Zo snaps, and Nets' Martin feels his wrath

 

wire reports

Posted November 21 2003

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- After a draining practice session, Alonzo Mourning and half of the New Jersey Nets team, mostly second-unit players, were making their way through the final strides of a set of suicide drills, punishment for losing a contest to the rest of the team on Thursday at the Champion Center, the team's practice facility. As Mourning trudged to the finish behind his teammates, already unhappy, he heard laughter from the players who were watching.

 

Mourning snapped in reaction to the frustration of the drills, the team's troubles on the court and the cavalier attitude he has perceived during the Nets' 5-6 start this season. Mourning stalked over to where the players were laughing and, in a profanity-laden diatribe, shouted in part: "This ain't funny. This is about winning."

 

Richard Jefferson, a third-year forward who was one of the players who were laughing, told Mourning that indeed it wasn't funny, it was "hilarious."

 

When Kenyon Martin, a fourth-year forward, jumped in by mocking Mourning's recent performance on the court and commenting that Mourning would not have to run if he would improve his rebounding, Mourning attacked Martin's leadership and toughness.

 

Mourning, who signed with the Nets this summer after kidney disease cost him all of last season and nearly the entire 2000-01 season, told Martin: "At least I'm out there on the court, not in the training room. I'm trying to make the best of my time."

 

"You can't be a leader in the trainer's room crying, `My ankle, my ankle,''' Mourning added, referring to the sprained ankle that sidelined Martin for five games. Martin responded by mocking Mourning, muttering, "My kidney, my kidney."

 

Mourning did not immediately react to that comment. But when the players separated into groups for the next part of practice, he suddenly charged toward Martin before being restrained by teammates as he yelled, using more profanity: "What did you say about my kidney? Don't talk about my kidney. I'll put you on your back."

 

Teammates halted Mourning and kept him and Martin from getting close enough to come to blows. Meanwhile coach Byron Scott stepped in front of Martin and spoke calmly to him.

 

The practice then resumed with Mourning and Martin not speaking to each other. When it was over, neither player spoke to reporters.

 

Mourning had voiced his displeasure with the team's work ethic and attentiveness, traits ingrained in him when he played for Pat Riley on the Heat.

 

"I didn't expect it to be like this," Mourning, who has never played in the NBA Finals, said Wednesday in reference to the Nets, the Eastern Conference champions the past two seasons. "I thought we'd come out strong and give more effort. Some guys work their whole careers and never get a chance to go to the Finals."

 

Asked if he would have signed with the Nets if he knew how they would approach the beginning of this season, Mourning said, "Don't know."

 

Elsewhere

 

ROCKETS: Suspended F Eddie Griffin was charged with assaulting a woman who says he beat her and fired a gun in her direction. Griffin faces one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of assault with bodily injury.? ? ? Email story

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Copyright ? 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-nba...la-sports-front

 

i never liked Martin since an altercation he had with Zo a couple of years of ago when he was taunting Zo and sticking his toungue out. this makes me dislike him more

ROFL,K-mart was mocking zo ROFL!

i love it!!!

 

"You can't be a leader in the trainer's room crying, `My ankle, my ankle,''' Mourning added, referring to the sprained ankle that sidelined Martin for five games. Martin responded by mocking Mourning, muttering, "My kidney, my kidney."

 

Mourning did not immediately react to that comment. But when the players separated into groups for the next part of practice, he suddenly charged toward Martin before being restrained by teammates as he yelled, using more profanity: "What did you say about my kidney? Don't talk about my kidney. I'll put you on your back."

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA... money grubbing bastard

LOL,the heat should bring k-mart over here,lol.

Martin responded by mocking Mourning, muttering, "My kidney, my kidney."

 

I just lost any respect I ever had for Kenyon Martin.

Kenyon is an A-Hole. How are you going to make fun of guy who defined all odds and came back from a kidney disease that could have killed him? Sure hes struggling but at least he is out there trying to regain his old form. Complete a**hole Kenyon Martin.

 

HEY KENYON THIS IS FOR YOU :fyou

 

OH YEAH HOW BOUT I DO THIS TO YOUR ANKLES b***h!! :chair

 

sorry got a little carried away there. lol

guy who defined all odds and came back from a kidney disease that could have killed him?

his kidney disease was grossly overstated. i think it's a little suspicious to sit out with kidney trouble until your contract expires, then you go out and immediately sell yourself to the highest bidder.

 

zo's 7 year $100million-plus contract is a big reason why the heat have sucked so bad for the past couple of years.

 

a guy with 1 failed kidney can live a full life but can never play sports again. i seriously doubt zo's supposed "kidney disease" is as bad as he makes it out to be, considering he's still on the court.

dude, sean elliot played with kidney disease and it was pretty bad considering he eventually needed a transplant

How is KMart gonna mock somebody when his a** is the one on the bench with his little ankle problem :nono

yeah, but sean elliott actually PLAYED. when he got too sick to play, he sat out because of kidney failure (which zo doesn't have), he got his transplant, played one more season, then retired.

 

kidney function is not one of those things that ever just "comes back"; when you have the disease they both have (focal segmental glomerulosclerosis), kidney function can only stay the same or get progressively worse . there's just something suspect about a guy who sits out with kidney trouble so long and then comes back--as if his kidney function had just magically returned--after his contract expires and he becomes a free agent.

 

perhaps he didn't like being on a losing team. perhaps he just didn't feel like working out and getting in shape, so he took some time off to enjoy himself. but it's medically impossible for someone to regain a significant amount of kidney function without a transplant, which is why i don't exactly buy the notion that his ailment was life-threatening in the first place.

i think your the medical student on this board so im not going to say anything else about kidney disease

gotta love this. Both of them are made for each other. One is a money-grabbing jerk and the other a don't-touch-because-I-may-break jerk.

NBA: National Bastard Association

NBA: National Bastard Association

sean never sat until after the 99 finals which is around the time he had the transplant.

 

 

 

but zo's has never been as serious.

LOL,NBA=Negros Bien Alto.

lol^

GO K-Mart !! I Hate Zo

i think your the medical student on this board so im not going to say anything else about kidney disease

it's alright, i still don't know s*** yet even though i try to sound like i do

 

nonetheless, i'm positive that zo could have played last season if he kept himself in shape to begin with. i guess i'm just a little bitter to see how we got screwed because of him, and then all of a sudden he runs off to NJ for the big bucks. obviously no athlete owes any city anything, but i felt like he shouldve returned here to play.