When New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn was said to plan on retiring two weeks into free agency, it seemed that there might have still been some desire to keep working in basketball.

That perception is witnessed around the league according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

Two league execs with ties to NJ’s Rod Thorn think he may yet reconsider retirement and stay. “I think he still wants to work,” one says.

One reason he might have wanted to retire, according to New York Daily News writer Julia Garcia, was the “perception of Russian spies in New Jersey Nets offices.”

Thorn denied that report, however, categorically saying that was a lie.

“That’s not right,” Thorn said. “And I’m really serious, that’s not right. The new ownership has been great to me. I think they’re going to be the best owners in the league.”