Nets’ Wonder Woman is Pinay

BROOKLYN – There’s no full-blooded Filipino or Filipina working with any NBA team in a high-level front office position other than Marivic Trajano Lardizabal who is the Brooklyn Nets’ manager of basketball operations and executive assistant to the general manager. She’s not widely known in the Fil-Am community, preferring to keep a low-profile and over the radar. But Lardizabal is definitely a hotshot, the Wonder Woman who makes things happen for the Nets in terms of logistics.

“I just do my job as hard as I can,” said Lardizabal. “I’ve been involved in basketball now for over 15 years. With the Nets, I take care of operations relating to the team’s transportation, accommodations, arrangements and everything under the sun. That means I’m involved in the draft, summer league, summer camp, preseason, regular season and playoffs. What I enjoy about our organization is we work like a family, that’s how our owner (Mikhail Prokhorov) and management (general manager Billy King) want it. I feel so blessed that I’m doing this. It’s a dream job. Whenever guys like KG (Kevin Garnett) come up to me and say, ‘Hi, Marivic, how are you,’ it means you’re appreciated.”

Lardizabal was with the Nets organization when it moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn so that she is now part of history in the transformation. “I’m the only Filipina or Filipino in the Nets franchise,” she said. “So when it was reported that Andray (Blatche) may play for the Philippines in the FIBA World Cup in Spain, I was so excited. Andray told me we’re now related. I wish I could go to Spain and cheer for our national team and Andray but I still don’t know what my schedule will look like in August and September. I think it’s a source of pride for all Filipinos that one of our Nets may play for the Philippines.”

Basketball was not in Lardizabal’s consciousness when she migrated to the US with her parents Generoso of Bulacan and Nimia Imperial of Albay over 30 years ago. In Manila, she went to Holy Spirit for elementary and St. Paul’s for high school. Lardizabal took up a business course at North Dakota State then studied fashion design in Los Angeles for two years. She then worked in Paris before moving back to Los Angeles, eventually landing a job in real estate development.

Lardizabal was introduced to basketball by her close friend and Los Angeles fashion design classmate Shelly Brown whose husband Larry is a well-travelled NBA coach. When Brown was the Los Angeles Clippers coach, Lardizabal did part-time work as his executive assistant. Then, she used to fly to Indiana to assist Brown on a needs basis when he became the Pacers coach. It was during Brown’s stint at Indiana where Lardizabal met team president Donnie Walsh. Brown later moved to Philadelphia where Lardizabal met King who was the Sixers’ general manager. Brown subsequently joined the Detroit Pistons, took Lardizabal along then became the New York coach and Lardizabal was employed by the Knicks as his executive assistant. Walsh also moved to New York as president. When Brown left the Knicks, Lardizabal was retained by Walsh and worked with new coach Isiah Thomas. King joined the Nets as general manager in 2010 and brought in Lardizabal to work with the franchise.

Lardizabal said she owes her progress in basketball to so many people who’ve helped her grow as a career executive. One of them is Walsh. “I call him St. Walsh because he’s so good, so nice, so considerate,” she said. “I also owe my life to the players I’ve worked with. It’s a great feeling when I see players I was with in previous teams and they still remember me and give me a big hug like Amar’e (Stoudemire) who lifted me off my feet when I bumped him before the Nets game.” Another is King who gave her a big break with the Nets.

Lardizabal said she believes in the adage “good things happen to good people.” “Doing good means working hard in your job,” she said. “I respect everyone in our organization and I limit myself to what I’m supposed to do. I don’t overstep my authority. I respect protocols and that’s important for teamwork.”

Lardizabal now lives in a riverside home near Hoboken, New Jersey, with husband Rey whom she met in the US. Rey is involved in retail and operates a store in SoHo with international connections. Lardizabal’s brother and sister live in the US and another sister Princess remains in Manila with her husband Benjie Anicete. Her parents, both retired, reside in Los Angeles.

Last year, Lardizabal went back to Manila for a three-day visit to attend a family reunion. She hadn’t been back in over 20 years but couldn’t stay longer because of her work commitments with the Nets. Asked if she could find time to fly to Manila and share her experience in managing a pro basketball team with PBA officials, Lardizabal said she’s not used to public speaking. But if there’s interest to listen to what she has learned in her basketball odyssey, Lardizabal said it would be an honor. “It all depends on my Nets schedule,” she said. “We’ll be in Beijing and Shanghai for preseason games in October so that will entail a lot of preparations.”