Former Belize Men’s National Basketball Team shooting guard American-Belizean Marlon Garnett is coaching the Charlotte Hornets Summer League Team

Published by [email protected] at July 10, 2023

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Posted: Monday, July 10, 2023. 6:53 pm CST.

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: American-Belizean Marlon ‘Money G’ Garnett is making a name for himself in US basketball circles. The once Belize Men’s Basketball Team shooting guard, according to a report by Berisford Codd, is an Assistant Coach for the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets and has been named the Head Coach for the Hornets Summer League Team for the California Classic and the NBA2K24 Summer League in Las Vegas.

Codd reported in social media that Garnett, who was born in the United States, holds dual American-Belizean citizenship, since his mother Beverly Stuart and his grandmother are born Belizeans. As such, Garnett, in his younger days, represented Belize as a member of Belize’s National Basketball Team. Along with teammates like Milton Palacio and Alex Carcamo, Garnett won the silver medal at the 2009 COCABA Tournament in Cancun losing the Final to homestanding Mexico in a controversial finish that saw the referee call a flagrant foul for a clean strip of Mexican star Horacio Lamas. Garnett scored ten three pointers that night. His total was a monstrous 43 points.

“Man, we in the building. We brought back the silver but it’s all good,” Garnett told 7 News Belize at the time.

Younger Belizeans might not know much about Garnett but the magnitude of his defense of the Belize basketball jersey was immense. The man defended Belize’s colours with pride and that says a whole lot.

“A sad ending for what had been a miraculous run, but the team remained dignified,” 7 News Belize’s Jules Vasquez reported in 2009 when the team returned from Cancun.

“And they were appreciated at home- that was apparent when they arrived at the Phillip Goldson International and they were greeted as heroes. Outside, the airport looked like a carnival as the motorcade got organized and the team was celebratory.”

“Man we in the building. We brought back the silver but it’s all good,” Garnett told 7 News Belize at the time.

And that representation was the catalyst for the construction of the Belize City Civic Center as it now stands.

Garnett was also part of the Belize team that gave a good fight in the qualifying process for the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

Garnett recalled the experience saying it meant a lot for him because of what it meant to his mother and his grandmother.

“I have a lot of great memories about that experience,” Garnett said.

“To be able to say I wore the jersey, got a chance to play and for her to watch, that brought a lot of joy to her and my resting grandmother, who passed some years back, who is Belizean as well. It just makes me feel good that I’m able to put a smile on her face representing the country.”

Garnett, whose Facebook Page sports a double flag of the United States and Belize, had his number 12 high school jersey retired last year at Los Angeles’ Hamilton High School.

As a shooting guard, Garnett was a star player at Santa Clara University, where he earned the West Coast Conference player of the year award in 1997.

He played in the NBA signing with the Boston Celtics in February 1999 as an undrafted free agent. He played 24 games for the Celtics, scoring 51 points, grabbing 21 rebounds, and dishing out 18 assists. He then continued his career in Europe playing in Spain, Italy and Croatia.

After retiring from active play, he joined the San Antonio Spurs for the 2015–16 NBA season as a video coordinator and a player development coordinator. He started coaching at the NBA level on July 27, 2016, when he became an assistant head coach and a player development coach for the Phoenix Suns. He moved up as the head coach for Suns’ team in the 2017 NBA Summer League before being promoted to a full-time assistant coach for the Suns in October 2017.

In May 2018, Garnett moved to the Atlanta Hawks as part of Lloyd Pierce’s coaching staff.

He joined the Charlotte Hornets in 2021. And he keeps on trucking.

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