Sean Marks, the former San Antonio center who spent the past two seasons working in the team’s front office, will move to the Spurs bench for 2013-14 to complete coach Gregg Popovich‘s assistant coaching staff, NBA.com has learned.
Marks, 38, worked under Spurs president R.C. Buford and assistant general manager Scott Layden as director of basketball operations last season and also served as GM of the D-League Austin Toros.
He moves into the vacancy opened by longtime assistant Brett Brown‘s move to Philadelphia as the 76ers head coach and joins Jim Boylen and Ime Udoka on the game-night bench. Boylen was hired off Indiana’s staff in late June to replace Mike Budenholzer, who was hired as the Atlanta Hawks’ new head coach.
A native of Auckland, New Zealand, the 6-foot-10 Marks played for six NBA teams in parts of 11 seasons spread over 13 years. After being drafted in the 1998 second round pick by New York, he appeared in just 230 games for Toronto, Miami, San Antonio, Phoenix, New Orleans and Portland, spent the 2000-01 season in Poland and was sidelined by a knee injury for all of 2003-04. Marks did earn a championship ring with the Spurs in 2004-05 after averaging 3.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 10.6 minutes in 23 games.
Marks spent the 2011-12 season as an intern in the Spurs’ basketball office. According to a story in May on the Stuff news Web site in New Zealand, the University of California product was paying attention as he moved through various NBA organizations. Wrote Brendon Egan:
“From an outsider’s perspective, I think I enjoyed looking at different teams and organisations and looking at their makeup and thinking, ‘How does that fit together?’,” Marks says. “I really got an eye-opening experience (while playing for the Spurs) . . .
“I stayed in contact with Pop and R.C. over the course of my career and I’m glad they found a place for me.”
Opportunity can come swiftly in the Spurs system, given how popular their assistant coaches and front-office staffers have become with rival teams looking to hire. Now Marks will be adding clipboard duties to his growing resume.
