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Sean Marks will be the next Brooklyn Nets general manager, the team announced. Marks, previously the assistant general manager for the San Antonio Spurs, accepted the job on Thursday.
The news arrive just 24 hours after Nets' owner Mikhail Prokhorov said that Marks was not offered the job and he had never even heard Marks' name before. Apparently the franchise wanted to keep things as close to the vest as possible in case Marks didn't accept the job, which was reportedly a possibility.
It's a new start for the Nets, who fired head coach Lionel Hollins in early January. GM Billy King stepped down at the same time.
Marks will come in and begin a new search for a coach to replace Hollins. Assistant Tony Brown has been the head coach since Hollins' firing but he's not expected to hold the position permanently.
"I am very excited to be named the general manager of the Brooklyn Nets, and to become a member of the vibrant and dynamic organization that represents Brooklyn," Marks said. "I would like to thank Nets' ownership for giving me this opportunity, and I look forward to the challenge of creating a unified culture and building a winning team."
Marks was the first New Zealand-born player to play in the NBA. He played 11 years in the league -- he had stints with the Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, Spurs, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers. He played only 230 games, but won an NBA title with the 2005 Spurs.
After his playing career in 2012, he was named director of basketball operations for the Spurs. He became an assistant coach in 2013 and won a title in 2014 in that position. He was the assistant GM before taking the job with the Nets.
He survived an arduous hiring process. The Nets reportedly had a list of about 20 candidates and slowly winnowed the list down before deciding between Arturas Karnisovas, the assistant general manager in Denver, and Marks. Working with the Spurs -- one of the most successful organizations of the past 25 years -- likely helped Marks land the job.
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