Injured Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin initially paused when asked Wednesday to give his take on teammate J.R. Smith being benched for play detrimental to the team. As much as the 2004 NBA all-star was tempted to speak his mind – as he’s been known to do – he smiled for a second and decided to plead the Fifth.
“Unless you work for HBO or Showtime, I don’t need to say nothing,” Martin said. “I talked to my agent about it and he told me to keep my mouth shut.”
Welcome to the grand reopening of K-Mart.
Just a year ago, it was Martin who was benched after refusing to go back in the game following a halftime blowup with coach George Karl in Game 2 of a first-round road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The 6-foot-8, 240-pounder wasn’t expected to be back in a Nuggets uniform this season. And there were a lot of questions about whether he and Karl could coexist again.
Although there were rumors about Dallas, no NBA team made a strong run at Martin due to his hefty contract, attitude issues and knee concerns. Martin and Karl eventually patched things up before the season. But after just two games, Martin was out for the season due to microfracture surgery on his right knee.
While injured, his outlook on basketball and life seemed to change for the better.
He began to see things from a coaching perspective during countless hours sitting on the Nuggets’ bench. He began understanding Karl’s frustrations as coach. He was a player-coach, constantly in his teammates’ ears giving them tips. His strong love of the game of basketball got deeper as he watched helplessly when the Nuggets lost in the first round of the playoffs again.
“They played their (butt) off all year,” Martin said. “Too bad I couldn’t be out there with them. I’m a little sick that I couldn’t be involved with it. But that’s the nature of the business.”
Off the court, Martin became more involved in the business world by buying 23 acres of land to be used for residential and commercial use. The man from Dallas’ tough Oak Cliff neighborhood visited Denver-area schools to try to curb violence, including Montbello High School for an anti-gang violence assembly. And he is still a spokesperson for the March of Dimes and heavily involved with the American Institute for Stuttering.
Many fans just remember Martin’s scowl, tattoos and off-the-court drama. Most fans don’t know he understands the situation he’s made for himself and really doesn’t want to be a tough guy.
“If I go out, I’d rather be in a place where people are wearing suits because you know there will be some good people there,” Martin said.
Martin has said the best of him hasn’t been seen in a Nuggets uniform and he plans on showing it. Returning from microfracture surgeries on both knees successfully would be history-making, but he’s confident he can. While Martin is optimistic he could return earlier, Nuggets strength and conditioning coach Steve Hess said Saturday that he believes Martin could begin running again in late August and is cautiously optimistic that he’ll be completely ready for training camp in October.
Karl is now rooting for Martin and seems to miss his athleticism, defense, leadership and swagger. And if the Nuggets have to make roster changes to lower salary, Martin will be expected to pick up the slack since he will likely be around. In fact, Karl hopes to play Martin 2,000 minutes next season, which is 245 minutes more than what forward-center Nene played this season.
“I still think he has some months of rehab,” Karl said. “I think we want to work with him and get him to a place where he doesn’t have any health problems in the basketball business.
“He’s gone through two years of depression and whatever injury. It’s tough. Injuries make you feel like you’re worthless.”
It will be interesting to see what’s in store for K-Mart next season. It’s completely different now than it was a year ago. Martin needs the Nuggets and the Nuggets need Martin.
“Everybody is talking about contracts, guys and other people we try to re-sign,” Martin said. “Hopefully we’ll bring everybody back. We have a good thing going. Add me into the mix and it will be even better.”
Footnotes
Sacramento Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie is expected to address the team’s head-coaching opening and coaching staff situation after returning from a scouting trip in Europe this week. Kings assistant Scott Brooks, an ex-Nuggets assistant, is expected to be a candidate. … Keep an eye on the Colorado 14ers’ Pooh Jeter as an affordable third point-guard candidate for the Nuggets next season. The rumor is the Nuggets have already invited the 5-foot-11, 175-pound rookie to their minicamp in mid-June and might offer a spot on their summer-league team. Jeter averaged 14.4 points and a league-best 7.1 assists for the NBADL team, which averaged a league-best 112.5 points.
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
