Jason Kidd is going all in on his Nets gig.
The former franchise point guard will not only coach Brooklyn this year but will also invest in the team, becoming a part owner, the New York Post reports.
Kidd is buying Jay-Z‘s minority stake in the franchise for $500,000, the Post reports. Jay-Z’s involvement with the team has been highly publicized since he first bought in, although he only owned a small portion of the team. Kidd is reportedly buying half of that, or .067 percent of the Nets (1/15th of a percent).
Jay-Z had to get rid of his itty-bitty share due to conflict of interest concerns now that he’s started a sports representation agency, Roc Nation. The other Brooklyn owners thought Kidd would be the perfect guy to pick up the leftover slice, the Post reports.
“Other owners want to give Jason a part ownership of the team and urged Jay to sell his shares to him,” the Post reports a source as saying.
The move brings Jay-Z and Kidd’s involvement with the team full circle — Jay-Z first got involved with the Nets after Kidd, playing for the Nets at the time, suggested Jay-Z buy the team in 2003. At that point, Kidd introduced Jay-Z to Drew Katz, the son of one of the Nets’ principal owners, and things got rolling.
Jay-Z has had a big influence on the new direction of the now-Brooklyn Nets, including helping design their new logo and influencing the culture of the new Barclays Center.
