Sean Andrew Marks (born 23 August 1975) is a New Zealand-American basketball executive and former player and coach who is the general manager and alternate owner of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the first New Zealand-born player to play in the NBA. Marks won two championships with the San Antonio Spurs: one as a player in 2005 and another as an assistant coach in 2014.

Sean Marks
Brooklyn Nets
PositionGeneral manager
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1975-08-23) 23 August 1975 (age 49)
Auckland, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealand / American
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High schoolRangitoto College
(Auckland, New Zealand)
CollegeCalifornia (1994–1998)
NBA draft1998: 2nd round, 44th overall pick
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career1998–2011
PositionPower forward/center
Number22, 4, 40
Career history
As player:
19982000Toronto Raptors
2000–2001Śląsk Wrocław
20012003Miami Heat
20032006San Antonio Spurs
20062008Phoenix Suns
20082010New Orleans Hornets
2010–2011Portland Trail Blazers
As coach:
20132016San Antonio Spurs (asst.)
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As assistant coach:

Career statistics
Points638 (2.8 ppg)
Rebounds501 (2.2 rpg)
Blocks87 (0.4 bpg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Basketball career

edit

After attending Rangitoto College in Auckland, Marks moved to the United States in 1992 to play for the University of California, Berkeley where he majored in political science, graduating with a BA degree in 1998. He was drafted 44th overall in the 1998 NBA draft by the New York Knicks, and was traded on draft night, alongside Charles Oakley, to the Toronto Raptors for Marcus Camby. Marks would later play for the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.[citation needed]

In 2000–01, Marks started the season with Śląsk Wrocław of Poland, and in December 2000 had an unsuccessful ten-day contract (0 games) with the Seattle SuperSonics, returning to his Polish team until the season ended. In 2003–04, while with the Spurs, he did not play a single second due to patella tendonitis.

In the next season, while playing for the Spurs Marks averaged 10 minutes per game and produced an average of 3 points and 2 rebounds. That year the Spurs won the NBA championship by defeating the Detroit Pistons in seven games. Marks did not receive any playing time for the Spurs during the 2005 playoffs.

Marks signed with the Phoenix Suns on 27 July 2006, to a one-year contract,[1] On 16 April 2008, during a win over the Portland Trail Blazers in the Suns last regular-season game, Marks scored a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, along with 1 steal and 1 block.

Marks later signed with the New Orleans Hornets on 28 August 2008.[2] On 21 October 2010, Marks was waived by the Washington Wizards after he had failed to suit up for a pre-season game because of a hamstring injury. He was signed by Portland in November after the retirement of Fabricio Oberto.

On 24 February 2011, Marks was traded along with Joel Przybilla, Dante Cunningham and two future first-round draft picks to the Charlotte Bobcats for Gerald Wallace.[3] The Bobcats waived Marks on March 3, 2011.[4]

Internationally, Marks represented New Zealand. He competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, and was part of their fourth-place finish at the 2002 FIBA World Championship held in Indianapolis, US.

Coaching and executive career

edit

Marks retired in 2011.[5] In 2012, he was named basketball operations assistant for the San Antonio Spurs and general manager for the Austin Toros.[6] He became an assistant coach with the Spurs in 2013.[7] The Spurs went on to win the 2014 NBA Finals after defeating the Miami Heat in five games. It was Marks second championship and first as an assistant coach.[8] At the start of the following season he returned to the front office, being named assistant general manager.[9]

On 18 February 2016, it was announced that the Brooklyn Nets named Marks as the new general manager for the team, and penned a 4-year contract.[10][11] Marks told then-owner Mikhail Prokhorov that his vision for rebuilding a team that had collapsed to only 21 wins involved a process that would take several years to execute, and made clear that he was not interested in a repeat of Prokhorov's previous "win now" approach.[12] Earlier, Prokhorov had acknowledged his previous free-spending strategy was not the best way in the long run to build a champion.[13] During the third year of Marks' contract, the Nets appeared in the 2019 NBA Playoffs, making it their first appearance since 2015.

