JAY Z TALKS FREE AGENTS AT THE BROOKLYN NETS GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY!

Jay-Z took a tongue-in-cheek shot at NBA superstar LeBron James on Monday as he christened the NBA team that will soon call his home borough home - the Brooklyn Nets.
The New Jersey Nets will take on their new name when the team moves next fall from Newark to the still-being-built Barclays Center on Atlantic Ave. in Prospect Heights.

Brooklyn-born Jay-Z, a part owner of the club, will rock the mike to open the new digs, but the rapper wouldn't say how many concerts he will be giving. "Maybe one. Maybe two. Maybe three," he said, adding a little joke, "I sound like LeBron."

The rap mogul was making light of James' declaration of how many NBA titles he would win when he joined the Miami Heat. Sources told the Daily News that Jay-Z will give eight shows during a blowout opening of the new arena.

"I asked for two things out of my partners in ownership - that we name the New Jersey Nets the Brooklyn Nets, and ... that I open [the arena] with a concert," Jay-Z said.

The Nets are using Jay-Z's image in a new marketing campaign to sell their pricey all-access pass to the arena - which goes for up to $15,400 - plastering his picture on coffee cups, phone booths and taxis. They're especially targeting lower Manhattan.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz had pushed to make sure "Brooklyn" was in the team's name as majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov flirted with changing it. The beep suggested Brooklyn Bridges or Brooklyn Tudes, but he said he is happy with the final choice.

"As long as the first name was Brooklyn, the rest of it to me was immaterial," he said.

The new arena is expected to open on Sept. 28, 2012.

Jay-Z said he was honored to have helped bring the NBA to his home borough.

"I absolutely am humbled, and I have so much pride as a kid to come from the Marcy projects [and] to stand here," he said.



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