Gil’s Arena can be really tense, with confrontations. However, Kenyon Martin’s latest off-script moment was a real-life trial of sorts. The 2004 NBA All-Star called out one of the production members on the set for disrespecting his speech impediment. Martin clarified upfront that he was not deliberately attacking or responding with bitterness. Instead, he turned it into a learning moment.
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Martin played a video of a person he called Suge calling him “stutter man.” The NBA legend has been open, saying that dealing with a speech impediment shaped his career. However, what hurt him was that someone he trusted went out of their way to disrespect him.
“This is what disloyalty and people who don’t respect you look like, people like him,” Martin said on Gil’s Arena on Tuesday. “Be careful who you invite into your home. Who you have around your loved ones, and your friends, and family. This is what you get. People like this. That talk about something that is near and dear to my heart.”
The segment was cut out of the podcast’s live stream. However, with such a large following, the clips went viral on social media almost immediately. This wasn’t about any random person disrespecting an innate condition. Martin expressed that he “had this person around my wife, my kids.”
That’s what really got to him. The production member knew how Martin felt about it. As recently as last year, the NBA legend spoke about how his speech impediment used to affect his school grades.
Wow... Kenyon Martin just pressed and put a Gil's Arena production member in his place for mocking his speech impediment
“Class participation weighs heavy in grading, and I wouldn’t open my mouth to read or talk in front of anyone,” Martin said.
Life didn’t come easy to Martin, and his mother, Lydia, worked two jobs to make ends meet in Dallas. While the speech impediment deeply affected K-Mart in his early school years, he eventually used those taunts and insults as fuel to become a better person and basketball player. So, there was no coming back from how he felt about the podcast crew member insulting him.
Kenyon Martin will not accept an apology
Suge, the person responsible for making these comments, tried to reason with Kenyon Martin. He recalled trying to apologize. Martin defused that argument by saying he shrugged it off because he felt it might not have been as insensitive. Martin found out after someone else sent him the video. This happened two weeks ago.
“I drew a line in the sand a long time ago with this,” Martin said. “There’s no apology ever that as an adult that I would accept for this. I came in here one day over at Gil’s house, and you walked up to me and tried to apologize out the blue. I blew you off because I didn’t know what you were talking about.”
Many felt a certain type of way about Martin choosing to address the issue during the stream. However, since the disrespect was public, the former No. 1 pick decided to respond with the same “energy.” His point in doing so was to take a stand for those who suffer like him but don’t have the platform to be heard.
You can have thoughts about how he dealt with the situation. But when it’s something as personal, there’s no right or wrong.
Kenyon Martin didn’t expect somebody close to him to demean his condition. Once that line was crossed, he didn’t even want to see Suge anymore.
