I like Sam Amick a lot, and I think he's leaps and bounds better than The Bee's last Kings beat writer and he's one of the nicest guys I've come across in big media.
However, what the hell?
The Kings' leading scorer sat out the final 18:04, a move coach Eric Musselman chalked up to the defensive matchup with Jamal Crawford. ...
"That's his decision," Martin said. "That's fine. I'll just put that behind me just like I did the Clippers game back early in the season."
That's the only quote from Martin in the story. Those comments don't exactly scream "I'm so pissed Musselman sat me!" to me. Maybe Martin expressed that sentiment, but this was the most quotable stuff. Maybe Amick included those other quotes in the original version but a copy editor yanked them for length. Who knows?
I do know that, regardless, this is controversy for controversy's sake. Is there really news value in the revelation that NBA players would like to play more? (Not to mention one of the top 5 shooting guards in the league, who wasn't exactly stinking it up out there - Martin had 12 points on 7 shots! You seriously don't assume he thinks he should be on the court in a fairly important game like that in the fourth quarter?)
I'd venture to guess everything is fine between Martin and Musselman. (Also, I can't disagree with Musselman's move, no matter how big a Martin fan I am. Salmons is a high second-tier defender right now. If Artest, Shane Battier, Bruce Bowen, Earl Watson, and Josh Howard are the best perimeter defenders in the league, I think John Salmons can't be too far behind. He's good.)