Caleb Martin

Stephen A. Smith Puts Caleb Martin On Blast

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Caleb Martin has become the face of the Miami Heat’s playoff run this year. People have latched onto the story of the guy who went from being cut by the Hornets to starting for the Heat. Furthermore, the central part that rapper J. Cole played in proceedings only fueled people’s passion for it.

Additionally, Martin has played a vital role in the Heat’s playoff run. He averaged nearly 20 points a game in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics. Furthermore, he averaged 11.2 and 10.5 points per game against the Bucks and Knicks respectively. However, Martin has so far been unable to replicate that success against the Nuggets. Through three games, he’s averaging just 5.3 points on 26 minutes a night. Furthermore, the Heat find themselves down 2-1 in the series and still missing Tyler Herro for at least another game. Now Martin is getting heat from the media.

Smith Roasts Martin

Speaking on First Take, Stephen A. Smith didn’t hold back about Martin. “Where the hell are you? … He has been a virtual no-show in these Finals,” Smith asked of Martin. Martin played 32 minutes in the Heat’s 109-94 Game 3 loss. Despite the extensive floor time, his most in the Finals so far, Martin had another quiet performance. He put up 10 points, three rebounds, three assists, and 2 steals. He went 4-for-9 from the field and 2-for-5 from three.

If the Heat wants to stand any chance of taking down the Nuggets, Martin and the rest of the Heat bench really need to step up. Through three games, the Heat’s bench has scored 28.9% (86 of 298) of the Heat’s points. Martin has contributed just 16 of those points. That is a lot of scoring pressure to put on the starting five. By comparison, the Nuggets’ limited bench tactic has netted them 49 points during the series so far. Despite these struggles, the Heat will attempt to even the series in Friday’s Game 4. Follow all the latest sports news here at HotNewHipHop.

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J. Cole Called Caleb Martin And Was ‘So Hype’ After The Miami Heat Beat Boston To Advance To The NBA Finals

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During Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 19, TNT’s Allie LaForce relayed that J. Cole is responsible for Miami Heat breakout star Caleb Martin landing with the team in September 2021.

The Heat pummeled the Boston Celtics, 103-84, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conferences Finals on Monday, May 29, with Martin scoring 26 points and snagging 10 rebounds. Ahead of Miami clashing with the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Finals, Martin joined The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz to relish his moment in the sun.

“I’ve had a lot of people reach out, show a lot of love,” Martin said. “Obviously, my mom and my family. [J.] Cole called me right after the game. Everybody knows the story about Cole pretty much now, but Cole called me, and we were talking after the game. He was just so hype — jumping up and down.”

Le Batard then asked Martin whether it’s “legitimately 100 percent so that there’s no way that you’re on the Heat if not for J. Cole.”

“Honestly, I think the chances of me being here without him making the phone call and getting in touch with Caron, it’d be pretty slim to none,” Martin confirmed. “I feel like I definitely probably wouldn’t be here. For sure.”

During a press conference on May 31, Martin also shared that Cole had “called me before I got undressed after Game 7,” and the Dreamville rapper is “definitely gonna be at some games” during the Finals (as shared by Naveen Ganglani).

Martin first signed with the Charlotte Hornets as an undrafted free agent out of Nevada in 2019, but he was waived by the team in August 2021.

The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania broke the news in September 2021 that the 27-year-old had signed a two-way contract with the Heat, and Miami locked him up on a three-year extension last July. That contract has never looked better.

The 2023 NBA Finals tip off in Denver on Thursday, June 1. The entire series will air on ABC.

Watch Martin’s full Le Batard interview above.

J. Cole Actually Helped A Key Miami Heat Contributor Get Signed By The Team, Apparently

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Caleb Martin contributed 18 points off the bench for the Miami Heat in their dominant 128-102 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night, May 21. In the Heat’s 111-105 Game 2 victory, Martin torched the Celtics for 25 points, and he bucketed another 15 in the series’ opening matchup (another Heat win).

The eighth-seeded Heat are one win away from perhaps the most improbable NBA Finals appearance in history — certainly in recent memory — and we learned during TNT’s Game 2 broadcast that Martin was just one J. Cole call away from Miami last summer.

