April 30, 2012: Nets Get Lost on Way to Brooklyn, Team Gets Mugged Upon Arrival
“Welcome to Brooklyn, Mother F$#%kers,”
In an effort to save money, the former New Jersey Nets Assistant Traveling Secretary, Joshua Ira Mandelbaum, went on MapBlast to give directions to the school bus driver carrying the team to their new home. They almost did not make it to their new home, the Barclays Center on Atlantic Avenue.
After more than four hours of getting lost, several players were left off on Atlantic Avenue, while bus driver Ernie Mantusso of Newark “went to look for street parking, to avoid paying $32 for parking in a near by lot.”
“Mandelbaum gave me a hand drawn map, and a twenty for tolls. After the Bayonne Bridge, I think we got stuck on Staten Island for about two hours,” said the 82 year-old Mantusso.
Backup center Johan Petro, and guards Deron Williams and Anthony Morrow were de-pants by two members of the Brooklyn gang, the Flatbush Avenue Sharks. The two-gang members also took the players’ per diem lunch money.
“Welcome to Brooklyn, Mother F$#%kers,” the players were told, as the Sharks drove away.
“I was gonna buy a strawberry cheesecake at Juniors with my money,” said an emotionally teary Petro. “That’s no way to treat new neighbors,” sniffled Williams, as Nets Athletic Trainer Tim Walsh helped the disheveled 6’ 3’ guard from Illinois pull up his pants.
Brooklyn Nets starting center Brook Lopez traveled to the Modell’s at Atlantic Avenue by NJ Transit and New York City subway, where he became the first player to represent the Brooklyn Nets, sporing a team cap and pin while addressing media at the team’s brand identity launch event.
“The subway is really scary,” shared Lopez. “All the lettered and numbered trains was very confusing.”
In a statement from Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, the Russian billionaire recognized “that although the treatment was harsh, it was still better than the way bully New Jersey Governor Christie told the Nets ‘good riddance’.”
Asked about Christie’s comment, Nets coach Avery Johnson didn’t seem too fazed. ”Everybody has an opinion. We’re moving on. And hopefully we’ll move on and be successful in Brooklyn…and our players won’t be mugged again,” Johnson told reporters.
