Kenyon Martin recently returned to the headlines due to the online feud he had with Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green . The beef began when the former Cincinnati ace suggested that Dray was a calculated tough guy who often picked and chose whom he wanted to confront.
Although the feud has since simmered down over the past few weeks, Kenyon recently appeared on "The Pivot Podcast." He discussed what a genuine "tough guy" is like and why he considers the great Michael Jordan as one of the real ones.
Jordan's heyday came in the 1980s and '90s, an era defined by its survival-of-the-fittest nature. Playing in that era was not for the weak of heart, and as for thriving in it, well, only a select few managed to do so.
MJ was undoubtedly one of those, as he took on all comers and put them all down. Defenders of all physiques and temperaments were assigned to check him in every game. Yet, Jordan always seemed to find a way to outwit and outplay them.
Kenyon believes the aggression Jordan used to attack his opponents and the composure he showed whenever defenders tried to get too physical with him were the marks of a true tough guy.
"I look at Mike — Michael Jordan — in that same regard. Mike going to get to it. You challenge him, you do something, he going to get to it. Been like that. Been that way," Kenyon declared .
A fine example of Jordan's fearless nature came during the 1992 playoffs, when the Chicago Bulls faced the bullies of the East, the New York Knicks . With renowned enforcer Xavier McDaniels imposing his will on some of the Bulls' players, MJ ended the latter's shenanigans by confronting him forcefully.
"Xavier McDaniel. People look at X-Man as being one of them," Martin said. "Forehead to forehead with this dude."
Asked to define what a tough guy is in his book, K-Mart said it's somebody who stands on what he believes in, regardless of who's in front of him. Whether that's a 7-footer or a 5'10" guard, that person won't back down.
"It's how you play against everybody and how you treat everybody — not select people, right? When you stand on it, you stand on it. You don't deviate. You don't pick and choose," Kenyon emphasized.
Using the show's hosts, Fred Taylor and Ryan Clark, as examples, Kenyon said they never chose whom they would hit in the NFL; it was always whoever was in front of them.
"When somebody came across the middle, big tight end, you didn't be like, 'Nah, I'm not going to do him.' Like, no — you doing it," he stressed. "If it was a linebacker in the hole, you weren't like, 'Let me get down.' No, you trying to run through him. You treat him just like a DB."
K-Mart made his point loud and clear — during his playing days, it didn't matter to him if it was an opposing power forward or his own grandmother, he was going to run through them in the name of competition.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 17, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
