<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">He was trying to hide a swollen face from tears shed. He was hoping to hide his anger. His pain. A day later, he would be suspended, in all likelihood ending his career in Denver. For the first time publicly, Martin tells his story of what happened at halftime of that game and what led coach George Karl to suspend him for the rest of the series. Martin describes how that halftime fiasco, in his view, was not an isolated incident but the culmination of friction between himself and his coach and teammates. "George never told me I was not going to play," said Martin, who played 6 minutes, 55 seconds during the first half of that game. "I was shocked. He put me in the last of the first quarter. He put me in late in the second quarter. Both times for just small minutes. I'm sitting there thinking any minute I'm going back in the game. We were getting down further and further. I was (upset). "I went to the locker room at halftime. I had made up my mind. I couldn't take it anymore. I had had all I could take. Here this was happening in the biggest moment of the season. I told George he didn't have to play me. I went off. Maybe I handled the situation wrong. But look what led to that." What led to it, said Martin, was a season in which he practiced and played sporadically after undergoing micro-fracture surgery on his left knee in May 2005. A season in which he was treated as if he were faking pain to avoid practice, a season of discontent with Karl and some teammates. "The thing happened with George in the hallway," Martin said. "The coaches were in the hallway talking about the game. It was not an exchange. It was me talking and the coaches listening. I had my say to George. Then I went into the locker room and had my say with the players. Yes, it was full of cuss words both times. "Any teammate that does not understand that does not know how it feels to want to play and they don't play you. I could have shut it down halfway through the season. My doctors said I should have. I was trying to be competitive for the team and the season. Look where it ended up." </div> Rest is here
