Basketball: Tall Black still on his Marks

Sean Marks

Reports of Sean Marks' retirement from the Tall Blacks are an exaggeration, according to Marks and national coach Tab Baldwin.

New Zealand's sole NBA player has stood down from international basketball this year but hasn't yet decided to hang up his spurs for good. There's still the lure of next year's world championships in Japan in August, for which New Zealand has already qualified.

The Texas-based 29-year-old sent Baldwin and Tall Blacks team-mates an email saying he wasn't available this year as he was reviewing his career plans. He told the Herald on Sunday: "I am in the middle of the NBA finals right now and retiring or playing for NZ is far from my mind. I can address those questions much later this summer."

Marks hasn't played for the San Antonio Spurs in the finals but is in line to win an NBA championship ring this week if his team can defeat defending champions Detroit Pistons in the best-of-seven series, which is locked at 2-2.

It's uncertain who Marks will play for next season. The North Shore native has promised to eventually return for one final season with North Harbour Heat.

"Sean's in a semi-difficult period right now," said Baldwin, who coaches Turkish club Banvit. "He's got a second baby on the way and hasn't played as much as he'd have liked.

"We're just waiting to see what he decides he can do. We think Sean has a lot of basketball left in him. But he's looking at his entire life and career. We're in a holding pattern."

The aggressive 2.08m forward excelled during the Tall Blacks' 2000 and 2004 Olympic campaigns but is best remembered for a scratched eye that put him out two games into the 2002 world championships in Indianapolis, where New Zealand came fourth.

Some Tall Blacks, including captain Pero Cameron, believed Marks' international days were over. "It's really sad if he retires. He gave a lot for NZ ball," Cameron said. "He's hugely respected. We all grew up together and when you look at how far he went - all the way to the NBA - it's pretty exceptional."

Baldwin said he wouldn't pressure Marks. "It's got to be right for him. I'm not one of those guys who'll try to make some motivational speech to change someone's mind.

"You've got to be 100 per cent into playing. Sean's not going to turn his back on being a Tall Black unless he's got a bloody good reason."

Baldwin has been in New Zealand for the birth of his third child - a boy, Wyatt, born on Wednesday in Auckland - but hopes to return to Turkey with Cameron, too.

"I'm real keen on signing him," said Baldwin. "The indication is he's keen to get into Europe. It's really in the hands of my management and his agent."

Cameron's fitness has been a big issue but Baldwin wasn't concerned. "We can build a team around him. My trust in him is pretty absolute. I believe in Pero. I don't believe that his fitness has been the best but right now he's in pretty good nick. We'll get him in better shape."

Cameron, who played in the Waikato Titans' 58-61 loss to the Auckland Stars on Friday night, said even if he signed a deal he wouldn't announce it. Instead the 130kg, 6ft 6in basketballer would attempt to slip out of the country unnoticed.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY