It's no secret that NBA's Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhall Prkhorov is open to listening to offers and potentially selling the NY-based basketball franchise, and the latest interest comes from Chinese conglomerate company Fosun Group, according to a report by China Daily.

Fosun taking over the Nets wouldn't be the first New York property the Shanghai-based company owns. Fosun purchased One Chase Manhattan Plaza for US$725 million, marking it one of the largest US property purchases by a Chinese investor.

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China is the largest market for the NBA outside of the U.S. by a large margin, and NBA executives have taken note of this by offering more experiences for Chinese fans. The league just wrapped up its fourth annual Chinese New Year Celebration that included a broadcast of 56 games in China.

With NBA popularity growing in China every year and over 300 million Chinese reportedly playing basketball, according to the Chinese Basketball Association, It's no wonder why Fuson would attempt to expand into the NBA as well.

Fosun could, however, find itself in a bidding war with the likes of American music magnate David Geffen and former Time Warner executive Dick Parsons who've both expressed interest in the franchise, according to the New York Post. Even star power-forward Kevin Garnett has expressed interest in owning an NBA team, albeit more focused on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Forbes reported in its latest annual team-value analysis that the Nets are worth about US$1.5 billion, which would make it the sixth most valuable team in the NBA. But according to Peter Schwartz of Christie & Associates, the Nets could end up being worth over US$2 billion exceeding the amount that was paid for the Los Angeles Clippers. 

TagsFosun Group, chinese basketball association, nba franchise