Sean Marks may have been the GM of the Brooklyn Nets for a decade, but his roots lie elsewhere.
The native of Auckland, New Zealand, is part of the first generation of international NBA players, as he said among the first 40 or 50. He became the first player from his home country to play in the NBA, staying for 11 seasons, nine teams. For a year, he played in the Polish league and won a championship before joining the international basketball corps that became the San Antonio Spurs with Tim Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Tony Parker (France), Rasho Nesterović (Slovenia), etc., etc., winning two championships, one as a player, one as an assistant.
Now he works in Brooklyn for a Chinese owner, his second international boss, something no other GM has done. He’s hired the first Spanish (and Catalan) head coach in the league, and he’s drafted four players with foreign passports last June, another first. He regularly goes on international scouting trips.
So his international basketball cred is active and this week he went on Fullcourt Passport, a podcast focused on the NBA’s wider world, taking questions from Boki Nachbar, the former Net and Euroleague player, and veteran NBA writer Ric Bucher. His big take: the globalization of NBA has dramatically changed the sport from scouting to ownership.
“You and I were playing, there were 40, 50 maybe foreign players. And now you look around and I think a quarter of the league is foreign,” he told Nachbar.“ (It’s actually more, about a third.) Of course, it’s not just about percentages. The league, Marks said, is changing in a lot of ways, particularly in places like teams’ scouting departments. coaching offices and development systems.
“The NBA has completely embraced that,” Marks said, noting that the league cannot ignore any possibility, not when four international players have won the last seven MVP Awards. “The game has become so global and worldly. It is a copycat league, right? We are all trying to copy off who is doing something different and who has got the next greatest thing.”
Among the changes Marks has seen among the current crop of international players is their skill and confidence levels.
“Initially, it was hard to potentially find a foreign player who could come in and contribute right away. Maybe they were lacking a little bit of physicality, athleticism, what have you, but now, these guys are more than ready to step right in. We’ve seen that.”
That, he noted, has changed NBA scouting. No one wants to miss a diamond in the rough.
“I think scouting departments have grown exponentially, You have scouts all over the world. You have scouting services all over the world” said Marks explaining that there’s no escaping the international culture of basketball. “I go into Jordi’s office, speaking of foreign staff and more often than not, I don’t find a Nets game on. I find a game he’s watching — Barcelona or a second division in Spain! He’s thirsty for the knowledge, picking up traits and things from his counterparts in Europe. The game has completely changed.”
There are other more subtle changes like teams bringing in “guest coaches” from Euroleague teams and even the Basketball Africa League to serve as Summer League assistants in Las Vegas. The exchange, he said, is not one-way. NBA coaches like Fernandez get insights as well.
The Nets GM also agreed with Nachbar on the changing mentality of international players now that there are so many of them in the league. Players are more confident and are less likely to be affected by the cultural clash on arriving in North America.
“It’s not that big of a step,” said Marks, noting the international aspect of the league has given younger prospects their own heroes from their home countries. “They’re so much more locked in and closer to their own counterparts that are now playing in Europe. They’ve got their own role models whether they’re in Croatia or Spain or France.”
Marks was also asked about working for two owners — Mikhail Prokhorov and Joe Tsai — who have world views. (He also hinted on who has the final say.)
“Having two different owners in my time in Brooklyn, obviously from my current owner, Joe Tsai, to our previous Russian owner (Mikhail Prokhorov),” said Marks. “I always ask those guys their advice, their help. I mean these guys are doing multi-billion dollars deals and I’m doing trades with guys who will a half million bucks or three million dollars or five million dollars.
“It’s still their baby and I want to make sure … how they can influence me in my negotiating skills or what have you. I’d be a fool not to involve them. They’ve come from a completely different backgrounds but also to empower them to understand why we’re doing to these deals and what it means down the road. I’m very fortunate in that regard.”
Marks did not discuss current prospects in his talk, but back in January, he flew 11,000 miles to Perth, Australia, to scout Karim Lopez, perhaps the top international in this year’s draft, and Dash Daniels, a defensive-oriented wing. His international scouting director, Simone Casali, has a rep as one of the top overseas scouts.
In addition to the changes brought on by the game’s growing globalization, Marks talked with Nachbar and Bucher about the effect of NILs on evaluating players in an environment where college players hop from school to school, seeking more NIL money.
“It is a little bit of the wild wild west,” he said. “These guys are coming in ready,” but he also argued that increased money and movement can alter early career decisions for younger players.
He said that environment is reshaping how teams evaluate prospects. “We want players that want to win,” Marks said. “So you sit there and go, why did you move? Did you just move purely for the money or was it a role or was it the coach?”
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