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The 2020 NBA Draft is certainly going to be an interesting one as not one, but two players, LaMelo Ball and, as of Tuesday, Kenyon Martin Jr., are expected to be taken in the first round despite not playing a single game in college.
Since the NBA instituted the rule in 2005 that states a player has to be at least one year removed from his high school graduating class there have only been only three players in 14 years to have skipped college and gone straight to the NBA: Satnam Singh, Thon Maker, and Anfernee Simons.
Singh was from India, Maker was from Sudan by way of Canada, and Simons was the first American to be drafted by an NBA team straight out of high school since nine players were taken in the 2005 NBA draft.
LaMelo Ball’s strange journey to the 2020 NBA draft has been well-chronicled.
Kenyon Martin, Jr., however, has been flying under the radar of most casual NBA fans, and on Tuesday he revealed that he was going to enter the 2020 NBA Draft.
IMG Academy forward Kenyon Martin Jr., has declared for the 2020 NBA Draft, his father Kenyon Martin Sr., tells ESPN. Martin Jr., is eligible for draft, because he did the post-graduate year at IMG after graduating from Sierra Canyon H.S. in SoCal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 25, 2020
The 6-foot-7 Martin, son of 15-year NBA veteran and former number one overall pick Kenyon Martin Sr., last played school-related basketball at Sierra Canyon High School in Chatsworth, California alongside Scottie Pippen Jr. in 2018. Of note, that is also the same high school Bronny James and Zaire Wade currently attend.
In 2019, Martin had numerous scholarship offers and was leaning towards going to Vanderbilt, but instead chose to spend a year playing and training with the IMG Academy in Florida.
While playing for IMG, Martin averaged 20 points and eight rebounds, according to ESPN.
In his announcement, posted to Instagram, Martin wrote, “First, I would like to thank god for blessing me with the ability to play the game that I love. I would like to thank my family for being here every step of the way. I would also like to thank the coaching staff, the weight trainers, my teammates, and everyone at IMG who helped me through that chapter of my life. I appreciate everyone who has supported me and my decisions is up to this point.
“There was a lot of hate and doubt about my journey but I feel I’ve done what was best for me and now is the time to take the next step which is to Declare for the 2020 NBA Draft. It has been a lifelong dream of mine and I will continue to work day by day to prove to myself and everyone that this is where I belong. THE NEXT CHAPTER STARTS NOW LETS GET IT‼️”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-JB39-pCNK/?utm_source=ig_embed
Just guessing, but Martin probably won’t be the last high school star we see take this particular road to the NBA. And wouldn’t they?