“Please Go Grab Him”: Playoffs Walkout Left Carmelo Anthony Panicking as Ex-Teammate Fumed Over George Karl’s Broken Promise [2004]

2013 Coach of the Year George Karl played an important role in putting the Denver Nuggets on the map. Alongside Carmelo Anthony, Karl took the Nuggets to the playoffs for 5 straight seasons, which shows how crucial he was for the team. He had a great relationship with his players, but the one time he didn’t stick to his promise, Anthony’s former teammate decided to quit a playoff game halfway through. In a newly released YouTube podcast, Anthony threw light into an infamous locker situation in 2006, which triggered his ex-teammate Kenyon Martin Sr. to leave the arena.

Martin was one of the best two-way players back in the 2000s, but he had a bit of trouble controlling his anger. Anthony was sharing a few moments where Martin lost his cool. One of them was his exit during the halftime of a playoff game against the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Anthony shared, “It was a situation when we was playing the Clippers in the playoffs, with George Karl, with the coach, with the Nuggets…George promised him[Martin], you know, ‘Just sit out, come back to playoffs. First game we gonna give you a couple minutes. See where you at.'” Martin just came off a knee tendinitis injury and Karl was hesitant to play him for a longer time, that too in the playoffs. 

However, Martin was heated about it. Anthony continued, “Second game…Kevon loses it…It’s f****** halftime. He goes in the back and loses it. He curses everybody out, coaches, players, anybody that got something to say…Get his s*** and leave. It’s halftime. He’s leaving. I said, ‘This is serious’, but I seen it on the sideline brewing…It was a reason to be tight…I said, ‘Please go grab him, please go grab this guy.'” 

It was too late. Kenyon Martin played a total of 7 minutes in game 2. In game 1, he played 27 minutes, but wasn’t too efficient, as he had only 9 points and 8 rebounds. Anyhow, he faced a severe punishment for leaving the game during halftime. 

What was the aftermath that Kenyon Martin faced? 

George Karl and the Nuggets decided to suspend Martin indefinitely for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Nuggets not only lost game 2 but also the entire series to the Clippers. They folded 4-1, and Martin did not play after game 2 in the 2006 playoffs. Leaving the game halfway was not the only thing that pushed Karl to suspend the 2004 All-Star. There were more reasons, which he shared in the post-game interview. 

According to ESPN, George Karl said, “It is hard for me to visualize him actually playing 20 minutes of basketball again because he doesn’t participate in practice very often. He just wants to play in the games…That philosophically doesn’t make any sense to me.” Anthony believes there was a reason for Martin to be frustrated, but also at the same time, he knows his ex-teammate went beyond the line.