It appears bad blood is still brewing between two former premier NBA hoopers.
Last week, Kenyon Martin did an interview with The Vertical where he discussed his time playing for the then-New Jersey Nets during the 2004 NBA season—when they were one of the hottest tickets in town. As the interview proceeded, Martin gave a vivid play-by-play flashback when he was guarding Tim Thomas during a playoff match-up against the New York Knicks. Thomas caught Martin sleeping on defense by making a cut towards the basket, but was fouled hard by his teammate, former Net Jason Collins. The injury led to Thomas being carried out onto a stretcher and that’s when the trash talking began. After being discharged from the hospital, Thomas did an interview with New York reporters and told them Martin was “fugazi.” Thomas got word of Martin’s version and believed it was totally false.
A former 7th overall pick of the 1997 NBA Draft, Thomas responded to Martin’s interview with a guest appearance on Scoop B radio, to explain his side of the incident. His version includes him slapping Martin with $1500 in a nightclub and now challenging him to a boxing match in a ring he says he can get Floyd Mayweather to set up. Check out the audio clip below.
(Brandon Robinson & Scoop B radio)
As old of an incident as this is, let’s hope things don’t escalate into something unnecessary here. After all, Thomas did give credit of how hard of a competitive player Martin was. True hoop fans can attest to this and it’s only right they squash the beef with some good ol’ fashioned street ball, a 1-on-1 game. The winner should then donate the funds to their charity of choosing.
