 Big night tonight in Brooklyn with the debut of K.D. as a net, but where does Tim Duncan fit in? Both he and Durant are Olympians, league MVPs, and most importantly, world champions. But they have another link in common. Sean Mark spent two seasons playing alongside Tim Duncan and learned the way the Spurs while helping them win a title. He is also the man who created an environment in Brooklyn that was a place for Kevin Durant to continue on his historic legacy. Ian Eagle sat down with the next general manager to discuss the season that is about to begin. Sean, you've been a part of so many opening nights over the course of your NBA career as a player, as a coach, as an executive. What are the emotions for you going into this one? I think like always, you're always excited about this next step in the journey and what it entails. How it's all going to unfold. You know, I think this is just one little step, but it's been probably a long time waiting for to see a couple of these guys on the court and to be honest, to see the whole group on the court playing together at one time, it'll be thrilling for all of us. The stoppage, the bubble, the shortened off season, and now things are starting again just before Christmas. Have you had a chance to reflect on this crazy 2020? Not really reflecting. I think we've done a lot of debriefing on trying to be prepared for what's coming next, and I think as we all know, we sympathize with everybody because what we think comes maybe never happens, and a different iteration of that happens. So I think it's just this season is going to be about us being fluid, about us being patient, and hopefully over-preparing because I think we all can see from society, let alone the NBA, that 2020 definitely took on a different look and we're hoping for bigger and better things over this next year. What was the biggest challenge for you and your staff with this condensed off season, draft preparation, free agency preparation, but what obstacles did you face? I think, well, very somewhat what you and I are doing now, when we're doing interviews over Zoom and when we're talking via text and phones instead of being in person, I think that's something that as a front office and as a coaching staff, we've sort of cherished over the last four or five years. That's how we've worked together. We thoroughly enjoy collaborating, so it's been a little bit tricky to hopefully people don't feel that they've been left out because our building is smaller now. We're only about 50 people in the building at one time, so we have a big staff and I personally like everybody being around. I like to hear people's opinions, so that's been an obstacle we've had to navigate, just making sure everybody feels that their opinions are welcomed and they're still part of this because I think that's so important with what we've done in the past and what we'll do leading into the future. This has been the smallest turnover that you've had during your tenure as a GM in terms of personnel. Is that a byproduct of the pieces that you acquired through the years and the building blocks that were already in place for this team? Yeah, absolutely. I think we've sort of stayed the course, been patient. We've been able to fortunately draft well and keep some of these guys and extend them and keep them here and watch them develop. I think that's a big part of hopefully what will lead to the success for the Nets is watching these guys that have been here, whether it's Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwoody, Harris the third, Jared Allen and the list goes on, that have come up through the ranks that they are our culture drivers. They know what it's like to be here in this city and in Brooklyn and playing Barclays and stuff with them and it's been a pleasure to watch them develop and adding new pieces around the periphery. It hasn't been a case where all of a sudden this year we have to go and do a whole lot of moves and maneuvering and so forth. You could almost argue that our biggest free agent signing this year was Kevin Durant because he's finally back, which is terrific. Sean with KAD, with Kyrie Irving, Nets fans are exhilarated and ready for the season. For you, what are your goals for your two stars? Well, I think for those two guys specifically, we know why they came here. They've mentioned it multiple times. It's about legacy for them. So we're hoping that whatever we do this year on the court, they continue to build on. I mean, I think they have, you know, said from day one the reasons why they want to come here, do something special in Brooklyn. And but it's just a group. We know we're going to do this as a group. It's not going to be one or two people, you know, four people, five people. It's going to be a group. We're going to have to collaborate. We have to play together, play as a team. And also with the addition of, you know, our coaching staff here that has been there, seen that from all different walks of life, which is going to be terrific. It's been fun to watch this whole group try and gel and get together. Is there a player that you can envision that might be an X factor with this group that might not be getting as much attention right now as we get ready for the season? You know, it's tricky to say. I'd hate to pencil one or two people because I would have been totally wrong, you know, over the last four years when if we'd done the same thing then and said, oh, well, I expect Spencer Dinley to have a breakout. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bunch of guys that took on slightly different roles and really stepped up. I think, you know, a couple of guys in camp that people have been excited about, one would be Reggie Perry. I don't know how many minutes he's honestly going to get early in the season, but just to have a personality like that and a player like that in camp and I think the coaching staff can see where this young man could potentially be down the road, that's obviously very exciting. You know, I think we look at what's, what Karis did, you know, in the bubble and can he take another step up? Can he continue that? He's playing with such confidence in Orlando and the expectations now as he feels great and hey, can he continue to do that? I could say exactly the same thing with Spencer. And I think, you know, to be quite frank and honest, I think, you know, if you look at the year that Kyrie had, you know, only playing a handful of games, you know, his expectations, you know, he's worked diligently in the off season and I know he's expecting big things and just the dynamic of watching he and Kevin play together and the other guys not take a back seat because that's not what we need and it's not what they want either. They want everybody engaged and playing their roles. Unfortunately, as we know, we're starting this season without fans in the stands in Brooklyn. What would your message be to the fans out there watching on the Yes Network, getting ready for the 2021 season? Yeah, I mean, honestly, hang in there. We hear you loud and clear and there hasn't been a day that, you know, I don't think myself or anybody else walks these streets and is around where we haven't had messages of whether it's good luck or hanging in there. We'll be back. We can't wait to get into Barclays and I think the fans know how much, you know, they mean to us and we love them. It's an incredible group and incredible borough and hopefully sooner rather than later, everybody gets to come back in and do it safely and experience what should be, you know, a very thrilling and a very exciting, you know, next couple of years. Sean, best of luck. Thanks, Sean. I appreciate you too.