Kenyon Martin didn’t hold back when reflecting on his time with the New Jersey Nets, shedding light on the missed championships, his abrupt exit, and the heated exchange with Alonzo Mourning.
The Nets reached back-to-back Finals in the early 2000s but fell short, and Martin insists the failures were not about effort. “We would have had a couple of championships down, no doubt,” he said, per Brandon “Scoop” Robinson, noting the team lacked a true center to contend with stars like Shaquille O’Neal.
Martin credited the Spurs’ Tim Duncan for New Jersey’s 2003 Finals defeat, adding, “He played his ass off. He put them on his back… But we definitely had an opportunity to win that.” The former No. 1 pick believes a few key moves could have delivered championship glory.
The circumstances surrounding Martin’s departure remain a sore spot. Despite earning All-Star recognition, he never received a contract offer from the new ownership under Bruce Ratner. “They didn’t even call me to offer me a contract,” Martin explained. “So I waited around and they never called.”
He sees a missed opportunity in what could have been a dominant pairing with Vince Carter. “Yes, without a doubt,” Martin said, reflecting on the potential for a championship if they had played together. “We were running, jumping, having fun, being athletic and he would fit right in with that.”
Martin also recounted his clash with veteran Alonzo Mourning during practice. The confrontation stemmed from differing attitudes toward shootarounds. “‘Zo got mad and go at me… I was like: ‘who the hell you talking about brah?’… ‘You gotta be worrying about your own mother fing kids and stop worrying about me,’” Martin recalled.
Despite the fiery exchange, Martin clarified he privately apologized to Mourning, noting, “What I had said was hurtful and so I apologized to him. That never got noted that I apologized to the man.”
