Nets owner Mikhail Prohorov will run to be president of Russia

Basketball isn't the only game that Nets owner and billionaire playboy Mikhail Prokhorov wants a shot at -- announcing Monday he'll run for president in his home country of Russia.

Prokhorov plans to challenge Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the 2012 presidential election as the 46-year-old tycoon hopes to capitalize on recent anti-government sentiments.

"Those authorities who will fail to establish a dialogue with the society will have to go," Prokhorov reportedly said during a news conference in Moscow.

Prokhorov must collect 2 million signatures to be added to the ballot. While he has experience amassing a personal fortune in metals and banking, the Nets' majority owner would be a longshot against Putin, a veteran politician who served as Russia's president from 2000-08, observers said.

The Nets will move from New Jersey to Brooklyn for the 2012-13 season, and NBA rules don't bar owners from holding elected office.

"If we could vote, he'd have a lot of votes here in this building," said Nets coach Avery Johnson, according to ESPN. 

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