Kenyon Martin sparked an interesting conversation with his latest piece in Basketball News, where he lays out why the NBA is markedly softer than it was during his era. The crux of Martin's argument hinges upon the disappearance of the "enforcer" on many teams and how the absence of this role made for a more finesse style of play. He listed names like Zach Randolph, Kurt Thomas, Antonio Davis, David West, and Dale Davis as players of a broken mold. However, Martin was sure not to romanticize his era as he pointed out some of the players who were more bark than bite.
Speaking of Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, in particular, Martin said:
"You can’t turn a porch dog into a guard dog, and there are a lot of poodles in the NBA right now, [...] There were some guys like that back when I played, too. Kevin Garnett was a porch puppy—a miniature chihuahua in a Dobermann’s body. I told him to his face, 'You’re a porch puppy. All you do is bark.' He never wanted smoke from me. I told him straight up, 'You better take your a** back to your huddle before I get mad.' Dahntay Jones heard it; you can ask him."
It should be interesting to hear how KG reacts to K-Mart's (somewhat) disparaging remarks.
Source: twitter.com
