It’s nothin’ like the $91 million deal he’s been cashing in on over the past seven years, but hey, 2.65 mil for about five months of service is a hell of a lot better than nothing–which is what NBA players are making at the moment. Via the Denver Post…
Longtime Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin will sign a contract to play with Xingiang Guanghui in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Martin’s contract will be the the biggest in CBA history.
“It’s a great opportunity for him to stay in shape and stay fresh,” said Andy Miller, Martin’s agent. “And it also gives him an opportunity to expand his name globally.”
It’s an exciting career opportunity for Martin, an unrestricted free agent, who won’t have an out-clause in his contract. The CBA ends on Feb. 16, but Martin’s team is talented and could make a playoff run toward the end of March.
I’ve read reports that the Chinese club will also pay Martin’s agent fees, so it’s more like a $3 million dollar deal. That’s not to say that K-Mart needs the money–that seems highly unlikely. I figure he must’ve signed this thing because he simply wants to play some basketball. Depending on which way you choose to look at it, I suppose it makes sense. At the age of 33 (closer to 34), he’s at the point where the otherworldly athleticism he’s always leaned fairly heavily upon will begin to fade away. Unfortunately, I think the decline has already begun. K-Mart didn’t seem to appear in the highlights nearly as often last season as he did in the previous one. So, since there’s no promise of an NBA season, maybe he just wants to be sure that he doesn’t miss any basketball during the waning years of his professional career. On the other hand, all the same sh!t I just mentioned kind of makes you wonder why he took the deal… I mean, assuming there is some sort of NBA season, Kenyon has chosen to sacrifice one of his last couple years. He’ll be going on 35 entering the 2011/12 season… it’s only gonna get harder for him to find a long-term contract. Anyway, who the hell knows what his reasoning was. I hope he dunks on lots of heads and joins up with a contender for the stretch run that I pray will exist. It looks like the Flying Tigers are one of the CBA’s top teams (remember Quincy Douby? He plays for ‘em), though, so the whole stretch run plan might not pan out.
K-Mart has been a favorite player of mine for a long time, so I can’t wait to see some highlights! Watching him unleash his fury on a bunch of stoic Asian dudes will be hilarious.
