*30 for 30 voice*
What if I told you two retired good-but-not-great NBA players were going to participate in a celebrity boxing match promoted by 50 Cent?
It’s true, according to reports. Kenyon Martin and Tim Thomas—who retired in 2015 and 2010, respectively—will finally duke it out in the boxing ring after a long-standing beef, thanks to Curtis.
50 confirmed the reports with an Instagram video and said the fight will happen on the Soulja Boy-Chris Brown card.
The two former NBA forwards—Martin is most known for his time with the Nets, Thomas for his time with the Bucks—have exchanged verbal jabs since their playing days. At one particularly contentious point, Thomas called Martin “fugazi."
They even reportedly engaged in an altercation in a Dallas nightclub in 2004.
But their feud hasn’t stopped at retirement, as most player feuds do. Earlier this year, Martin spoke about that altercation in an interview with The Vertical.
In response, Thomas called Martin a “fake tough guy” during a radio interview with CBS Sports, and challenged Martin to a fight.
“He decides that he needs to keep up this tough guy image in his interviews and was constantly using my name,” Thomas said. “But that’s not going to happen.”
And that is how we arrived at the point of Kenyon Martin and Tim Thomas squaring off in a boxing match. Yes, this is real life.
If 50 Cent really wants to draw attention to his boxing event, he’ll get George Karl on the ticket with Martin.
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