The night before their last game of the season, the Brooklyn Nets' traveling party commandeered a private room at RPM Italian in Chicago for a mandatory dinner. Irina Pavlova, then president of Onexim Sports and Entertainment Holding and liaison between the team and Russian ownership, stood to address the group. She had note cards. She looked nervous. Kenny Atkinson, the team's rookie head coach, suggested she take a shot of vodka. Pavlova, who knew she would be leaving the Nets, held back tears as she finished, according to sources in the room: "In my seven years here," she said, "this is the first time it feels like a team, and not just 15 guys on a roster." One player started a classic Hollywood slow clap that crescendoed into a raucous ovation. read more http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20221667/zach-lowe-brooklyn-nets-dangelo-russell-sean-marks-nba