The chief executive of the Nets has defended the team's decision to replace architect Frank Gehry's design for their new arena in Brooklyn with a cheaper option.

The team announced last week that the Barclays Center in Brooklyn will now be based on a design by Ellerbe Becket, according to the Associated Press.

A writer for The New York Times wrote on Tuesday that the change was "a shameful betrayal of the public trust, one that should enrage all those who care about this city."

"Unfortunately the world we live in today is very different than what it was three or four years ago when we hired Frank," Nets CEO Brett Yormark said Wednesday in response.

"The world is more simplistic. It's not as grand and glitzy. And I'm not sure that design would have been appropriate right now, as much as we all loved it. I think the design that we have now is very appropriate. It speaks to Brooklyn," he added.