Kenyon Martin is doing his best to set the record straight about his “feud” with Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin.
Speaking to Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated on Friday, the ex-All-Star attempted to clarify his recent remarks bashing Lin for wearing dreadlocks.
“This was never meant to be racial,” said Martin. “It was thought of as what would’ve been done in our locker room. It would’ve been jokes. We would’ve been making jokes. It’s far from racist. I guess saying “Wanting to be black” made it racial. But I despise people that look down because of race.
“It was meant to be a ‘Ha Ha Ha’ moment,” the retired big man continued. “If you watch, I was laughing in the statements. It got taken too far. I wanted to clear the air. I don’t know Jeremy. He’s had a few crazy hairstyles before and I had the same thought process: ‘WTF.’ But I wasn’t trying to be racist.”
Earlier this week, Martin commented on “that bullsh*t on [Lin’s] head” and pointed to the supposed irony of having dreadlocks with an Asian last name. Though Lin himself posted a classy response on Instagram, the public reaction to Martin’s remarks was overwhelmingly negative and even resulted in him receiving a hex from a rap deity. Best to just take the L and move on, K-Mart.
