During an emotional discussion after the Nuggets lost their playoff series to the Los Angeles Clippers, Marcus Camby talked about the team making roster changes to include players who wanted to play in Denver.
Some four weeks later, Camby hasn’t changed his mind. But he hopes disgruntled forward Kenyon Martin isn’t part of the group that wanted to play elsewhere.
“I’d love to see Kenyon come back,” Camby said. “He’s one of the best power forwards in this game when healthy. He’s a valuable player to this team when he’s healthy. He battled knee injuries all season long, and I felt he got some unfair criticism.”
Martin was suspended for the final three games of the playoffs for conduct detrimental to the team, and his future with the Nuggets is uncertain.
Camby was at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday, but not to play basketball. He was there for the end-of-the-year celebration for students participating in Marcus’ Mentors program, which targets at-risk kids. Camby was the star of the show.
“It was great to come back to Denver after a couple of weeks and see my kids,” Camby said. “The best part of today was the $17,000-plus in scholarship money given out. I pride myself on giving something back, and this is important because it deals with education. It’s the offseason, and the kids like to see me here and that’s great.”
Seniors Matthew Baiyee- Cady, Shaquita Carter, Chanelle Pugh and E’vone Starks each received $5,000 scholarships. Camby donates approximately $30,000 each year to the program.
As for the Nuggets, Camby said everyone is in wait-and-see mode with the team’s general manager chair empty since the departure of Kiki Vandeweghe.
“It’s hard to make trades when you don’t have a GM to make trades,” Camby said. “We have a lot of issues we need to correct in the offseason, starting with management. I’m probably one of the few guys who hated to see Kiki go. He put us in position of being talked about as one of the better teams in the Western Conference.”
Camby said he hoped the team would improve its outside shooting and low-post scoring. He said Nene’s possible return could help the inside game.
“There was a lot of bickering and frustration,” Camby said. “We have to be more together as a team and find ways to fight back when we’re behind.”
Notes
The NBADL expansion Colorado 14ers will be affiliated with the Nuggets, the New Jersey Nets and the Toronto Raptors, with an announcement expected today.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
