Twelve-year NBA veteran Kevin Martin has officially called it a career.
The 33-year-old announced his retirement with an advertisement placed in his hometown newspaper on Friday.
Martin averaged 17.4 ppg over his career, including 20.2 ppg with 47/38/84 shooting splits over 80 games with the Sacramento Kings in 2006-07.
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/802294133217837056
From the Martin (via Zanesville Times Recorder ad):
Every little kid that loves basketball dreams about playing in the same league as Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, but I know it’s the hope that others give that can only make that dream a reality.
I’ll always remember playing with the big boys from the ’95 state championship/’97 state runner teams around town while they argue after every play and never passed us the ball. We had to earn it! Those were the memories where the game of basketball took on a whole new meaning. The meaning was you better be ready to work as hard as anybody out here because nothing will ever be handed to you.
That came true playing for Coach Scott Aronhalt when he had me playing with the JV team my junior year in the summer. Came true when I had to take the ACT 3 times to be eligible to play basketball in college (Thanks Dr. Bill William Stewart). Came true when my NBA trainer, David Thorpe, had professional players knocking me to the floor every chance they got as a skinny, 19 year old freshman. Also, came true as Coach Rick Adelman didn’t play me my rookie year.
Still to this day, these are my favorite and most grateful people I have encountered during this journey. I found during those tough times, it was the proudness that I placed on my shoulders, that I had to represent this town that always made me break through!
