The 75 greatest NBA players of the 2000s, ranked
By Cal Durrett
70) Kenyon Martin
Former number one overall pick Kenyon Martin was the prize of the 2000 NBA Draft, which looks a bit silly in retrospect. Nevertheless, Martin still had a fairly productive career. He started his career as a member of the New Jersey Nets and came in second in Rookie of the Year voting to Mike Miller. However, his career would take off when the Nets acquired Hall of Famer Jason Kidd and Kidd was able to fully utilize Martin's explosive leaping ability.
In three seasons as Kidd's side kick, he averaged 16.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks, helping the Nets to back-to-back NBA Finals. Despite that, Martin left town for the Denver Nuggets, signing a 7-year, $93 million deal that would turn out to be one of the worst in NBA history.
While Martin was a solid contributor for the Carmelo Anthony-led Nuggets teams that made the playoffs each of the seven seasons he was there, he was merely a good starter instead of a star. All told, between 2000-01 and 2008-09, Martin averaged 14.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 535 games. Add in an all-star appearance and that is a successful decade, though perhaps not for a number-one overall pick.