Kenyon Martin Jr.

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Kenyon Martin Jr.
Kenyon Martin 2021.jpg
Martin with the Houston Rockets in 2021
No. 6 – Houston Rockets
PositionSmall forward / Power forward
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (2001-01-06) January 6, 2001 (age 21)
Los Angeles, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school
NBA draft2020 / Round: 2 / Pick: 52nd overall
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Playing career2020–present
Career history
2020–presentHouston Rockets
2021→Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Career highlights and awards
  • NBA G League All-Rookie Team (2021)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Kenyon "KJ" Lee Martin Jr. (born January 6, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended IMG Academy for his postgraduate year in Bradenton, Florida.

High school career[]

Kenyon Martin Jr attended Oaks Christian High School as a freshman but did not play basketball that year. Early in the school year, Kenyon Martin Jr was pulled out of Oaks Christian to be homeschooled. After his freshman year, he was enrolled in Chaminade College Preparatory where he started playing basketball as a sophomore.[1][2]

A three-star recruit from Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California, Martin played alongside Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cassius Stanley. Martin averaged 16.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game for the back-to-back California Open Division champions.[3]

Martin originally committed to play collegiately for Vanderbilt before opting for a postgraduate year at IMG Academy.[4] He averaged 20 points and eight rebounds per game at IMG Academy, drawing praise for his athleticism.[5] Martin scored 37 points at the National Prep Showcase and demonstrated an improved jump shot.[6] Martin declared for the 2020 NBA draft on March 24, 2020.[4][7][8]

Professional career[]

Houston Rockets (2020–present)[]

Rookie season (2020-21)[]

On November 18, 2020, Martin was drafted by the Sacramento Kings with the 52nd overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft. On November 25, 2020, he was traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for cash considerations and a future second-round pick.[9] Martin signed a four-year contract with the Rockets on November 30.[10] The Rockets organization put him on their G League affiliate team the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[11]

Martin was activated by the Houston Rockets for the January 4, 2021 game against the Dallas Mavericks, then was inactive for one game before making his on-court NBA debut on January 8, 2021 vs. the Orlando Magic, scoring 7 points on 3-3 shooting (including a three-poiner)[12]

Martin received his fair share of attention in his rookie season for blocking some of the tallest players in the league in a series of games. This list includes Boban Marjanović, Kristaps Porziņģis, Tacko Fall, and Rudy Gobert. Martin has been noted to have very good jumping abilities, often comparable with his father.

On May 8, 2021, KJ Martin scored a career-high 27 points on 11-19 shooting from the field and 1-2 from the free throw line against the Utah Jazz.[13] He had a career-high 10 rebounds in three different games, all in May 2021.[12] For the season, he played in 45 NBA games, starting 8, averaging 9.3 points per game and 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists.[14]

2021-22[]

Early in his second season, Martin played in less than 20 minutes in all but one of the Rockets' first 15 games. But since around mid-December, his minutes increased to closed to 25 per game, with two games of over 30 minutes through games of January 10 when he was averaging, for the season, 8.2 points per game on 52.7 percent field goal shooting with 3.7 rebounds.[15]

Career statistics[]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA[]

Regular season[]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2020–21 Houston 45 8 23.7 .509 .365 .714 5.4 1.1 .7 .9 9.3

Personal life[]

Martin is the son of Kenyon Martin, who was selected first overall in the 2000 NBA draft and played in the NBA for 15 years,[4] and Heather Martin.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ "K.J. Martin, son of former NBA star Kenyon Martin, transfers to Sierra Canyon (Calif.)". USA TODAY High School Sports. June 12, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  2. ^ "Boys' basketball: K.J. Martin, son of NBA's Kenyon Martin, is making progress at Chaminade". Los Angeles Times. November 24, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  3. ^ Spears, Marc (July 9, 2019). "How Kenyon Martin is supporting his son's decision to skip college and go pro". The Undefeated. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Bumbaca, Chris (March 25, 2020). "Kenyon Martin Jr., son of former No. 1 overall pick, declares for 2020 NBA Draft". USA Today. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  5. ^ Wojnarowski, Adrian (March 24, 2020). "Kenyon Martin Jr., son of longtime NBA player, declares for draft". ESPN. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  6. ^ Daniels, Evan (November 29, 2019). "Kenyon Martin Jr. and his father discuss the professional path". 247 Sports. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  7. ^ Timothy Rapp (March 24, 2020). "Kenyon Martin Jr. Declares for 2020 NBA Draft, Will Skip College". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  8. ^ Adrian Wojnarowski (March 24, 2020). "Kenyon Martin Jr., son of longtime NBA player, declares for draft". ESPN. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  9. ^ "Rockets Acquire KJ Martin Jr". Nba.com. November 25, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  10. ^ DoBose, Ben (November 30, 2020). "Rockets sign KJ Martin Jr. to four-year deal; first season guaranteed". Rockets Wire. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  11. ^ "Kenyon Martin Jr. | NBA.com". Nba.com. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Kenyon Martin Jr. 2020-21 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  13. ^ "Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz Box Score, May 8, 2021". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  14. ^ "Kenyon Martin Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  15. ^ "Kenyon Martin Jr. 2021-22 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  16. ^ Robbins, Liz (August 26, 2003). "BASKETBALL; It's a Busy Honeymoon For Martin and His Wife". The New York Times. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
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