Kenyon Martin wakes up every day on the other side of the world, 12-14 hours ahead of where he used to rest his body after a long practice or tough, physical game. The ex-Net and Denver Nugget free agent power forward didn't want to work out alone or play in celebrity games during the lockout. Martin chose a less-traveled path: He took his talents to the Far East and signed with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, knowing he probably won't see domestic soil until the spring.
"I wasn't going to just sit around and twiddle my thumbs," Martin said over the phone from China. "Somebody wanted me to come and play basketball. The opportunity presented itself, so I jumped at it. I've got a lot of basketball still to play. Now is included in that."
Martin has been living in Urumqi, in northwest China, for about a month. He hasn't tried learning the language yet and isn't worried about his aggressive style of play translating in conservative China when the season starts this month. His tattoos, though, are a topic of conversation, as well as his decision to join the Chinese Basketball Association, which wouldn't give NBA players out clauses in their contracts. A report indicated J.R. Smith and Wilson Chandler, fellow Nugget free agents who signed in China, might be able to leave when the lockout ends — the way Nets guard Deron Williams and other NBA players in Europe can. But Martin is in China until March or April, depending on how deep Xinjiang goes in the playoffs.
Martin accepted those terms, along with a reported $2.7 million salary after taxes because at 33 and after missing 192 games over the past six seasons, he just wants to play. "I had to be open-minded and be a grown man about the situation," said the former Closter resident. "I'm not the first person to up and leave. I'm not going to be the last. I missed the beginning of last year with knee surgery, and it was time for me to get started again. It's about playing basketball at this point. I think I do that pretty well. I was getting that itch again."
Martin's new agent, Teaneck native Andy Miller, scratched that itch by getting a deal that's loaded with extras on and off the court. The team gave Martin a translator who's with him everywhere, a driver and a personal chef to make his favorite meals. Martin lives in a big home with personal assistant Brad Morris, another Teaneck product. Ex-Rutgers guard Quincy Douby and assistant coach Casey Owens are in another wing of the house.
The Flying Tigers reached the league finals the past three years "with no fundamentals," Martin said. They have an American head coach in Bob Donewald and ex-NBA players Douby and Mengke Bateer. Martin, a career 13.5-point scorer, was brought over to be the missing piece of the championship puzzle, and he'll do some things he wasn't asked to do much in the States.
"I get the ball a little more out here," Martin said. "They're looking for me and screening for me. It gives him a chance to be marketed and looked at differently than the conventional run-of-the-mill basketball player, who's been labeled as a certain categorical type of player: a high-energy guy, a defensive guy, a glue guy, a team guy," Miller said. "This allows him to be a primary scorer, allows him to show he has more left in the tank than maybe most would give him the benefit of the doubt [for], and it allowed him to get out of the minutia of what's going on right now."
Martin expects to rejoin the NBA in time to help a playoff team. First, he wants to help his new team on the other side of the world. "The first few practices my teammates were trying to force me the ball, turning the ball over trying to make sure I got touches," Martin said. "I told them, 'I ain't no different than you all. I'm here trying to win just like you all.' I wasn't just a name. I'm here to play basketball."
BY AL IANNAZZONE