Martell Webster (born December 4, 1986) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who played 10 seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). The sixth player taken in the 2005 NBA draft, Webster played for Portland,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and Washington between 2005 and 2015. His best season came in 2012–13 when he started 62 games for the Wizards and averaged 11.4 points per game.

High school career

Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Webster was listed as the No. 4 shooting guard and the No. 5 player in the nation in 2005. He had made a commitment to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, but opted to go prep-to-pro.

Professional career

Portland Trail Blazers (2005–2010)

Webster was selected by the Blazers with the sixth pick in the 2005 NBA draft after the Blazers' traded their third pick to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

just hours before the draft. He was assigned to the Fort Worth Flyers of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

by the Blazers in January 2006, and in doing so became highest-drafted player (6th overall) to be assigned to the D-League until

Hasheem Thabeet Hasheem Thabeet (born Hashim Thabit Manka; 16 February 1987) is a Tanzanian professional basketball player who currently plays for Dar City. He played college basketball for the UConn Huskies before being drafted second overall in the 2009 NBA ...

. He later returned to the Portland Trail Blazers in February 2006. He scored a season-high 26 points in a January 5, 2008, win over the

, with 24 of them scored in the third quarter. He is one of the last-ever

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

players to be chosen in an

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

due to new draft eligibility rules introduced in 2006. In October 2008, Webster signed a four-year, $20 million contract extension. On February 20, 2009, it was announced by Trail Blazers athletic trainer Jay Jensen that Webster would likely miss the rest of the

2008–09 NBA season The 2008–09 NBA season was the 63rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals, four games to one. The 2008 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2008, and Derrick Ro ...

with a left foot injury, having only played 5 minutes during the season. On January 23, 2010, he scored a season-high 28 points in a win against the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

Minnesota Timberwolves (2010–2012)

Webster was traded on June 24, 2010, to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Ryan Gomes and the rights to draft pick

Luke Babbitt Luke Robert Babbitt (born June 20, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Nevada Wolf Pack before declaring for the 2010 NBA draft following his sophomore year. He was selected by the Mi ...

. Webster underwent back surgery in October 2010 and missed nearly half the 2010–11 NBA season, leading Timberwolves general manager David Kahn to charge the Trail Blazers with failure to adequately disclose a known injury. Another back surgery followed in September 2011, limiting Webster to just 47 games for the Wolves in the 2011–12 season. In spring 2013 Kahn's complaint was reportedly settled by the Blazers for $1.5 million just before the matter was brought to a formal hearing before the NBA. It was said to be among the largest cash settlements in such a case. Both teams were sworn to secrecy about the exact terms of the deal, according to basketball journalist Henry Abbott of

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. On July 13, 2012, Webster was waived by the Timberwolves.

Washington Wizards (2012–2015)

Webster signed with the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

on August 29, 2012, on a one-year, $1.6 million contract. On March 16, 2013, Webster scored a career-high 34 points in a win over the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

, also tying another career high with seven three-pointers. On July 10, 2013, Webster re-signed with the Wizards. In 2014–15, Webster missed the first 30 games of the season after he underwent surgery in June 2014 to repair a herniated disk in his lower back. He was ruled out for three to five months, as he returned to action on December 30, 2014, against the Dallas Mavericks. On November 20, 2015, Webster was ruled out for the 2015–16 season after undergoing successful surgery to repair the labrum and damaged cartilage in his right hip. He was subsequently waived by the Wizards ten days later.

Retirement

On September 25, 2017, Webster was added to the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

' training camp roster. However, five days later, he decided to leave training camp and retire from basketball.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 61 , , 18 , , 17.5 , , .399 , , .357 , , .859 , , 2.1 , , .6 , , .3 , , .2 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , 27 , , 21.5 , , .396 , , .364 , , .705 , , 2.9 , , .6 , , .4 , , .2 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 75 , , 70 , , 28.4 , , .422 , , .388 , , .735 , , 3.9 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .4 , , 10.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 1 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , 49 , , 24.5 , , .405 , , .373 , , .813 , , 3.3 , , .8 , , .5 , , .5 , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 46 , , 1 , , 23.8 , , .447 , , .417 , , .770 , , 3.2 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .2 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 26 , , 24.3 , , .423 , , .339 , , .792 , , 3.6 , , .9 , , .7 , , .4 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 76 , , 62 , , 28.9 , , .442 , , .422 , , .848 , , 3.9 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .2 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 78 , , 13 , , 27.7 , , .433 , , .392 , , .840 , , 2.8 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .2 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 32 , , 0 , , 11.0 , , .264 , , .233 , , .750 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .2 , , .0 , , 3.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 580 , , 266 , , 24.0 , , .418 , , .382 , , .791 , , 3.1 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , 8.7

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, style="text-align:left;", Portland , 6 , , 0 , , 25.3 , , .423 , , .294 , , .556 , , 4.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, style="text-align:left;", Washington , 11 , , 0 , , 17.7 , , .366 , , .231 , , .667 , , 2.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 3.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 17 , , 0 , , 20.4 , , .398 , , .256 , , .593 , , 3.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 5.9

Personal life

Webster's mother, Cora McGuirk, disappeared in 1990, when he was four years old. Although her body was never found,

Gary Ridgway Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949), known as the Green River Killer or the Green River Strangler, is an American serial killer who was convicted of murdering forty-nine women between 1982 and 1998 in the northwestern United States. At ...

, known as the "Green River Killer", a serial killer who murdered dozens of women and girls in Washington during the 1980s and 1990s, is thought to be responsible for killing her. His cousin is NBA veteran

Jason Terry Jason Eugene Terry (born September 15, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 19 seasons in the NBA as a combo guar ...

. In 2015, Webster co-founded EYRST, an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

focusing on

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, based in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. He released his first

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

, ''ARTT'', on July 14, 2016, and his first EP on August 12, 2016, entitled ''Emerald District'', which was produced by

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

hip hop producer

Jake One Jacob Brian Dutton (born May 11, 1976), known professionally as Jake One, is an American record producer and songwriter.Palermo, Thomas (2008)Jake One Readies New Album, XLR8R, September 5, 2008Matos, Michaelangelo (2004)Rocketship Blowing Up", ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Martell 1986 births Living people Basketball players from Seattle Fort Worth Flyers players McDonald's High School All-Americans NBA high school draftees Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Sportspeople from Edmonds, Washington Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players Shooting guards Small forwards Washington Wizards players American men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen