NBA: Nets owner opens new arena with title expectations

"I still expect a championship within three years," said Prokhorov, who bought the Nets in 2009 when they were based in New Jersey with a vow the team would capture an NBA title within five seasons.

The $1 billion Barclays Center will open next Friday with a Jay-Z concert, one of eight sold-out shows scheduled by the Brooklyn-born performer, and host its first NBA game on November 1 when the Nets face the New York Knicks.

Businessman and movie producer Bruce Ratner, like Jay-Z a part-owner of the Nets, cut the ribbon on an arena he first envisioned nine years ago.

The Nets are the first professional sports team representing the New York neighborhood since Major League Baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers departed for Los Angeles after the 1957 season.