Former Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin joined the Vertical podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski to reflect on his upbringing and 15-year NBA career, which featured stops in New Jersey, Denver, and more along the way.
During his time in Denver, Martin teamed with Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to lead the Nuggets to the 2009 Western Conference Finals. It’s the closest the Nuggets have been to a championship and the finals since they drafted Anthony No. 3 overall in 2003.
Martin was candid with Woj, sharing stories about his childhood, taking a greyhound from his hometown in Dallas to the ABCD tournament in New Jersey, then the hottest recruiting event of the summer for high school basketball, and nearly coming to blows with former NBA player Tim Thomas at a Dallas nightclub.
Martin also managed to touch on his seven years in Denver.
On Billups, Anthony, and the Nuggets:
“Going to Denver, it could have went one of two ways for me. I went there and took a backseat to Melo on the court – I could have taken another approach. I’m the man around here, we’re going to do it this way, but I kind of went – I’m gonna fit into their scheme, the way they play, stuff like that. But Chauncey calmed everything down. Melo needs a strong [minded] point guard and I think Chauncey brought that to the table. Chauncey knew time, score situations, knew where our scoring was coming from, so he got everyone else involved. First three quarters and then fourth quarter, 15 [Carmelo] you gonna do your thing. Every other year up to that was Melo first quarter, Melo second quarter, Melo third quarter Melo fourth quarter, and no one else got into rhythm.”
“In my opinion he needs a strong-minded point guard in order to run the team and get him shots when he needs them and get other guys shots when they need them, and I think thats what Chauncey brought to the table.”
On almost making it back to the finals with the Nuggets after making it twice in a row with the Nets:
“And again we on the doorstep, a couple inbounds plays away from maybe making it to the finals again. It was a learning situation in Denver year in year out. We had great pieces, we had a lot a lot of talent but we never were a team. That’s the thing, we had a lot of individual talent. Year in year out they kept putting pieces around and taking pieces away, but team? We never achieved that cohesiveness on the court.”
On dealing with two microfracture knee surgeries and working with Nuggets strength and conditioning coach Steve Hess:
“It’s the honest to god truth. When you’re dealing with certain things on the summer and you really don’t know the people with the right recourses to do the certain things, not to knock the Nuggets, but I spent the majority of my career there. I was there seven years, and for me the medical staff at the time, besides Steve Hess, wasn’t the best. And the proof is there, it’s gotten a lot better now from what I’m hearing.”
“The things I was going through with my knees and things like that, I don’t feel personally that I got the help besides Steve Hess that I needed.”
After Knicks forward Tim Thomas was fouled hard by Nets big man Jason Collins, Thomas responded by accusing Collins of a dirty foul and called Martin a “fugazi.” Martin then plastered the back page of the New York Daily News on his shirt the next day at practice. Credit: Andrew Savulich
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He was a warrior, but injuries kept him frustrated. His being relatively healthy was a big part of the reason for the Nuggets success in 2009.
I sense that he’s wrong for pointing fingers at the Nuggets for his health problems. I can recall that he had a hard time accepting that he wasn’t starting when he wasn’t healthy enough to practice. But he was great in the trenches when healthy.