“We found out some interesting facts about Caleb Martin and how he got to this point,” TNT sideline reporter Allie LaForce said during the second quarter, as captured by Bleacher Report. “We were talking to [Heat head coach] Erik Spoelstra before the game, and he said a week before camp started, J. Cole — yes, J. Cole, the rapper — called assistant coach Caron Butler and said, ‘My guy Caleb Martin is available.’”

LaForce continued, “Coach Butler passed on the information to Erik Spoelstra. He said, ‘Could he come? We’re scrimmaging tomorrow.’ [Martin] showed up, impressed everyone, became a two-way player, and ever since, was a huge part of the starting rotation until they had to decide to sign him full-time. It was a match made in heaven from day one.”

Martin went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, signing that summer as an undrafted free agent with the Charlotte Hornets. The Nevada product inked a multi-year pact with the team by that October (as relayed by the NBA at the time), but Martin was waived in August 2021.

Miami signed Martin to a two-way contract in September 2021 (as first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania), which blossomed into a three-year extension worth up to $20.4 million come last July.

Undrafted players Martin, Duncan Robinson, Gabriel Vincent, and Max Strus have contributed impressively to this magical Heat playoff run led by six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler.

J. Cole could also be worth a look this coming offseason. The Dreamville rapper (and nasty hooper in his own right) has experience playing professionally in the Basketball Africa League and the Canadian Elite Basketball League.

Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals is slated to tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 23, from Miami’s Kaseya Center. The potential elimination game will be broadcast on TNT.

J. Cole Revealed As Reason The Heat Signed Caleb Martin

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Caleb Martin has been one of the NBA’s recent undrafted success stories. After going undrafted out of Nevada in 2019, Martin was signed by the Charlotte Hornets. After playing sparingly in his rookie year, he appeared in 53 games in the 2020-21 season. However, he was ultimately waived by the Hornets prior to the 2021-22 season. He signed a two-way contract with the Miami Heat, eventually being upgraded to a regular contract in February 2022.

This past season, Martin appeared in a career-high 71 games and started a career-high 49 for the Heat. In fact, he set career highs across the board as he became a crucial member of the Heat’s rotation and starting five. However, it turns out there was a surprising figure behind Martin’s transfer to the Heat.

J. Cole Vouched For Martin’s Ability

Martin is from North Carolina, born and raised in the state while also briefly attending high school in Virginia. After being cut by the Hornets, he returned home to try and find another gig on an NBA roster. One of the places he trained was a gym owned by rapper J. Cole. After seeing Martin play, Cole reached out to his friend, Miami Heat Assistant Coach Caron Butler. “He had reached out to me and told me he had a very, very talented guy that was just wrecking shop up here in North Carolina and he had just got released from the Hornets,” Butler told The Charlotte Observer. He continued. “Obviously, we were still trying to improve on our talent. He reached out to me and I just invited him to an open scrimmage in the summer and from that point on he really earned his way on.”

He continued. “But J. Cole having the foresight in knowing Caleb can come and help a contending team was just amazing.” Butler also praised Cole’s eye for basketball talent. “He has a great eye for talent, but I think he just sees the grind and the drive in people,” Butler said. “He knows that someone like Caleb was going to go out there and play extremely hard, play with a lot of grit and a lot of passion. ‘O’ did a great job of working him, training him. Some of our philosophies that we teach, he did a great job of echoing our voice and making sure that he’s up to speed because he’s been working with him for so long. Between him and Cole and all those guys, it’s been a remarkable partnership.”

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Caleb Martin Credits J. Cole With Helping Him Make It Onto The Miami Heat

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J. Cole might be sitting pretty with his place on hip-hop Mount Rushmore, but his influence spreads beyond music, too. Cole has always been a very vocal fan of basketball, even going so far as to join a Rwandan team himself in order to play pro basketball in Africa.

Turns out his basketball influence extends to the states, too. Caleb Martin, who recently joined the Miami Heat, told The Charlotte Observer that the rapper was instrumental in getting him in position to be picked up by the team. Cole’s network with NBA contacts and private gym both helped Martin get in position to be signed to Miami.

“Yeah, that’s my man,” Caleb Martin told The Observer. “It shows that even though he’s accomplished a lot of things … and he’s got so many other things to worry about, he worries about his people. And it’s dope he considers me one of his people, that he takes into account and he knew my situation. He saw me working in the gym every day and you could just tell he appreciates guys who grinds like he does and so that’s a blessing for him to lend a hand out there and do what he could.”

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