"You better go down there and apologize" - Corey Maggette recalls how his grandpa set him straight after his brawl with Kenyon Martin originally appeared on Basketball Network .
Anyone who played in the NBA in the 2000s knew how freakishly strong Corey Maggette was. A 6'6" wingman from Duke, many got a taste of what it was like to try and stop Maggette, especially when he bolted to the basket on an action that is now termed the "Maggette Cut." One such player was former All-Star power forward Kenyon Martin .
In January 2004, Maggette's Los Angeles Clippers visited K-Mart's New Jersey Nets in a game the home team won handily, 92-75. However, the result became an afterthought to what the real story of the game was.
As the Nets were manhandling the Clippers, 60-34, five minutes into the second half, Corey barrelled into the lane to try and get a bucket. Kenyon, though, would have nothing of it as he kept Maggette from rising up. As the two got entangled, Martin fell down while the Clippers forward gave him a look. That was all the spark the Nets' big man needed as the incident escalated into a fistfight.
As Maggette retreated to the locker room after he was ejected, Corey was caught by surprise when a team staffer handed him his phone. The call was urgent. It was his grandfather calling.
Not long after the two exchanged punches, Maggette was surprised when the Clippers' equipment manager gave him his phone. Naturally, it was filled with messages from friends and family members who saw what transpired. However, no message hit harder than the one his grandfather gave him in the brief conversation they had.
"My grandfather calls me — he was a pastor, right?" Corey shared . "He calls me and says, 'You know, every time that you step out on the court, it's a reflection not only of yourself but of your family, and you have to make sure you know that. You better go down there and apologize to K-Mart.'"
Despite his emotions running high, Maggette understood what his grandfather told him and immediately asked for a meeting with Martin on that same night.
"It's probably the last thing I wanted, so here I am telling Eric Hamasaki, 'Hey, E-man, you got to go down and tell K-Mart I got to talk to him,'" Corey continued. "So Eric runs down to the locker room and talks to one of the guys."
"The guy was like, 'What? He wants to apologize?' He's like, 'Alright, I'll go in there and tell him.' So he goes into the locker room and tells K-Mart, and K-Mart says, 'Man, f—k him! Man, F him!'" Maggette added.
Kenyon was one of the most fiery individuals the league had during that era. A 6'9" power forward with a relentless motor and a will to fight anyone who crossed him, he was not one to back down from a challenge. Looking back on that episode, Martin admitted his mind was in the right frame of mind during those days; one bad look was all it took for him to snap.
"I ain't wired right, man. Just young and just know, at the time, like, a lot of dudes, they worried about the fine, they worried about the suspension," K-Mart shared . "That didn't register with me."
Maggette and Martin never talked that night but many years down the line, they crossed paths and have come to respect each other. They never spoke about that incident, just chalking it up to competitive juices flowing in the heat of the moment.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
