Former NBA stars Kenyon Martin, Gilbert Arenas, and Brandon Jennings gave some insights on how hard it was to keep a relationship in the NBA.
The three former players had a conversation on Arenas’ podcast “Gil’s Arena,” where they talked about how important it is for veterans to take young players under their tutelage. Arenas said that it was very important because “when a young guy comes in he don’t know nothing.”
Martin agreed with Arenas, but he said that it goes “both ways.” Martin said that if they have a bad vet then they will learn bad behaviors.
He said that he acted as a vet to his son Kenyon “KJ” Martin Jr., who has been in the league for four years. Martin said that when KJ was playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, the 22-year-old had teammates who thought he was older because of the way Martin taught him.
The former players said that the veteran has to want to be there to teach the younger players and that he also has to be someone the young guys will listen to.
Arenas said that as a rookie he wouldn’t listen to a player or worker tell him to watch out for groupies, but he would listen to someone like Shawn Kemp show him how much his child support costs as a way to deter him from going after groupies.
“A list like that…the fear of that happening to you gon’ go a lot longer than any of this other s—t,” Martin stated. He said he tried to tell his son about how easy it is to lose a girlfriend in the NBA, but KJ didn’t learn until it happened to him.
The former No. 1 pick in the 2000 draft said that he saw KJ talking with a girl a few years back, so he told his son, “Don’t be surprised if she f—kin one of your teammates.” Jennings agreed with Martin saying, “Believe that. Especially in this era.”
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Martin said that KJ found out for himself when he went to the Bahamas on a team retreat, where KJ allegedly knocked on one of his teammate’s doors, and the girl opened the door. “He hit me right away,” Martin said his son told him, “Man you ain’t lie!”
Some fans found the conversation between former players hilarious. On person said, “Lmfaooo see this what I want to hear from old heads in the league,” while another said, “This is so funny man, at this level the stories must be crazy.”
Others called out the players because of their relationship histories. One viewer commented, “Lmao, they some kinda audacious like they wasn’t f–king everything with a skirt! The game is the game at that level.”
Lmao, they some kinda audacious like they wasn’t fcking everything with a skirt! The game is the game at that level. https://t.co/zPmbIKbm03
— City Belle (@ebbeezy2U) November 6, 2023
Each one of the players has been involved with a cheating scandal, or accused of being a cheater. Martin was married to KJ’s mother, Heather Martin, from the late ’90s to the early 2000s. The pair got divorced in 2007, and his next relationship was with Miami rapper Trina.
The pair broke up in 2010, and Trina said that they were in a five-year relationship which means they started dating in 2005. In an interview with Page Six, Trina said, “It’s guys, you know? They are not honest, they are not truthful at times.”
Jennings was also involved in a messy breakup as he allegedly cheated on his then-girlfriend Teyana Taylor with her friend Tae Heckard, with whom he had a son. Instead of doing the cheating, Arenas was the one allegedly getting cheated on as his former fiancée Laura Govan, who was rumored to be sleeping with Shaquille O’Neal.
Arenas seemingly recalled this as he went on to say, “70 percent of y’all, y’all girlfriend is gonna sleep with another NBA player, while y’all dating.” Jennings said that it was going to happen because the players are “introducing her to a life.” Arenas said that just as the players have people they “watched and admired” when they were young, so do their girlfriends.
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