On 19 May 2017, Marks was inducted into the Basketball New Zealand Hall of Fame.[14][15]

On 21 April 2019, Marks was suspended for Game 5 of the Nets' contest against the Philadelphia 76ers, due to entering the referees’ locker room after the Nets' Game 4 loss. He was subsequently fined $25,000.[16]

NBA career statistics

edit
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998–99 Toronto 8 0 3.5 .625 .000 .500 .1 .0 .1 .0 1.4
1999–2000 Toronto 5 0 2.4 .333 .000 1.000 .4 .0 .2 .2 1.6
2001–02 Miami 21 6 15.2 .432 .000 .588 3.6 .4 .2 .5 4.6
2002–03 Miami 23 0 9.7 .373 .000 .667 1.5 .1 .2 .3 2.3
2004–05 San Antonio 23 0 10.6 .338 .000 .786 2.4 .3 .1 .5 3.3
2005–06 San Antonio 25 0 7.2 .521 .000 .583 1.7 .3 .2 .3 3.2
2006–07 Phoenix 3 0 5.7 .333 .000 1.000 1.0 .0 .0 .3 2.0
2007–08 Phoenix 19 0 6.8 .535 .250 .632 1.9 .2 .2 .5 3.1
2008–09 New Orleans 60 5 14.0 .485 .200 .682 3.1 .2 .1 .6 3.2
2009–10 New Orleans 14 0 5.4 .500 .000 .400 1.6 .1 .0 .2 .7
2010–11 Portland 29 0 7.2 .432 1.000 .625 1.4 .1 .1 .2 1.6
Career 230 11 9.9 .448 .200 .665 2.2 .2 .1 .4 2.8

Playoffs

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008 Phoenix 1 0 3.0 .000 .000 .000 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
2009 New Orleans 5 0 16.0 .462 .000 .800 4.0 .0 .6 .4 3.2
Career 6 0 13.8 .462 .000 .800 3.3 .0 .5 .3 2.7

Personal life

edit

Marks and his wife Jennifer have four sons. The family resides in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Marks became an American citizen in 2007.[17]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ McPeek, Jeramie (27 July 2006). "Suns Sign Sean Marks". NBA.com. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Marks-ist revolution: Hornets sign ex-Suns PF/C". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Cunningham, Przybilla, Marks, 2 First Round Picks Acquired from Portland". NBA.com. 24 February 2011. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  4. ^ Bobcats Re-sign Forward Dominic McGuire, Waive Sean Marks Archived 12 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Spurs coaching job awaits retiring Sean Marks
  6. ^ Sean Marks – Director Of Basketball Operations Toros General Manager
  7. ^ Spurs Announce Front Office Promotions and Additions
  8. ^ Spurs' Kiwi coach Marks takes it for the team
  9. ^ "Spurs Announce Basketball Operations Staff Promotions and Additions". nba.com. Turner Interactive, Inc. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2016. Sean Marks returned to the front office as an assistant general manager
  10. ^ "Brooklyn Nets Name Sean Marks General Manager". nba.com. Turner Interactive, Inc. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Sean Marks appointed Brooklyn Nets general manager". Newshub. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  12. ^ McMullan, Jackie (11 March 2017). "When 'all-in' backfires: How the Brooklyn Nets are rebuilding from nothing". ESPN.
  13. ^ Prokhorov, Mikhail (2 February 2016). "NBA U: Lessons learned from the owner of the Brooklyn Nets". Yahoo! Sports.
  14. ^ Sean Marks inducted into New Zealand Basketball Hall of Fame
  15. ^ SEAN MARKS ACCEPTANCE OF HALL OF FAME AWARD
  16. ^ Hoffman, Benjamin (21 April 2019). "Nets' G.M. Sean Marks Suspended for Entering the Referees' Locker Room". New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  17. ^ Suns beat Magic for 2nd time, 110–106
edit