximately $2,860 per season.
Loft Suites seat 10 people, costing from $200,000 to $250,000 for the season.
Brownstone suites seat 16 people and run from $315,000 to $415,000 for the season.
Jay-Z-inspired Vault suites — which include eight seats in the arena and your own personal hospitality area, designed by the rapper — start at $550,000 a season.
Knicks: While the Nets have built a brand-new arena, their crosstown rivals have been extensively renovating Madison Square Garden, where season tickets now range from $45 to $3,600 per game.