It wasn’t what the Nets said. Or even how they said it. It was where they said it — within full view of Madison Square Garden at 34th Street and Eighth Avenue. And that ticked off the Knicks.

That is where the Nets have placed a 225-by-99-foot ad on the side of a building proclaiming “The Blueprint for Greatness” and depicting hip-hop mogul Jay-Z and the team’s new billionaire Russian owner, Mikhail Prokhorov. The Knicks were not amused.

Nets sources say Knicks and Cablevision owner James Dolan called Jay-Z to complain. Others in the Knicks hierarchy called the Nets and the NBA. The Nets did nothing wrong, according to the league.

In Other Jay Z News, Check out His 15 Min. Documentary.