hedgehog
Mentor
You have got to love the NBA, and the current trend of fans getting physically confronted. The NBA is getting just the kind of behavior they have promoted for years now.
Kenyon Martin isn't afraid to act like a tough guy on the court, but would the power forward actually send one of his buddies into the stands to confront a fan who had taunted the injured Denver Nugget?
It depends on whom you ask.
According to a report in Friday's Rocky Mountain News, a Nuggets fan alleges that Martin had one of his buddies confront him during Wednesday night's game in Denver.
Martin, who sat out Wednesday's game against the Bulls, denied having anything to do with the incident.
"I know the person, but I didn't direct nobody to go into the stands," Martin told the Rocky Mountain News Thursday. "I was watching the game."
According to the report, team officials and Denver police offered clashing accounts of the controversy swirling around Martin, the highest-paid player in team history, who is injured and now the subject of numerous trade rumors.
Don Miller, a fan sitting close the situation, told the Rocky Mountain News that he saw Martin point his friend toward the heckler. He said it all started when a fan sitting two rows behind him yelled at Martin, "Suit up, you chump."
"If this guy had stood up and come up to defend Kenyon Martin on his own, without Kenyon Martin telling him to do it, I would not be talking to you now," said Miller, who attended the game with his 15-year-old son.
"But Kenyon Martin stood up, pointed up, and directed him. He did all these little actions to bring him up there. That's horrible."
An NBA spokesman late Thursday said the league is looking into the incident.
Paul Andrews, executive vice president of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, said an internal probe by the Nuggets concluded that one of Martin's guests had approached a fan.
"We don't know exactly what (the fan) said," Andrews told the Rocky Mountain News. "We have conflicting stories. But we know that whatever the fan had said to Kenyon was not an ejectionable remark," such as profanity.
"Kenyon Martin, according to the eyewitnesses at our bench, did not provoke. He did not get up and ask anyone to do this," said Andrews. "His friend acted on his own, and we are dealing with that internally."
Denver police spokeswoman Detective Virginia Lopez gave a different version to the Rocky Mountain News.
"Kenyon Martin is sitting on the bench when a fan begins to heckle him," said Lopez. "Martin stands up, turns around and addresses the fan. Then he sits back down."
The fan, who was described as being college-aged, was seen talking with security personnel after the game. He also asked to be escorted to his car.
Martin, who joined the Nuggets in 2004 in exchange for three future first-round picks and is being paid $92.5 million on a seven-year deal, told the Rocky Mountain News that he had not been interviewed as part of the team's probe.
"Why would I?" Martin asked. "If I didn't do nothing, why would there be a question?"
Martin was asked the identity of his guest.
"None of your business," he replied.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5322584
Kenyon Martin isn't afraid to act like a tough guy on the court, but would the power forward actually send one of his buddies into the stands to confront a fan who had taunted the injured Denver Nugget?
It depends on whom you ask.
According to a report in Friday's Rocky Mountain News, a Nuggets fan alleges that Martin had one of his buddies confront him during Wednesday night's game in Denver.
Martin, who sat out Wednesday's game against the Bulls, denied having anything to do with the incident.
"I know the person, but I didn't direct nobody to go into the stands," Martin told the Rocky Mountain News Thursday. "I was watching the game."
According to the report, team officials and Denver police offered clashing accounts of the controversy swirling around Martin, the highest-paid player in team history, who is injured and now the subject of numerous trade rumors.
Don Miller, a fan sitting close the situation, told the Rocky Mountain News that he saw Martin point his friend toward the heckler. He said it all started when a fan sitting two rows behind him yelled at Martin, "Suit up, you chump."
"If this guy had stood up and come up to defend Kenyon Martin on his own, without Kenyon Martin telling him to do it, I would not be talking to you now," said Miller, who attended the game with his 15-year-old son.
"But Kenyon Martin stood up, pointed up, and directed him. He did all these little actions to bring him up there. That's horrible."
An NBA spokesman late Thursday said the league is looking into the incident.
Paul Andrews, executive vice president of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, said an internal probe by the Nuggets concluded that one of Martin's guests had approached a fan.
"We don't know exactly what (the fan) said," Andrews told the Rocky Mountain News. "We have conflicting stories. But we know that whatever the fan had said to Kenyon was not an ejectionable remark," such as profanity.
"Kenyon Martin, according to the eyewitnesses at our bench, did not provoke. He did not get up and ask anyone to do this," said Andrews. "His friend acted on his own, and we are dealing with that internally."
Denver police spokeswoman Detective Virginia Lopez gave a different version to the Rocky Mountain News.
"Kenyon Martin is sitting on the bench when a fan begins to heckle him," said Lopez. "Martin stands up, turns around and addresses the fan. Then he sits back down."
The fan, who was described as being college-aged, was seen talking with security personnel after the game. He also asked to be escorted to his car.
Martin, who joined the Nuggets in 2004 in exchange for three future first-round picks and is being paid $92.5 million on a seven-year deal, told the Rocky Mountain News that he had not been interviewed as part of the team's probe.
"Why would I?" Martin asked. "If I didn't do nothing, why would there be a question?"
Martin was asked the identity of his guest.
"None of your business," he replied.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5322584