Nets’ Sean Marks has a strong message for the fanbase
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets are coming off a disappointing 2023-24 season in which the team finished with a 32-50 record despite looking like a potential playoff team in the beginning of the year. Despite how this past season ended for Brooklyn, a prominent member of the organization has some important words for the fans.
“I think the message to the fans is a level of competitiveness,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said after head coach Jordi Fernandez’s introductory press conference on Wednesday. Brooklyn has an important offseason ahead as they have to figure out who will be on the roster next season after hiring Fernandez to lead this next era.
“They’re gonna see a team out there that’s gonna compete on a nightly basis,” Marks explained. ” I think the fans got behind a group in the early days here that they weren’t household names, but they came in and they brought it every single night. I think that’s important. Fans got behind the stars as well.”
The Nets began this season with a 13-10 record that included impressive wins over current playoff teams like the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers, and Phoenix Suns, just to name a few. There was optimism from everyone following Brooklyn given that they had some close losses to teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, giving hope that the Nets could still be a playoff team without any superstars.
Unfortunately, from the point of beating the Suns on Dec. 13 to the All-Star break, Brooklyn went just 8-23, including some demoralizing losses to the Utah Jazz, New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks (in which the organization decided to sit most of the rotation players with lingering injuries), and a 50-point loss at the Boston Celtics.
The 136-86 loss at the Celtics on Feb. 14 essentially cost then-head coach Jacque Vaughn’s job, allowing Kevin Ollie to take over as the interim head coach and show what he had to end the season. The hope is that the hiring of Fernandez along with moves during the summer can set the franchise up for a bounceback.
“So, we can take a variety of different pathways. We have to be prudent, patient, systematic with who we go after, when we go after them, and just make sure we do it the right way,” Marks said on what the mission is for the team this offseason.
