MarShon Brooks is already in full-steam mode in Milano after being one of the first to report and waiting for the official start of the season to come. In his very first days of his Italian experience he was accompanied by his mom, Darlyn, a former basketball player just like Aunt Denise, who’s now a WNBA and NCAA-sanctioned referee.
MILANO – “Three of four months ago I was in the process of figuring out which NBA team showed the most interest in me, I never throught about coming overseas. Now I’m excited”.
PLAYING STYLE – “I’m a talented player, I can score pretty easily, I’m a good offensive player but I know I get to work on strength, being stronger and bring this to the defensive side of the game”.
FAMILY – “Yes, I come from a basketball family. All the girls played the game, my grandmother, my mom and my aunt. The ball was put in my hands when I was 4 or 5 years old”.
THE NBA – “Playing for the Boston Celtics and for the Los Angeles Lakers was great. Those teams have such a rich historical tradition, the fan base is huge in Boston. In Los Angeles as well. It’s like playing with the eyes constantly over you every day. It was great”:
MIKE D’ANTONI – “He coached me with the Lakers. He’s an offensive guru, he like to run up and down the court, he likes a fastbreak offense. More than anything else he’s an easygoing guy, easy to deal with. Playing for him was a great experience”.
HIS GROWTH AS A PLAYER – “My junior year, my senior year of high school I had a growth spurts, I came from being 5-10 to 6-4, from shooting lay-ups to dunk the ball. And then at Providence I kept taking the steps necessary to become a professional player”.
52 POINTS VS NOTRE DAME – “It was a great night. In the beginning I struggled a lot, then I had a couple of open looks, I made a couple of free throws and the basket became bigger and bigger. I remember that during a time-out, with 10 minutes left in the game, we were down by 15, my coach told me to do something and I took the game over. It was a great feeling”.
THE KOBE BRYANT COMPARISON- “He’s a player I looked up to growing up and the comparisons were like the first step to fail. He’s a guy who experienced unbealivable success, winning five championships, the scoring crown, Mvp. To be compared to him is the best way to fail”.
NUMBER 2 – “My first number was 11. It was a special one for me because with number 11 I went to Providence. Over there, my teammate Geoff McDermott, who was a junior at the time, wore 11. I asked him for the number and he said “No way”. So I made one plus one equals two. With number 2 I went up to the NBA so it’s my number”.

WHAT DARLYN BROOKS HAS TO SAY
Darlyn, who’s MarShon Brooks as a guy?
“He’s great enthusiasm, he naturally cares about people. He’s something special inside, he always had this. People often complimented me for how he was raised, for how kind and special he’s”.
Is it true you were a better basketball player than him?
“Yes… and no. I say yes because when I played the game there was no three-point line. I use to say that with a three-point shot I’d have scored a lot more”.
Do you discuss his game?
“Yes we go over a lot of things. I like to nitpick the little things that often are not celebrated much. I know he can score because that’s natural to him, but I want to see him hustle, get rebounds. If he says he had 40 points I don’t blink because I know he’s capable to do that but I asked him how many rebounds did he take? How many assists did he has?”.
What about Milano?
“I think it’s a great opportunity. When we knew about Milano’s interest I understood immediately it was a great opportunity we couldn’t refuse”.