Kenyon Martin is Dating Trina - Are K-Mart and Trina Good Together?

The dramatic story of basketball player Kenyon Martin and rapper Katrina Laverne Taylor, better known as Trina, has engaged professional sporting world and hip hop audiences for some time. Individually, both K-Mart and Trina have led lives worthy of reality television. Together, critics have jeered that the two represent the imperfect example of "ghetto love" and are a match made for each other.

Personally, I feel that the media and the uninformed have glossed over the particulars of the relationship. Wearing tattoos, playing basketball, and listening to rap music shall never be the only prerequisite to assume that one is a "thug" or "ghetto." Still, Black celebrities should take care to recognize that each and every transgression is to be placed beneath the microscope per the media circus. Particular figures and icons must take special care to avoid exploitation.

Perhaps for that simple fact alone, Kenyon Martin and Trina were built for each other.

Kenyon Martin, Basketball Player

Kenyon Martin was born in Saginaw, Michigan, but excelled at basketball at Bryan Adams High School in Dallas, TX. The 6'9 power forward took his game to the Cincinnati Bearcats, where he was named the National Player of the Year for 1999-2000. K-Mart averaged 19 points and 9 boards a game his senior year, while building his trademark brand of athleticism, defense, rebounding, and outright intimidation in the paint.

Despite a gruesome leg injury, Kenyon Martin emerged as the first player selected overall by the New Jersey Nets in the 2000 NBA Draft. The undersized power forward brought his menacing scowl to the Next Level and helped carry his New Jersey Nets towards two repeat trips to The Finals in 2002 and 2003. K-Mart continued to step up his game to average 17 points - 10 rebounds in 2003-2004 and was rewarded with the lone All Star selection of his career.

Still, the New Jersey Nets elected to shut down the core of the franchise and rebuild around youth. Martin was dealt to the Denver Nuggets after the completion of his All-Star year for three future first-round picks. Kenyon Martin's production and activity have fallen, somewhat with age at Denver.

The forward has come to rely more so upon technique as an enforcer than athletic ability.

Kenyon Martin's quick leaping and lateral quickness have been derailed at several points due to injury. The force came into The League after breaking his leg at Cincinnati and has undergone the dreaded microfracture surgery to repair damage in both knees within two years. K-Mart has never competed for the full 82-game year and has been placed on the shelf upon several occasions to heal.

Fans identify Kenyon Martin by his smallish frame relative to the power forward position, fiery temperament, gaudy tattoos, and physical play. I must speculate that the antics are one part Napoleon Complex and two parts "Pretty Boy" syndrome.

K-Mart is an undersized power forward that must battle for respect beneath the basket. He must also combat the perception that the light-skinned Black Male is "soft."

Martin actually commits to tireless charity work within the Denver community; and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was to promptly rescind a derogatory statement labeling K-Mart as a "thug."

Trina, Rapper

Trina burst onto the rap scene as the "Baddest B----," per her performance of raunchy lyrics on Trick Daddy's "Nann" single. Trick Daddy, the then gold-toothed Don of Miami rap paraded out this young vixen in 1998 to wax poetic about her dedication to The Game and exploits in the bedroom.

The raunchy lyrics, coupled with the baby faced, high-pitched voice delivery, threw down the gauntlet for bawdy female rap. Trina emerged as a wide hipped starlet that was set to captivate both inner city and mainstream audiences, alike.

Loyal fans uphold her status as a woman of empowerment. Meanwhile, various commentators degrade her B-List Diamond Princess celebrity as a caricature of exploitation.

Still, the entertainer has released 5 separate albums between 2000 and 2009. Trina's cover art, lyrics, and titles often feature provocative outfits, poses, and subject matter. She has collaborated with right-hand-man Trick Daddy, Twista, Ludacris, Missy Elliott, Rick Ross, Tweet, Kelly Rowland, and Keyshia Cole per her Slip and Slide album label.

Casual followers of hip hop will associate the rapper with singles such as "No Panties," "Da Baddest B----," "Pull Over," "Here We Go," and the aforementioned "Nann."

Although Trina was a fixture of the Miami rap scene from 2000-2005 and has been nominated for several American Music, BET, MTV, and Soul Train music awards, she has been mocked per her one-track mind content, basic delivery, and over-the-top Southern twang.

Irrespective of these opinions, there is no mistaking the Trina brand.

Kenyon Martin is Dating Trina

Outsiders have blasted this high-profile relationship from the outset. The Kenyon Martin and Katrina Taylor dalliance seems to ignore the simple fact that the baller is still very much married. Of course, K-Mart now operates within the clutches of nasty divorce proceedings. However, Martin actually began dating Trina amidst his "happy" marriage to wife Heather Martin.

Socialites and gossip mongerers continue to ridicule the couple for participating in fawning joint photography spreads and throwing lavish parties together at Denver and Miami. The pomp and shenanigans appear to flaunt Mr. Martin's status as a married man with three kids.

Of course, further research exposes fresh talk that wife, Heather (Thompson) Martin actually left her former husband to be with Kenyon Martin. The scuttlebutt highlights the idea of the already married Heather meeting Mr. Martin at a Los Angeles party and becoming pregnant by him. Reports indicate that the woman abandoned her then husband and three children to move to New Jersey, marry Martin in 2003, and give birth to two additional babies per the basketball player.

Sources finger the woman as a gold digger, hell bent upon getting pregnant, and leading the life of an NBA Wife. Regardless of her intent going into the proposal, Heather Martin has clearly been dismissed in favor of K-Mart's new love. Sports fans recognize the smooching lips tattoo affixed to the athlete's neck as the loving mouth of rapper Katrina Taylor.

The committed couple has also taken up residence together in Denver, Colorado.

Kenyon Martin will make $15,779,912 this upcoming 2009-2010 season.

Kenyon Martin is Dating Trina, Sources:

Kenyon Martin Profile, http://www.nba.com/playerfile/kenyon_martin/

Trina, http://www.trina-online.com/

Kenyon Martin is Dating Trina? http://dimemag.com/2008/06/kenyon-martin-is-dating-trina/