BRADENTON, Fla. – Kevin Martin hasn't received his homework assignment just yet, and it shows.

"Everybody says they want to force me left, but I want them to force me left," the Kings shooting guard says with a bit of bravado inside a dank gym at the IMG Academies earlier this month. "I love going left."

But the research – a sheet filled with statistics Martin hands to his personal coach, David Thorpe, on this muggy morning – shows it's not quite that simple. Martin may have gone left 62.19 percent of the time last season, but his efficiency when heading that direction was well below the rate when he headed right.

He settled for the midrange jumper 63.25 percent of the time as opposed to 38.89 percent on the right side, which matters because the numbers also prove scoring at the rim is a greater certainty than burying pull-ups from any range.

This is just one nuance of Martin's game, but it is the lesson of the day.

And class is just getting started.

Players choosing personal touch

As NBA salaries have skyrocketed over the past 20 years, more players have hired individual coaches. The salary cap, $6.2 million in the 1987-88 season, was $55.6 million last season, with the average individual salary $5.2 million. Martin is among the many who reflect the change, having signed a five-year, $53 million extension last summer.

As a result, most players have embraced a reality that they are each individual corporations, mini-companies who are more willing to invest in their own brand than ever. Thorpe, Martin's behind-the-curtain coach since the summer after his freshman season at Western Carolina, estimates 10 to 25 percent of NBA players rely on outside consultants/coaches. Some players spend as little as $10,000 in a summer for detailed offseason workouts. Others employ a full-time individual coach who lives in their adopted home city and travels to away games for what often is a low six-figure salary. To varying degrees, the goal is finding a qualified coach who can provide the sort of one-on-one instruction NBA teams often can't.

While Thorpe and Martin declined to discuss the details of their arrangement, it is difficult to argue with the success of their pairing. Thorpe, 43, is a coach who chose the alternative route in his late 20s, opting to train players individually after coaching high school basketball in Florida and turning down offers from the college ranks.

He says he wanted to "avoid the rat race" of the coaching world, where recruiting skills and politicking play as big a part as player development.

He has about 40 clients, ranging from top-tier pros (Martin and Chicago's Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas) to pros who play overseas, NBA Development League players and college types. He also holds a side job as an analyst for ESPN.com, evaluating and analyzing players on the Web just as he does in his gym.

His partnership with Martin began when Martin's coach at Western Carolina, Steve Shurina, asked Thorpe to work out his player at his Pro Training Center facility in Clearwater, Fla.

Extra work is essential

In the beginning, Thorpe wasn't sure Martin had the dedication and mettle required to make the most of his program.

With Thorpe officiating occasional scrimmages, Martin was a frequent complainer whose frail frame was bruised and battered daily. Thorpe said he sometimes wondered if Martin would return the next day.

The summer sessions are the root of their work, a pre-training camp training camp that ensures Martin is in prime shape physically and mentally by the time his team reunites. This summer, his first visit came in June. Martin headed for Florida on vacation in nearby Longboat Keys, but he couldn't help visiting the inland facility for light workouts on three of the five days he was in the area.

The scheduled sessions began Sept. 6 and ended Sept. 16, with Martin and fewer than 10 players participating. Mondays through Thursdays meant double-days, during which Martin was joined by the likes of former NBA center and European star Daniel Santiago and various D-League players. There was one practice on Fridays, with the weekends reserved for rest. Weightlifting five days per week was also part of the routine, with Martin following an e-mailed script from Kings strength and conditioning coach Daniel Shapiro.

Read the Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/kingsblog.