Kenyon Martin

Kenyon Martin ( born December 30, 1977 in Saginaw, Michigan ) is an American professional basketball player who is currently with the New York Knicks under contract. He is 2.06 meters tall and weighs 109 kg. These values ​​allow him to fill the power forward position in his team. In the U.S. media, Kenyon Martin is also often referred to as K -Mart.

Play

Martins size of 2.06 meters makes him indeed to be an NBA power forward compatible. But not this enough to play in the playoffs against other teams with bigger wingers at eye level. Martin is like this physical deficit largely by a high degree of aggressiveness and bounce. So Kenyon Martin is one of the best defenders and spectacular Dunkern his position. Again and again, from injuries resulting from this physically hard Spielweiese thrown back, K -Mart is again forced to suspend games or not to maximize his physical abilities. Martin's aggressiveness in the game gave him in the NBA next to the reputation of a bully already several match suspensions. Most recently, he had to pause involuntarily due to a fight with the player Corey Maggette of the Los Angeles Clippers four games. Since Martin has relied mainly at the beginning of his career mainly on his physical superiority over other players, suffered from other aspects of his game. His weakness in litters from the middle distance make it easy ausrechenbar for defending opponent. Its relatively good career - throw percentage stems mainly from numerous dunks and easy basket stackers, served by his teammates. His play on the edge of the zone has been neglected. Instead, as usual, for his position to play with his back to the basket, Martin is looking at a quick pace vorbeizustürmen of misconduct. But it is precisely his injuries hamper him such a movement.

Professional career

From the New Jersey Nets pulled the first player of the draft in 2000, Kenyon Martin spent the first four years of his career at the U.S. East Coast. During this time he was able to increase its values ​​continuously at points, rebounds and minutes. In 2001 he All- Rookie First Team was nominated for his performance in the first year as a pro in the NBA. Starting this year, Jason Kidd stood him as point guard to the side, which made a spectacular duet with K -Mart. In the 2001/2002 season, the New Jersey Nets reached for the first time with Kenyon Martin the playoffs. 2002 and 2003 before they came to the NBA Finals, but where they failed only to the Los Angeles Lakers, then to the San Antonio Spurs.

In the 2003/2004 season, the Nets failed for the first time in two seasons in the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. This season, Martin had his - statistically speaking - best year ( Regular season: 16.7 points, 9.5 rebounds in 35 minutes per game ). 2004 was Martin's contract with the Nets from.

With its pretty respectable statistics from the 2003/2004 season he moved to the Denver Nuggets, who sought an athletic, relatively young power forward for their fast-paced game. Kenyon Martin signed a maximum contract, which was doped total to more than $ 90 million over 6, optional 7 years. Martin then took in Denver the position of the starting power forwards, you what was absolutely necessary only by the amount of his salary. But his contract could not change the fact that he had to come to terms with a system with multiple points collectors in Denver. In the first year his scores decreased tendentious in points and rebounds. The Nuggets failed in the playoffs in 2005 to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round 1:4.

The next season 2005/2006 did not improve. Martins values ​​were not as bad as since its season as a rookie. In 2006, eliminated the Nuggets in the first round, against the Los Angeles Clippers with 1:4. In addition to the deficiencies in the field Martin left his slip of the field back into the criticism. They suspended him even for the last game of the series with the Clippers. In the offseason they wanted to be rid of him. However, a trade with another team would not work, even if the Nuggets made ​​a lot of different offers. No one wanted to K -Mart really have, especially because his contract was too expensive.

In the offseason, but he then reconciled with coach George Karl and this gave him another chance. In the 2006/2007 season he put the same in the first two games on good statistics and get him in points and rebounds in both games almost double digits in the cut. Then the unthinkable: Kenyon was injured in the game against the Timberwolves difficult, because it turned out shortly thereafter that he had suffered a cruciate ligament injury. It should have been his last game of the season and the Nuggets had to fight for the third time in the third year in a row with a player who will miss the entire season. Such a thing is you now have lived in Denver.

In the new season, but K -Mart wants to attack full again. On several press conferences, he said: "I'll be better than ever! "

Martin remained until the summer of 2011 when the Nuggets. Due to a lockout and the resulting possible loss of the NBA season, and the fact that Martin was a free agent, he decided to move to China with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers. Martin signed on 21 September 2011, a one-year contract, with no opt-out, with the Flying Tigers and was the highest-paid foreigners in the history of Chinese basketball. His contract was terminated shortly before the start of the NBA season 2011/12. The resolution was based on family problems. Martin then returned to the U.S. and signed in February 2012 a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers and was on 8 February 2012 his debut for the Clippers.

At the beginning of the 2012/13 season, there were no offers for Martin by other team, so he remained vertragslos first. On February 21, 2013 Martin signed a ten-day contract with the New York Knicks.