DENVER — While both the Nets and the NBA have been mum on Joe Tsai’s purchase of a huge share of the team, confirmation came straight from the horse’s mouth — or in this case, the billionaire’s mouth.
The co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Tsai agreed to purchase a 49 percent share of the Nets, with an option to buy a controlling share in four years. His interest was first reported by The Post, and the consummation of the deal was first reported by ESPN. Now video has surfaced of Tsai acknowledging the move, calling Jeremy Lin his favorite player, and praising Caris LeVert.
With Tsai hosting a college basketball game between UCLA and Georgia Tech in Shanghai, he also spoke with Bill Walton and his wife, Lori, at a VIP roundtable at the Alibaba offices in China. And when Lori welcomed Tsai into the NBA family, the New Jersey-schooled Tsai responded “Yes, thank you.”
Video of the interaction was posted by ESPN.
“It’s interesting. It’s an interesting journey,” Tsai said. “It’s going to be a long, long project — a long-term project.”
Tsai graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1982, and gave his posh New Jersey alma mater the biggest gift in its 207-year history. Considering the previous record had been over $60 million, that’s a hefty gift.
But with Tsai a part-time resident of San Diego — he spends much of his time in Hong Kong, but his wife and kids live in La Jolla, Calif. — and owning a lacrosse team there, many have wondered if he’ll move the Nets there. While Lori cheerfully prodded him, Tsai implied the Nets won’t be heading to California.
“San Diego? Whoa. That’s going to be a challenge,” said Tsai.
When asked who the Nets best player was, the first name he mentioned was LeVert, a second-year wing who is still developing.
“I like Caris LeVert. I think he’s a young [talent]. I think we have a very young group of guys,” said Tsai, before adding “My favorite, Jeremy Lin, is injured.”
After Isaiah Whitehead scored 26 points in Long Island’s G League opener Saturday, he got a call at 10 p.m. Monday and was told to hop an 8 a.m. flight Tuesday to meet the Nets in Denver. He arrived at 1:30 p.m., logged 15 strong minutes against the Nuggets and finished a team-best plus-12.
“It was great. Every chance I get to play at this level I’m grateful for,” said Whitehead.
Backup center Tyler Zeller had a team-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting with five rebounds, his best offensive outing since 2015-16.
Wing Allen Crabbe had just three points on 1-of-8 shooting. But LeVert finally showed signs of life, with 13 points on 5-of-9 from the floor. He came off the bench, with Spencer Dinwiddie getting his first start of the season.
Limited to just 36 games last year with hamstring woes, Lin suffered a season-ending torn patella tendon in this season’s opener. While Lin was seen as a viable option to either get traded or opt out this summer, now he’s almost certain to opt in to the final year of his contract at $12 million.
Lin thanked his fans for their support and well-wishes on Chinese website We Chat. He acknowledged that he’s still in pain, both emotionally and physically, but is already working hard toward 2018.
“Now that I’ve come out of the wounded scared [times], I can honestly say that God has given me great peace and joy,” Lin said via translation. “Do not get me wrong, I’m really hurt and broken heart. Nobody cares more about my career than I do.
“Although I put so much energy into basketball last year, I can only play 36 games, but played only one game this year. But sometimes life is like that, even if we do a hundred percent of the preparation, we may not always get what we want. But through all this, I learned the most important thing is to have hope.”