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Hornets Insider: Lingering knee issues ‘frustrating’ for Cody Martin

JEFF SINER/jsiner@charlotteobserver.com

Cody Martin never thought his gameday wardrobe would be limited to mostly street clothes for the better part of his fourth season.

Putting on a Charlotte Hornets jersey has been a rare occurrence for the swing man during the past few months, which isn’t how he envisioned things transpiring. He was supposed to be the team’s sixth man, one of the first people coach Steve Clifford turns to off the bench. Especially for defensive purposes.

But Martin has been relegated to mostly spectator status, forced to hone his craft only during practice routines and pregame workouts. He hasn’t been available for the Hornets’ past 11 outings, including Sunday’s 119-113 loss to Orlando at Spectrum Center.

He’s suited up in just seven games and missed the initial 32 games of the Hornets’ injury-ravaged season while recovering from Nov. 11 arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Something still isn’t right. Is it soreness? Pain?

“It’s kind of both to be honest with you,” Martin said. “And just really, it’s just not ready. As much as I want it to be, as much as I want to play, it’s just like that sometimes and it sucks. This is like my first surgery and dealing with it there’s a little bit of uncomfortability there already.

“But I’m just staying on top of it. I know that it’s not ready right now. The only thing I can really do is stay on top of my treatment until it gets to that point.”

With the Hornets struggling so badly, Martin’s pride couldn’t stand being sidelined. The grinding-type mentality that propelled him to being a second-round pick in 2019 and landed him a four-year, $31 million contract last summer wouldn’t allow him to sit but so much, though. And he’s paying for it currently.

Pushing himself to those limits again doesn’t make much sense. He already did that once and the results weren’t on the scale of his raised expectations.

“Yeah, I probably came back a little sooner,” Martin said. “But knowing me, I’m a competitor and I want to get out there and play. So, I wanted to be smarter about that, and that’s what I’m doing now, is probably doing what I should have done and just making sure I’m ready before I go out there, and making sure things are taken care of. My health has to be a priority right now.”

There’s not really an alternative given the lingering pain and soreness.

“We’ve kind of taken a step back with him,” coach Steve Clifford said Sunday. “So, I don’t know what the time frame would be. He was doing more today, but fingers crossed on that. I don’t know. He felt good for a while and then he just hasn’t.

“It’s just how he can handle being uncomfortable when he comes back, and maybe last time we played him a little bit too much or he tried to come back too quickly. We still have 28 games left. The big thing for him is, I want to see our team all play together, and he’s a pretty important part of that. So, hopefully, whenever that is ...”

It’s all led to an empty feeling for Martin. He’s not in control the way he would like, a maddening situation since he’s used to having a pulse on his situations.

But this being the first major surgery he’s experienced, the uneasiness surrounding the uncertainty of his recovery is difficult to stomach. His body isn’t responding how it typically does, and getting back on the court in game action won’t be a smart option until something changes with the nagging soreness that just won’t seem to calm down.

“It’s frustrating, especially because, like I’ve told you before, one of my goals was to play the whole season,” Martin said. “And I wasn’t just saying that to say it. That was my actual goal. It sucks, though, and is frustrating. I’m staying on the physical aspect. It’s more mental. A lot of it is mental and it gets frustrating.

“Like I said, I’m a competitor and I want to play. I want to help our team. I want to win. So, all those things come into play. I want to be healthy when I’m playing.”

When that will exactly happen is unclear.

“It’s frustrating,” Martin said. “I can’t lie to you. The only thing I can do is what I’m doing right now — stay on top of health, stay on top of my treatment and just be consistent with that until I get to the point where I’m ready to play. So, yeah it’s frustrating for sure.”