 New Orleans 6-foot-10 center Sean Marks will be providing periodic blog updates this season. Now in his 10th season, the 33-year-old Marks was the first native of New Zealand to play in the NBA. Marks compiled the most productive season of his NBA career in 2008-09, his first campaign with the Hornets. BACK IN NEW ORLEANS Hi Hornets fans, just want to let you all know how excited I am to be back in the Crescent City and also to be blogging throughout the upcoming season. I was thrilled to hear that I would be getting the opportunity to come back to New Orleans after a great experience last season. I had a great summer back in California, where my family and I make our offseason home, however as we all know it was a little longer than we would have all liked. Speaking for all the returning players, guys are excited to get back on the court and get the lingering bad taste of last season’s finish out of our mouths. During these periodic blogs I hope to give you a little insight on life as a Hornet both on the road and at home. I’ve been eager to relocate my family down south in order to get settled in as soon as possible. Relocating and uprooting family members is never an easy thing, however it is something that comes with the nature of this job. Last year was difficult at times due to the fact that my family was unable to move out to New Orleans, since my wife was forced to have back surgery. It was also tough to play Daddy from across the country. I can imagine that it was probably a little confusing for the kids too. One such story sums this up: On my return to California for the summer and being reunited with the family, on one occasion where I was telling my youngest son to not do this or that, he approached me a few minutes later and asked “if I could go back to my house in New Orleans.” I could only laugh and give him a big hug after his innocent remark. My wife continues to let me know she could have never imagined how welcoming and generous “New Orleanians” are, from our new neighbors to other parents and teachers at our boys’ school. I have to remind her that this is just down south hospitality, something I felt during my first year here. As my two boys established friends and became comfortable with their schools in California, it was a difficult decision to make the move, however I was told at a point last season by Anita Scott that “home is where Daddy is” and that was the way the Scott family managed it through Coach Scott’s playing days. What she said was something I took to heart and made a lot of sense. On the other side of things I’m glad that I have my boys here with me, since they thoroughly enjoy going to games and yelling and screaming with the rest of the Hornet faithful. On that note I will sign off and catch you all a little later. Cheers. |
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