New York (AFP) – Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks, who was the NBA’s first New Zealand-born player, was suspended one game without pay Sunday for entering the referee locker room after a game.
Marks, who was also fined $25,000, made the move Saturday following the Nets’ 112-108 home playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at the Barclays Center.
The loss dropped the Nets behind the 76ers 3-1 in their best-of-seven opening-round playoff series.
Marks will serve his suspension on Tuesday when the Nets visit Philadelphia for game five of the matchup, Brooklyn trying to avoid elimination.
Marks, 43, was selected by the New York Knicks with the 44th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft and made his NBA debut for the Toronto Raptors later that year.
The long-time Tall Blacks player, twice an Olympian for New Zealand, became an American citizen in 2007.
Marks also played for the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers before retiring.
He played on an NBA championship team with San Antonio in 2005 and was an assistant coach on the Spurs’ 2014 championship squad.
Marks was named an assistant general manager after that and departed for the Nets general manager job in February 2016. This is Brooklyn’s first playoff trip since his arrival.
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