A few years ago I shot this image of NBA player Kenyon Martin during a practice when he was a member of the New Jersey Nets. Martin is considered a ‘bad boy’ player, similar to the members of the Detroit Pistons of the 80’s. He plays hard and isn’t one of the smiley faced personalities of the NBA. Early in his career, that personality led to several ejections and countless technical fouls. He’s been called a ‘thug’ by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Even in practice, he rarely smiles; his face reflecting his intensity for the game.
We pulled Martin aside from practice to interview him for a personality feature on the man behind the NBA bravado. He held his legendary intensity for a while, until he started to talk about his son. A proud, boyish smile overtook a scowled face, as the proud father spoke about his pride and joy.
Martin has moved on to become a member of the Denver Nuggets. Though he continues to be an intense player, he has mellowed out to the point of not getting as many technical fouls or ejections. Without being a psychological expert, I’ll dare to say that his more mellow personality is due to maturity. I’m sure that fatherhood and his relationship with his children has been a major contributor to that maturity.