After 343 days since the last time he took the court for the Charlotte Hornets, Cody Martin finally made his long-anticipated return to the floor last Saturday against the Denver Nuggets.
Playing in just seven games during the 2022-23 season, Martin's return on Saturday marked the beginning of what will hopefully be a return to consistent availability after rarely making any appearances for the course of over a year and a half.
After playing 17 minutes against the Nuggets, Martin logged 25 minutes in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Despite coming off a prolonged injury, Martin has already shown how valuable he is to this Hornets team.
Against the Clippers, Martin had a few eye-popping plays right out of the gate. He threw down a monstrous dunk over Ivica Zubac in the second quarter, then swatted a shot off the backboard on the other end a few minutes later.
The next play down the floor, Martin took his defender off the dribble and nailed a 16-footer to pull the Hornets within six points. Of course, he also brought stability defensively and helped keep Charlotte in the game until the closing minutes.
It is worth nothing that Martin has looked to be in good shape physically as well. There have been little to no signs of any lingering pain in his knee. On the play where he dunked over Zubac, Martin took off with his left leg and showed off his still-present burst.
For a team that has been so depleted by injuries this season, Cody Martin's availability over the last few games has been nothing short of huge. Just having him out on the court has been a massive lift for Head Coach Steve Clifford's game planning, but his high-level production in relatively limited minutes thus far has made him that much more impactful.
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