How exactly is that Rasheed Wallace — with two years out of the league and questionable conditioning — found gainful NBA employment while Kenyon Martin (above) remains a free agent? Perhaps it has more than a little to do with the latter being (ahem) lightly regarded by some executives and players around the league? And that’s before anyone asks Tim Thomas. A humbled Martin tells Yahoo Sports’ Marc J. Spears, “I understand I’m not bigger than the game.”
“There is a notion about me that is not accurate at all – I don’t know who started it or where it came from – that people can’t control me,” Martin told Yahoo! Sports. “I don’t understand. Have I had my issues like a lot of other people? Yeah. But I’m getting back that people think they can’t control me, that if I don’t play I’m going to explode, or I can turn a locker room.
“In 12 years there was not one day where I told one guy to dislike anybody. If you ask guys who I’ve played with that know me, they know what it is and know I’m about winning basketball games and competing.”
“If someone calls me tomorrow, I don’t care who it is, whether it’s losing or winning at this point,” Martin said. “If someone calls me tomorrow and wants me to come in, I’m going. Guys are going down and [teams] are like, ‘Well, we are going to stick with what we got.’ I’m like, ‘Really?’ I started questioning myself, ‘Am I that bad of a guy?’ “