Sports

Nets Welcome New Veteran Superstars

Brooklyn cheers official introduction of veteran players.

At a press conference inside the Barclays Center Thursday, the Brooklyn Nets welcomed three of their four new acquisitions, part of a flurry of offseason moves designed to make the team more competitive. 

Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry were all on hand Thursday with owner Mikhail Prokhorov and team leadership.

"With the arrival of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, we have achieved a great balance on our roster between veteran stars and young talents. This team will be dazzling to watch, and tough to compete against," Prokhorov said in a statement. 

General Manager Billy King said the players' combined decades of league experience — when paired with Brooklyn mainstays Joe Johnson and Deron Williams — would make the team as competitive as any team in the Eastern Conference.

"All three players have championship pedigree and posses the veteran qualities that will make us a stronger team," King said. 

Bringing in Pierce and Garnett — who won a championship together in Boston — is seen as a response to a basketball arms race in the Easter Conference set off years ago when Miami signed LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the same off-season. 

Since then, teams from Chicago to New York have been trying to stockpile talent in an effort to compete against Miami, who won this year's NBA Finals. 

The Nets also signed Andrei Kirilenko this off-season. 


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