Things got very real on Tuesday’s edition of Gil’s Arena as Kenyon Martin brought a staffer from the show on the set to go face-to-face over a video in which he made fun of Martin’s speech impediment.
The podcast, featuring former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, has become one of the most talked about athlete-driven shows for holding nothing back, featuring over 1 million subscribers on YouTube.
And nowhere was that seen more clearly than when real life collided head-on with the show’s NBA talk.
During the live show, Martin interrupted proceedings for a moment of personal privilege that he felt he had to address while on the air.
“Something recently was brought to my attention that one of the people that works here that we see daily and I brought this person into my home, right? Had this person around my wife, my kids, right? Treated with nothing but respect. Right? And this is a loyalty situation. I want people with their kids, teaching situation. When people tell you be careful who you bring into your inner circle, be careful who you bring into your home, this is this situation that I’m speaking of right now,” Martin said.
“Hey Suge, come here.”
With that, Kenyon Martin brought a behind-the-scenes staffer from the podcast over to the set as the show was brought to a halt. He then played a video from his phone that apparently showed the staffer making fun of Martin’s stutter, which he has been vocal about trying to overcome since his playing days.
Martin then kept the staffer present as he talked about how the video crossed a line in one of the more surreal scenes on a live sports podcast that you will ever see. The pair discussed an apology that happened, or at least tried to happen, but the former Nets star said it crossed a huge line as a very sensitive subject for him personally.
“That’s something I have stated time and time again on this couch, sensitive subject. Sensitive subject for me, right? I drew a line in the sand a long time ago with this. There is no apology ever that as an adult that I would accept for this. I came in here one day over at Gil’s house and you walked up to me and tried to apologize out the blue. I blew you off because I didn’t know what you were talking about. That’s the situation, yes or no,” Martin asked the staffer. He then said that he wouldn’t accept the apology now because he wasn’t aware of the video when it happened in the first place.
After he was done talking to the staffer, Kenyon Martin then turned the camera to make a direct appeal to the audience.
“This is what disloyalty and people who don’t respect you look like. People like him. Be careful who you invite into your home. Who you have around your loved ones and your friends and family. This is what you get. People like this. That talk about something that is near and dear to my heart. I have a speech impediment that everybody knows how I feel about this. Right? People that don’t have a voice think to speak up for themselves, this is what this is about. You don’t tease something that I have no control over it and think it’s ok,” Martin said.
Good for Kenyon Martin for taking a stand on an important issue like this publicly. He’s not only defending himself, he’s defending countless other individuals with speech impediments that don’t have the voice and platform that he does. Martin’s moment lives on social media even though the clip has been taken out of the YouTube replay of the Gil’s Arena livestream, showing that it was likely something that was definitely unscripted.
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