Kenyon pulls no punches

Kenyon Martin spent his entire NBA career as one of the league’s most outspoken players, and nothing has changed in retirement.

The former NBA All-Star dished out details of the most brutal fights he witnessed and participated in to FOX’s Chris Broussard on the “In The Zone” podcast. During the interview, Martin explained how many of the most gruesome fights came behind closed doors at practices.

“I’ve seen fights, been a part of fights in practice, fights in the locker room after the game,” said Martin, taken No.1 overall by the Nets in the 2000 NBA Draft. “I saw Kendall Gill choke out Jim Mcllvaine in practice ... Jim Mcllvaine was wild. He elbowed him one day in practice, elbowed him a couple of times, and Kendall got fed up. Grabbed him, put him to the ground, man, and choked him like, ‘I’ll kill you!’ ”

And Gill’s antics weren’t the only choke holds Martin witnessed during his time in the league.

While with the Nuggets, the 15year veteran watched Nene Hilario grab point guard Steve Blake by the throat as Blake returned punches.

“[Nene] grabbed this man by his throat and picked him up,” Martin said. “Nene’s got them big ol’ hands, man. Picked that man up. Steve Blake was punching him.”

Martin, though, wasn’t immune to fights himself as he shared with Broussard how a gruesome battle with Nene started.

The brawl came during Martin’s first year in Denver during an open gym and had built up because of his belief that Nene, a Nuggets starter at the time, was avoiding him.

“So I come to the gym late one day, and he’s playing,” Martin said. “I guard him, we’re going back and forth. We ain’t really playing basketball, it’s getting a little chippy. Physical, I don’t mind. But I stopped play a few times.

“... I try to box him out, he’s running with his forearm at my head. I stand him up, hit him in his chest, boom. He threw his hands up and I turned everything into him. Hips, everything, hook. He grabbed his eye, he was bleeding, his eyeball was fluttering like it was moving. Grabbed his eye, it was bleeding, and he walked off.”