Jay-Z was sitting on the edge of his impossibly large oak desk when he stressed the importance of flatware.

Forks need to be heavy, he told his small audience, which included Chris Sharples, the architect in charge of designing a block of luxury suites at Barclays Center that would bear the rap impresario's imprint. Forks, Jay-Z said, need to have substance. A plastic fork? Please. Even stainless steel was out of the question.

The meeting, which was held last spring at Jay-Z's offices in Manhattan, was Sharples's introduction to him, and he said it was revealing: The team's most glamorous part-owner wanted to be involved. "He's a very confident individual," said Sharples, a principal at SHoP Architects.

"I don't tell Jay-Z to do anything," said Brett Yormark, the CEO of Barclays Center and the Nets. "I mean that. He tells me what to do. Listen, when it comes to our engagement, let's just say he's the CEO."