When you think of the Brooklyn Nets, the first thing you think of is Jay-Z. Even if the first thing you think of is technically Brooklyn, the black-and-white color scheme, or the Barclays Center, Jay-Z is implicit in what you're thinking about: he either played a role in creating it, or he was a major part of the branding and promoting thereof. The deal the Nets franchise made with the public when it moved to New York's largest borough this season was that the Nets represented cool, and they represented cool because of the God MC.
Well, the God MC Is Dead, at least as far as the Nets are concerned. Jay-Z, aka Shawn Carter, aka Young Hov, aka Beyoncé's Steadman, just started a sports agency, and in order to represent basketball players, he plans on selling off his one-fifteenth-of-one-percent share in the team, Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports. What does this mean for the Nets? It means that the one cool thing about them no longer exists. But don't the Nets have other cool qualities? No. Here's why.