Hornets Insider: Cody Martin ‘just trying to be smart with it.’ But it’s tough as he awaits return

A simple upright courtside chair instead resembles something more akin to living room furniture these days for Cody Martin and that doesn’t sit well with him at all.

Nothing about this current plight, which consists of the Charlotte Hornets swingman serving as an innocent bystander on game nights, was envisioned over the previous days, weeks or even months. The monotonous nature of being sidelined the past 28 outings and available for only seven games all season is eating him alive.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Martin said. “It feels like you are just watching it on TV and are kind of just there. And the only thing I can really do is provide my support verbally and emotionally — whatever the team needs — and just kind of be in that leadership role and say what I need to say. I’m still going to be there as their teammate and support them and say things that I feel like I would need to say even if I was playing.

“So, I’m trying to contribute however I can. Unfortunately, that’s not on the court. So, I’m watching it with our team and just trying to provide as much leadership as I can. It’s just frustrating to sit here and have to watch. It’s been a long season for everybody. Obviously, I’ve never had to do this.”

But it’s Martin’s current reality, chock full of nightmarish content. He’s as prideful as they come, buoyed by the same kind of grinding mentality that led to the Hornets selecting him in the second round in 2019 and earned him a four-year, $31 million contract as a restricted free agent last summer.

Injuries have nagged Martin since training camp. He played in only one of the Hornets’ five preseason games. In the Oct. 19 season opener in San Antonio, he logged 56 seconds and knew something wasn’t right, eventually leading to arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Nov. 11.

Martin missed 37 games following the procedure and returned Jan. 4 against Memphis. However, a six-game stint was all he could muster, and it’s been two months since his last meaningful action on the floor — Jan. 14 against Boston.

Being shelved for this long is gnawing at him with the vengeance of a swarm of mosquitoes.

“You never go into a season thinking something like this is going to happen,” Martin said. “You are not really ever prepared for it. It’s very, very frustrating. This is the first time I’ve ever had to sit out for an extended period of time. So, I’m just trying to do my best to be positive mentally and just continue to do whatever I can rehab-wise and do what the training staff is saying.

“Unfortunately, it’s taken this long. I’m just trying to be smart with it, I’m just trying to be consistent with it, just do whatever I can.”

Balancing the guarded approach with wanting to play is a chore. The painstakingly lengthy process he’s engrossed in makes for more than a few frustrating moments.

“It’s tough because as a player nobody knows my body better than me, and nobody wants me to play more than I do,” Martin said. “And it’s tough to sit here and watch, especially this long, And I want to do everything I can to get out there with my teammates and help them and help the team in a positive way and just do what I can.

“The only thing I can control right now is staying on top of my rehab, and just being consistent with that and just making sure I’m feeling good.”

Martin’s treatment includes strengthening, specific agility drills and exercises, ice and stim procedures and more to go along with his on-court work. It’s all time-based, a tedious regimen put together by the Hornets’ athletic training staff.

There are occasions where it’s difficult to stay in a good place mentally, knowing those endless hours may not necessarily produce the hopeful immediate results he’s longing for. Having a support system has helped, and Martin is grateful he’s surrounded by a few pillars.

“It’s been a collective,” he said. “My teammates do it without even realizing it. I come in here and I joke, we joke and have fun. You just try to act like everything is as normal as possible. They’ve been doing that with me since Day One and they do a great job. It’s not like you need someone to stand over you and say, ‘Hey it’s going to be all right.’ It’s just more or less like, ‘All right, bruh, you are going to be straight.’

“They have the utmost confidence that I’m going to come back better than ever, just my family and my brother and everybody on the staff. It’s frustrating regardless. There’s really no other way to put it, but the only thing I can control is come here and work and I’m doing everything in my power to get there.”

Which is perfectly fine with his teammates. They don’t want Martin to rush.

“I feel for him from a competitive standpoint, but he’s had his surgery and things of that nature to where he’ll be able to get back,” Dennis Smith Jr. said. “He’s still got a lot of miles left on his body. I’m looking forward to seeing what he’ll be able to do.”

Exactly when that will happen remains unclear. With 10 games remaining, time is running out for Martin to be on the active list again this season.

In order to suit up, though, things still have to improve.

“It’s obviously just physical for me,” Martin said. “I’ve played through pain before, so if it was a pain-tolerance issue that I could tolerate we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. So, I’m not the type of person to sit out because I have aches. I want to play. Like I said, nobody wants me to play more than me and obviously if that was the case I’d be playing. So, it’s more or less I know my body better than anybody else.

“And unfortunately it’s not there, it’s not where need to be to go out there and compete at the highest level and compete the way I know I can and should. Until that gets there and until I feel good to where I can do the things that is going to help our team and help everybody on our team contribute that way, I’m just going to have to keep doing what I’m doing, and show up and rehab and work until I feel it.”