Jay-Z has started the process to unload his share of the Brooklyn Nets, reports Yahoo!Sports.
He's selling his small share in the franchise, which was about 1 percent or one-fifteenth, in order to pursue his career as a sports agent. The rapper recently announced signing New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who was previously signed to super agent Scott Boras.
The 43 year-old Brooklynite played an integral public relations role in leading the Nets through their transition to their new arena and location, although it was never made clear quite how much pull he actually had when it came to basketball operations.
Jay-Z is credited with re-designing the Nets logo and even appeared on an ad above MSG with Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov. The ad read "The Blueprint for Greatness" which is a play on Jay-Z's renowned album series.
"I would say (Jay-Z) had an enormous amount to do with the re-branding of the team," Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo told The Daily News on Tuesday. "I was not close to it at all, but from what I heard and what I read and saw, he was huge - it would be hard to overstate how important he was to the rebranding...I like his involvement with the team."
The rap legend's agency is called Roc Nation Sports and he would have been unable to sign basketball clients due to NBA regulations if he remained part owner of the Nets.
The rules stipulate that "no one individual affiliated with a player representation company can have an ownership stake with an NBA team" reports Yahoo! The rap mogul still has to receive his National Basketball Players Association certification as an agent.
Roc Nation Sports partnered with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in order to launch the new business venture. CAA already represents basketball clients such as Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Tony Parker.
