Former NBA forward Kenyon Martin says that he would have easily knocked out Miami Heat legend Alonzo Mourning when telling a story of a fight that he and the Hall of Fame center got into during a practice during their time with the New Jersey Nets.
Martin and Richard Jefferson explained that the team was doing an offensive rebounding drill. Players had to run every time they gave up an offensive rebound. Jefferson was also a part of the Nets team with Martin and Mourning.
Jefferson shared that Martin was talking “the most s—” and that Mourning said something to Martin that led to the two getting into a spat.
“I saw your fight with L.J. (Larry Johnson),” Martin said. “You in trouble if they let you go ’cause I’m a big, listen, I’ma knock you the f— up they let you go.”
Martin then made fun of the way that Mourning swung at Johnson.
Mourning infamously fought Johnson during a playoff game, and Martin wasn’t too impressed with the big man’s fighting acumen.
Jefferson shared that he learned not to mess with Martin after seeing the forward go after a legend like Mourning.
“I’ve never seen somebody look so calmly at f—— Alonzo Mourning big a– being held back by three people trying to come at him,” Jefferson said. “And this motherf—– didn’t take a step back. He’s like, ‘Let him go.’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I ain’t f—— with Kenyon no more. He looking for a fight.’”
In a previous interview, Martin revealed one of the things he said to Mourning, taking a shot at the big man’s kidney disease that kept him out of the entire 2002-03 season.
“My exact words was, ‘You need to worry about your motherf——- kidney before worrying about me.’ He didn’t like that too much,” Martin said during an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.
Mourning originally was diagnosed with the kidney disease after the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
It limited the seven-time All-Star to just 13 games during the 2000-01 season before he played 75 games in the 2001-02 season. Unfortunately, a setback then caused Mourning to miss an entire season in the middle of his career.
Martin certainly didn’t back down during his time with the Nets — or in his NBA career. That’s a major reason why he lasted for 15 seasons in the NBA playing for the Nets, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks.
While Martin and Mourning didn’t end up coming to blows during the altercation, the former No. 1 overall pick clearly thinks he would have gotten the best of the Heat legend.