Nuggets coach George Karl walked up to oft-injured forward Kenyon Martin at halftime of a 109-107 loss to New York on Wednesday night and asked him if he would ever have any good luck. Martin didn’t answer.
A taped and ready-to-play Martin learned about an hour before tipoff that Dr. Steve Traina wanted to evaluate his right knee. MRI results revealed that Martin would need arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies in that knee. A date for the 6-foot-9, 240-pounder’s surgery has not been set and no one is sure how long he will be out.
“Got to get it done. Got to get it cleaned out,” a solemn Martin said after the game. “It’s frustrating. I don’t know what to say. I worked my (butt) off so I wouldn’t have to go through nothing like this.”
Martin had chronic right knee pain for 2-3 days. But he isn’t certain how the injury occurred.
“That’s the most frustrating thing,” Martin said. “I have no clue how I did it or what day I did it,” Martin said.
Martin’s knee woes in a Nuggets uniform began early.
The 2004 all-star forward signed a seven-year, $90 million contract in the offseason two years ago. He said at the end of the 2004-05 season that he had been hampered by his left knee all season. The third-year Nugget had microfracture surgery on the knee in the summer of 2005. He missed 22 games to left knee injuries last season.
“I need something,” Martin said. “Rabbit’s foot, something. I have no idea at this point what Kenyon needs to do.”
The Nuggets started forward Eduardo Najera in place of Martin. Karl said replacing him in the starting lineup would be based on matchups.
Najera had 12 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes. Another potential starter, Nene, struggled, scoring five points on 2-of-8 shooting and had five turnovers in 19 minutes. Forward Joe Smith had seven points and three rebounds off the bench in his Nuggets debut.
“I hope he can get well real soon,” Reggie Evans said. “He’s kind of been going through a lot lately since he’s been here in Denver with injuries. All I can do is to pray for him so he can get better real soon.”
