No Marks-ism for the Nets?
On Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski, the most reliable source of sources in the NBA, reported that Sean Marks has been offered the GM job by the Brooklyn Nets. On Wednesday, others reported that Marks may not accept the job, with Tim Bontemps the most definitive.
Multiple people around the league have said Sean Marks has passed on Nets GM job. When asked about it directly, the Nets declined comment.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 17, 2016
Mike Mazzeo and Marc Stein think it's not so dire, reporting "There is growing concern within the Brooklyn Nets organization that they will be unable to lure their preferred general manager candidate, Sean Marks, from the San Antonio Spurs, according to league sources."
Confused? So are we ... so, apparently, is Mikhail Prokhorov.
When asked about it all Wednesday at the opening of the Nets $50 million training facility, Prokhorov said he doesn't even know who Sean Marks is. No, he really said that.
And we've come full circle!
Mikhail Prokhorov says the job was not offered to Sean Marks. #Nets
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) February 17, 2016
When asked specifically about Sean Marks, Prokhorov said: "I have never heard this name before."
— Andy Vasquez (@andy_vasquez) February 17, 2016
Prokhorov also says he will stay in the states until the GM is decided. #Nets
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) February 17, 2016
See...this is the kind of thing you probably just shouldn't say. There is no reading of this that is good/flattering https://t.co/9MCQHJgd1w
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) February 17, 2016
And, as the kids say, "it's lit."
Prokhorov has not heard of Marks, who is the assistant GM of the San Antonio Spurs, the league's most successful franchise over the last decade? Really? . Marks works for R.C. Buford, who is the GM of the Spurs and is also close friends with Sergey Kushchenko, who is on the Nets GM search committee.
Of course, he knows who he is. He might not want to acknowledge it, of course, considering the events of the last 24 hours, when in effect, the opening of the HSS Training Center got, in the words of one national writer, "hijacked" by the Marks mystery.
Brian Lewis valiantly tried to explain it all.
Thats Prokhorov's sense of humor. He answered another of my questions w/ "Thats top secret" and said he'd never heard of the #Knicks. #Nets
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) February 17, 2016
Yucks aplenty.
What's next? As Bontemps writes...
Given what's happened so far it's impossible to rule anything out as far as what's next for the Nets. Always an adventure here in Brooklyn.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 17, 2016
Buckle up, everyone. Buckle. Up. Or as one longtime Nets fan texted us, "This is the Netsiest thing to happen in weeks."
- Nets owner’s joke on GM search falls flat - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Mikhail Prokhorov: Nets won’t fast break to pick a GM - Mark Herrmann - Newsday
- What’s next for Nets in 2016? GM hunt and 4 other key issues - Brian Lewis - New York Post
- With Much Unsettled for Nets, Brooklyn Complex Is a New Center of Gravity - Andrew Keh - New York Times
- Brooklyn Nets growing concerned about luring Sean Marks from San Antonio Spurs - Mike Mazzeo and Marc Stein - ESPN
- Sean Marks will not be the next Nets GM - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Mikhail Prokhorov Denies Offering Nets' GM Job To Sean Marks - RealGM