I just read Chris Ballard’s piece in Sports Illustrated about dunking and one of the first things that popped into my mind after closing the magazine was the player that was Shawn Kemp. The first basketball jersey I ever had was a Seattle Supersonics Shawn Kemp jersey. He was my favorite player as a child and why wouldn't he have been? He epitomized what the NBA in the early 90's was all about—he was tall, quick, big, and most importantly he could throw it down.
That was the NBA I knew and loved, when hanging on the rim didn't warrant a technical and trash talk deserved its own stat line.
Although I was a Magic fan, Kemp made me care about the Sonics in the West. One of my folders in elementary school had a picture of him, mid-dunk, plastered on it. The ball cocked back, determination on his face, it was pose that I attempted to duplicate on more than one occasion—those attempts however were made on a concrete porch with a plastic basketball hoop, weighed down by sand.
Never could I levitate like No. 40. But I didn't feel bad, because few could get off the ground like the Reign Man in his prime.
Not only could he leave his fingerprints on the rim, he could hit the mid range jumper and the occasional three. He was also very solid on the defensive side of the ball. He knocked shots into the laps of season ticket holders, he grabbed rebounds, he slashed and forced his way into the lane and subsequently produced more pictures for folders, posters, and whatever other NBA merchandise the league was peddling whenever his Reebok soles left the hardwood.
Kemp, along with Gary Payton, was the Sonics.
Kemp led Seattle to the Finals in ‘96 against Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, and like others that faced the tongue in the post-season, he lost.
That would be as close as Kemp would get to that elusive ring. Not long after he became a victim of a dynasty, he fell from rarefied air.
Being an NBA superstar is unforgiving, when your star falls, it falls hard.
Kemp would soon become a Cleveland Cavalier and be forced to wear perhaps the ugliest basketball uniforms ever created.
He still played at a high level for a couple of years, but age and bad decisions would prove that Shawn was a mortal.
If you follow basketball you likely know about his legal woes. Guns, drugs, children from several women, and who could forget his ballooning weight that transformed the Reign Man into a puddle.
Without gravity and Payton by his side, the superstar became normal. He became a run of the mill NBA player.
No more signature shoes from sneaker companies, no more All-Star Games, and no more being talked about as a Hall of Famer.
If he still has autograph seekers, they likely ask him to sign cards indicating that he had a prime, that he was one of the best at one time.
It seems to be such a familiar story, one that seems so similar to so many other NBA players that once controlled the numbers on scoreboards, and made their last name so popular that others would wear it on their backs. However, just because it is common does not make it easy to accept.
My favorite player is trapped in YouTube videos, dunking on Alton Lister and pointing. He is trapped on my old basketball cards and on my now too small to wear Sonics jersey. I loved having that green No. 40 on my chest and back.
And I bet Shawn Kemp did too. He probably wishes he still could.
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7 months ago
Great piece.
Like you, Kemp was my favorite NBA player in my youth. It's hard to block a 6'10" superstar who can leap 40+ inches (vertical jump). He was Superman long before Dwight Howard.
It was hard to watch him fade from dominance to irrelevance like he did, but man he was fun to watch in his prime.
7 months ago
Bravo! Tears are streaming, sniffles sounding. I miss those days. I now live in Seattle and because of those days it was easy to tint my blood green and gold once I got here. Unfortunately the new ownership will likely be pulling up ties and going to Oklahoma.
Also, remember the Detlef.
from 7 months ago
Oh I can't forget Detlef. The man looked like the bad guy from the Terminator movies but he could play his ass off.
7 months ago
Great article. Keep up the great work!
7 months ago
Great article about an amazing player from that age of the NBA that has been all but forgotten. Nice work.
7 months ago
Oh, Big Poppa Kemp... I was excited when the Cavs got him. But so was his waist line. And gravity. Good read. It's nice to remember the exciting Shawn Kemp and not the big one that had a hard time elevating to the rim.
7 months ago
I didn't much like him when he played, but love the hilites of him now. He was amazing. Best T-Shrt anyone I know owned: Buddy of mine had a tee that read:
"Shawn Kemp is my father"
7 months ago
Remember the Reebok w/ Hexalites that he used to rock? He was the original KG, just one that gained about 70 pounds of weight when he hit 30.
7 months ago
6 foot, 10 inches tall.
40 inch vertical leap.
52 illegitimate children.
Debilitating addiction to powdered donuts.
7 months ago
Love the piece Jonathan.
Man, those Sonics teams were exciting...one of my favorites players of that era was Hersey Hawkins actually. That guy just had such a pure stroke (though admittedly he wasn't nearly as cool as Detlef).
But Payton and Kemp were the real talents on the team—they were just awesome to watch. Between Payton's ability to back his man into the paint and play shut down defense to Kemp's knack for acrobatic dunks and a solid mid-range game, they were indeed one of the best duos in the league.
Next thing you know, Kemp was in Cleveland 100 pounds heavier than he should have been. His career really took a plunge quickly...right?
Not necessarily...the numbers, in fact, paint a different picture entirely.
Like many in this thread have said, I've always thought of Shawn Kemp as a guy who was brilliant in his peak but who pulled a Dwight Gooden and allowed his off the court issues to ruin his career. But what's interesting is that his season by season statistics suggest that he really had no peak—and was indeed remarkably consistent.
Look at his PPG AND RPG from 90' to 00':
(SEATTLE)
90/91: 15.0, 8.4
91/92: 15.5, 10.4
92/93: 17.8, 10.7
93/94: 18.1, 10.8
94/95: 18.7, 10.9
95/96: 19.6, 11.4
96/97: 18.7, 10.0
(CLEVELAND)
97/98: 18.0, 9.3
98/99: 20.5, 9.2
99/00: 17.8, 8.8
Numbers obviously don't tell the whole story...but is it possible that all of us are getting too hyped up about Kemp's dunking ability in his youth, while overlooking the fact that he was in fact a solid player throughout the majority of his career?
Just a thought.
from 7 months ago
His "peak" and where his dominance really showed was in the playoffs in the mid 90s. There were games and series' where he was unstoppable.
There is a perception that when he went to Cleveland, his career went in the tank, but really his game just changed. He gained some weight, and then the strike came and he gained even more. He still put up solid numbers, he just couldn't jump over people anymore.
The true decline was after Cleveland when he became a role player and averaged 6.5, 6.1 and 6.8 PPG the last three years of his career.
The bottom line is, he was and always will be, one of the most exciting players I have ever seen.
7 months ago
I moved to Seattle in early 1993 from LA and I grew up being a Lakers fan. But just catching a glimpse of the Reign Man and the Glove and the fine collection of fellow players on the court that came over the next 5-6 seasons turned me into a major Sonics fan. For those of you who are not in Seattle or weren't here during those years, it's hard to explain. People actually went to bars after work to watch the Sonics play, local rock bands sang about the Sonics (PUSA has a Sonics song) and the city loved the team.
I still love basketball and I am still a Sonics fan (for as long as they stay in Seattle) but the magic of that time has long passed. The Reign man is long gone, the Glove is gone, The Hawk is gone, Nate is a Blazer now and Detlef is gone.
I still think that one of the most underrated team members of the Sonics in the late 90's was George Karl. I knew the team wouldn't recover after he left and unfortunately, I was right.
6 months ago
Man this brings back so many memories.
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