Kiwi NBA pioneer Sean Marks has become one of the most high-profile general managers in North American sport - mainly due to a frustrating and well-documented off-season that saw his job called into question.
But the former Tall Black is now looking forward to the season getting underway.
As the Brooklyn Nets boss, he's had a tumultuous few months, with his superstar payer requesting a trade, another key player unable to play due to his stance on COVID-19 vaccines and a new star sidelined with injury.
This has been a time of reflection for him.
"It's been an opportunity to really look in the mirror and debrief in some form or fashion," he tells Newshub from Nets HQ.
While it's far from a Snow White situation, Marks has managed to keep one of the fairest of them all.
After an off-season that saw Kevin Durant request a trade, Marks somehow still has his superstar.
"I think, at the end of the day, other teams realised they don't have the assets to give up to acquire arguably the top one-two-three player in the world, who's on a contract for four years," he said. "If they'd had to give away their treasure chest, their goals may be reduced."
Once muddied by Durant's 'me or Marks' demand, the waters are now cleared, although the Kiwi admits "there was definitely a nice bottle of red" involved in clearing the air.
"We were with our owner, Joe Tsai, who was amazing throughout this whole summer," said Marks. "It was just about us being honest with each other - all of us sitting in a room, looking
at each other in the face.
"Not a lot of words needed to be said."
That hasn't been Marks' only concern.
Guard Kyrie Irving also looked to potentially move on, after a season when his anti-vax stance sawy him play just 29 games.
While Marks acquired guard Ben Simmons in a blockbuster trade that saw a disgruntled James Harden depart, the Aussie didn't suit up for the Nets due to ongoing back issues.
The GM is adamant he'll have all three, when the season tips-off later this month.
"I'd love to see what these guys can do as a group and to be honest, no-one wants that more than them," he said. "They want to see what it looks like."
The adversity of the last year also adds to the determination to win, but that won't mean a thing, if Marks can't deliver a ring.
"I'd be probably crazy to think it doesn't, but I try not to focus on it’s now or never," he said. "We have to do it, because then you can be caught up in making some rash decisions, but we know where our window is, and it is getting smaller and smaller and smaller, so for us, it is now.
"We owe it to each other and the players, the organisation, the borough of Brooklyn. We’re up for the challenge, I’m not worried about that."
The time for contemplating is over, the time for winning is now.
