Disrespectful: Kenyon Martin said the Lakers can’t win because they have “four white boys”

Kenyon Martin went on Gil’s Arena this week and said the Los Angeles Lakers cannot win in the playoffs because they have four white players on their roster. He was referring to Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Luke Kennard, and Jake LaRavia.

I wish I was making that up.

Let me make sure I have this right. The man looked at a roster featuring Luka Doncic, arguably the best offensive player on the planet right now, and decided the problem is the complexion of four guys on the team. That is the analysis. That is what came out of his mouth on a nationally distributed podcast.

Kenyon Martin on the Lakers

.@KenyonMartinSr on the Lakers BIGGEST issue heading into the playoffs 😂

“Y’all play 4 white boys you ain’t gonna beat nobody” pic.twitter.com/DnsHMXx4Rx

— Gil’s Arena (@GilsArenaShow) April 8, 2026

To be fair to Kenyon Martin, there are legitimate questions about the Lakers heading into the playoffs. Their defense has real concerns. There are honest conversations to be had about whether this roster has enough to make a deep run. Those are fair basketball discussions and I am happy to have them.

But throwing Luka Doncic into some disrespectful racial take as if he is a liability on this team is genuinely one of the stupidest things anyone has said about basketball in a long time.

Doncic is averaging whatever he is averaging this season while carrying this franchise on his back. Austin Reaves is putting up 23 points per game. Luke Kennard has been one of the most reliable shooters in the league for years. These are not liabilities. These are contributors.

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I really don’t want to pull the “Double Standard Card”…

We all know the reaction to this exact headline would be completely different if the races were reversed. Everyone reading this knows it. I am not here to stir the pot but I am also not going to act like it is not obvious.

What is really going on is that Kenyon Martin clearly cannot help himself when some white players are getting their shine. That is the vibe. He is not alone in that either. But it is disrespectful, it is lazy, and it has nothing to do with basketball.

God forbid some white boys get a little motion.

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