The Brooklyn Nets held preseason media availability on Tuesday at their state of the art training facility. When general manager Sean Marks took to the stage, he was alone. Noticeably absent was head coach Kenny Atkinson.
The man charged with blending together the various personalities into an on the court product capable of winning a title was at the hospital with his new point guard Kyrie Irving.
Irving suffered what was diagnosed Wednesday as a left side facial fracture. He suffered the injury during workouts Tuesday when he caught an inadvertent elbow during team play. Irving is listed as day to day.
UPDATE: Kyrie Irving has been diagnosed with a left side facial fracture, which he sustained yesterday during workouts. He is currently listed as day to day.
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 25, 2019
If Marks and Atkinson have it their way, that will be the most “drama” the team will endure this season.
Unlikely, but Marks knew there was going to be change heading into this season and he welcomes it.
The Nets have been a rebuilding franchise since the well documented Celtics trade back in 2013. Once aging veterans Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were gone the team had nothing in terms of top tier talent and no future draft picks to build around.
Enter Marks in 2016 as the team’s general manager. He knew what an uphill battle he was facing. No draft picks, not a lot of talent, and a team that was second fiddle in the city.
Undaunted, the former Spurs front office man who knows a thing or two about building long term success, started out by changing the infrastructure. He hired Atkinson from the Atlanta Hawks where he was an assistant under Mike Budenholzer.
He upgraded the performance staff, scouting, player development, and all the parts of a franchise that the average fan ignores, but is critical to building a culture of success.
Then they started bringing in talent. They stole Caris LeVert in the 2016 draft. Where other teams were nervous about LeVert’s injury history, Marks trusted his scouting, performance and development teams.
He showed faith and trust in them again when they acquired players like Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie and Marks was rewarded when the turned into well above average NBA players.
Marks acquired draft picks through trades and landed talents like Jarrett Allen and Rodions Kurucs. With a clear vision and a thorough understanding of the salary cap and its machinations, he was able to bring in the right mix of veterans and young guys and it all culminated in a playoff appearance last season in just Marks’ third year on the job.
Now, he’s pivoted and with the acquisition of free agents Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving this offseason, he threatens to drastically change the culture he spent three years building.
Durant and Kyrie instantly become the best and most accomplished players on the team.
KD a former league MVP, perennial All-NBA, All-Star, 2X Finals MVP and champion.
Irving, also an NBA champion and perennial All-NBA and All-Star.
With that level of star power comes a different aura. Both around the players themselves and what they thrust upon an organization.
The presence of KD and Kyrie will be the ultimate stress test of Marks’ famed culture.
To his credit, he doesn’t seem too worried. He knows the “risks” and understands the goal of any team is to win a championship and when you have a chance to get two top 15 players, you do it.
As to the culture built in Brooklyn, Marks is quick to point out, culture isn’t one person. Everyone has to buy in and contribute to the best of their abilities and talents. But he admitted, “It’s going to be an interesting challenge.”
Culture is a “buzzword” @BrooklynNets GM Sean Marks yesterday on the team’s culture and why it is always evolving. #NBA pic.twitter.com/6JBSc2yvT0
— Jarod Hector (@jshector) September 25, 2019
Always evolving. That’s what Marks believes culture should be, and he’s not wrong.
Of course there needs to be some semblance of balance and not selling out on your core beliefs, but that isn’t what the Nets are doing.
There will be a new level of attention and expectations surrounding this team. Marks believes he has the right people in place to handle it, including Atkinson who is coaching superstars for the first time in his career.
Managing personalities is the hardest job an NBA coach has and Atkinson will have his hands full with KD and Kyrie. The former not until next season, as he will likely miss all of this season rehabbing his surgically repaired Achilles tendon.
Still, if winning is the ultimate goal, this is what you sign up for.
If they struggle out the gate and Kyrie is having a difficult time connecting with his teammates, there will be noise.
If the team is hovering near the #4 seed after the All-Star break, questions about a possible KD return will make the noise even louder. Though Marks said on Tuesday the timetable is for KD not to play at all this season.
That’s the gift and the curse of being a franchise that matters in the NBA. The noise around you can be deafening.
The teams that handle it the best are able to “quiet the noise” and focus on what they can control. And that all comes down to, culture.
Flip the page for Sean Marks talking about Caris LeVert.