It's that 10% that officially says when to begin marketing. The marketing team still get their goals from someone above them. Pleasing the stock holders is ALWAYS a priority, because they're the ones who invest in the company. As for the NBA, they may have a drop dead date for Take Two to release a basketball game, but they would have very little influence on the marketing of the game, because... it's not their product. They made their money from selling the NBA license and any possible royalties.
Point blank, the JOB of the marketing team is to sell the product AFTER they get the green light. I can't think of any scenario why a marketing team would have the information AND permission to market a product, but they do nothing. None. I have worked for companies where I knew about new products 3-6 MONTHS before it was marketed to the customer base, but I had to sit on it due to training, confidentiality contracts/clauses, beta feedback, etc.
What kills me about this whole stupid situation is that 2K Sports HAVE been releasing information about the game. Period. Have people tell it, the only thing we know is that there's going to be a NBA 2K17 and that's it. Let's be real, players are more upset about WHAT information was given instead of lack of information.