Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Nets Fined For Jay-Z's Unbridled NCAA Enthusiasm
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 9, 2011
Modified Apr 9, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 9, 2011
Modified Apr 9, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The NJ Nets have been fined $50,000 by the NBA for minority owner Jay-Z's ill-timed visit to the locker room of the Kentucky Wildcats. Jay-Z, newly minted lifestyle guru and chicken wing enthusiast, was videotaped March 31 in the locker room at Newark's Prudential Center with the Wildcats players, moments after they had beaten North Carolina to clinch a berth in the Final Four.
Though the visit was reportedly not for recruitment purposes, the NBA prohibits teams from having excessive contact with college players until they declare for the NBA Draft. The NBA might think that Jay-Z and college basketball is a strange pairing, but we have an even stranger one: Jay-Z and Paul Simon. On his latest album of articulate world pop, So Beautiful Or So What (his best album by a large margin since 1990s The Rhythm Of The Saints), Simon surprisingly invokes Jay-Z during a particularly lucid trip through Brooklyn in the song "Questions For The Angels:" "Downtown Brooklyn, the pilgrim is passing a billboard which catches his eye/it's Jay-Z, he's got a kid on each knee, he's wearing clothes that he wants us to try."
Simon explained the strange origins of the reference to the AV Club:
Well, a couple years ago, the Brooklyn Academy Of Music did a month of my music, and I would sing a song or two a night, and other artists would perform it. So I would be driving out to Brooklyn, and there was a billboard of Jay-Z right on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. It actually existed. The song is sort of dreamy, and it is not very street, you know? It was interesting to me to give a pure photo of what’s on the street, just to change the perspective from the questions of the angels to a downtown Brooklyn scene. Because he is walking back, so now I’ll just pull you back to see where he is walking before we come to the really big question, which is, “If all the humans were gone, would any other living creature really care?” That’s how Jay-Z came in. You can Google it up—Jay-Z billboard. I don’t think there are kids actually sitting on his knee, but that doesn’t matter anyway. It was just getting Jay-Z in there that was good. It kind of snaps your head around.
Simon adds that he "wouldn't mind" if Jay-Z returned the favor and included him in one of his songs. We just hope that Jay-Z can find time in his busy schedule to stop by the Beacon when Simon is in town for some shows in May.
Tagged
basketball
billboard
brooklyn
fines
jay-z
NCAA
nets
paul simon
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Inside the hidden chamber that controls Lincoln Center's magnificent fountain
Gothamist went behind the scenes to learn how the NYC landmark keeps its majestic waters flowing.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 23, 2026
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
We dropped by WNYU to see what the next generation of radio DJs is up to. The answer is "Br00tal Beats To Study/Relax To."
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
We dropped by WNYU to see what the next generation of radio DJs is up to. The answer is "Br00tal Beats To Study/Relax To."
By
James Ramsay
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
By
Hannah Frishberg
A new film invites you to eavesdrop on one of the greatest conversations in NYC history
By
Sonia Rao
The Knicks are NBA champions. Now they have to start dressing the part.
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .