Jay-Z urged to keep his share in basketball team

The coach of a New York City basketball team has urged Jay-Z not to end his involvement with the club amid rumours the rapper will have to sell his shares so he can focus on launching a sports management company.

The hip-hop mogul owns just one 15th of a one per cent of a share in the Brooklyn Nets, but he was instrumental in re-branding the team and helping it move from New Jersey to a new home at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Jay-Z even helped design the players' uniform.

However, he is rumoured to be on the verge of giving up his investment in the team, said to be worth around $350,000, so he can focus on building his Roc Nation Sports management firm.

National Basketball Association (NBA) rules state no one associated with a player representation company can hold ownership in an NBA team, suggesting Jay-Z will have to give up his shares.

Brooklyn Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo has now spoken out about the rumours, and urged Jay-Z not to abandon the team.

He tells the New York Daily News, "I would say (Jay-Z) had an enormous amount to do with the re-branding of the team. I was not close to it at all, but from what I heard and what I read and saw, he was huge - it would be hard to overstate how important he was to the re-branding. So it would be disappointing (if he left the Nets). I would be disappointed. I like his involvement with our team."