The Russian Connection: Andrei Kirilenko Wishes Prokhorov Good Luck

Despite failing to obtain fellow Russian forward Andrei Kirilenko, Prokhorov unleashed his pockets to create one of the most expensive teams in the NBA. But will money equate to wins? That remains to be seen.

Due to the lockout, Kirilenko played overseas in Russia on CSKA Moscow. Now, he's playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves on a $20 million, two-year contract.

When Kirilenko was asked by ESPNNewYork.com about his relationship with Prokhorov, he denied comment.

"Those questions I'm not going to answer because I'm a Minnesota Timberwolf right now," he said. "There's no problem with it, but I don't think it's correct when you're talking about the different teams, because when you do, they have a player at your same position. I don't think it's going to be a good idea when you talk about the team because the player who plays your position will think, 'Oh, they wanted to bring Andrei instead.' I don't think it's a good idea."

But when asked about Brooklyn, he had a different tone.

"I want to say is I'm wishing him good luck, but not when the Nets play against us," he said. "He's doing great things and he's the first Russian owner in the NBA. I think it's great for Russian basketball because Russian players are going to have feelings that somebody from the NBA owns a team, and one day he might give them a fair chance to play there. It's a great platform for the Russian fans."

It should probably be noted that Brooklyn has a decent amount of Russians relative to its massive population.

Contrary to popular belief, Kirilenko mentions that he is actually not close with Mikhail Prokhorov.

The Timberwolves play the Nets in Brooklyn on November 5th.