Brooklyn Nets

Bill Clinton: The Nets are 'better than they were last year'

Published Nov. 3, 2015 3:11 p.m. ET

foxsports

The last time a Clinton had to deal with such a controversial statement, it was during a discussion about emails. Now, former president Bill Clinton is stirring up some contrarian viewpoints in Brooklyn.

Clinton attended the Nets-Bucks game Monday evening and sat next to longtime friend and Milwaukee owner Marc Lasry courtside at Barclays Center. The Bucks eventually defeated the Nets 103-96, dropping Brooklyn to 0-4 to start the season, but the Nets loss, a usual result for them these days, was hardly the story.

Apparently, Clinton thinks the Nets are good—or at least that they're better than they were when they won 38 games and made the playoffs last year.

Here's what he said on the YES Network broadcast during Monday's game, transcribed by NetsDaily:

Brooklyn lost Deron Williams, Alan Anderson Miles Plumlee and Mirza Teletovic this offseason. It didn't add much talent around them, bringing in a hodgepodge of role players as replacements. So, let's put it this way: Clinton must be a huge Andrea Bargnani fan.

"Even though they haven't won this year," Clinton noted of the Nets," they're a better than they were last year -- you can tell. They're playing together better, Brook Lopez is healthy -- I like him very much."

On Barclays Center, Clinton said, "First of all it's been great for Brooklyn."

"Brooklyn is a great place, and for people who don't know New York, they don't it's certainly a whole different city in a wonderful way."

"I love it here," he said of the Barclays Center, "and I like the team and I think Lionel [Hollins] is going to have a great career here."

"We just gotta be patient," Clinton said.