Shawn Kemp
Encyclopedia : S : SH : SHA : Shawn Kemp
-->Shawn T. Kemp (born November 26 1969, in Elkhart, Indiana) is a former professional basketball player in the United States' National Basketball Association.
College
Kemp attended Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana. After graduation, Kemp signed a national letter-of-intent to play basketball at the University of Kentucky. However, he was kicked off the team before the season started for allegedly pawning a teammate's jewelry. He transferred mid-season to Trinity Valley Community College in Texas, but was too late to suit up. After a semester at TVCC, 19-year-old Shawn Kemp declared himself eligible for the 1989 NBA Draft without any collegiate experience.A popular legend is that as a youth, Shawn once dunked so viciously on a hoop with a chain-link net that he caused small sparks to fly. Kemp himself has stated that this is not just a tall tale, but that it actually transpired [link].
NBA
The Seattle SuperSonics drafted Kemp in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft and he quickly became a force to be reckoned with. Kemp was one of the NBA's premiere high flyers with outstanding leaping abilities. Half court lob passes from Gary Payton to Kemp became a regular sight to see. Together with Payton, Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins, Hersey Hawkins, and other stars, they became known as the "Sonic Boom."Kemp's career peaked in 1995-96, when he led the Sonics to a franchise-record 64 wins and their first NBA Finals appearance since 1979. They faced Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, who were coming off an NBA record 72 wins. The Sonics, however, managed to push the heavily-favored Bulls to six games.
Kemp asked for a raise, but Sonics management instead opted to give Jim McIlvaine, a second-year reserve from the Washington Bullets, a five-year, $35 million contract. The signing enraged Sonics fans, who could not understand why they denied the team's best player a raise while giving an unproven reserve such a large contract. McIlvaine had only averaged 2.3 points and 2.9 rebounds while playing 15 minutes per game in Washington. Kemp was outraged as well, and the resulting tension with management eventually led to a blockbuster three-team trade following the 1996-1997 season that sent Kemp to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks forward Vin Baker to the Sonics, and Terrell Brandon and Tyrone Hill from the Cavaliers to the Bucks.
Kemp played three consistent seasons with the Cavaliers, but was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers after the 1999-2000 season. The trade reunited Kemp with Bob Whitsitt, who had originally brought Kemp to Seattle. However, Kemp's play began to decline significantly. The last few years of Kemp's professional basketball career were riddled with problems stemming from his weight, as well as cocaine and alcohol abuse. For instance, his first season in Portland ended early when he entered drug rehabilitation. He was so dependent on marijuana that joints turned up even in locker room stalls; many of his teammates were concerned that he would actually die on the court. Kemp is also the father of several illegitimate children conceived during his NBA career. It was confirmed that he fathered at least seven children with at least seven different women all out of wedlock.
After two disastrous seasons, the Blazers waived him. He was signed as a free agent for the Orlando Magic, but failed to contribute consistently and was out of the league at the end of the season.
Legal problems
On April 4th, 2005 Shawn Kemp was arrested in Shoreline, Washington for an investigation of drug possession. Kemp along with another man were found with cocaine, about 60 grams of marijuana and a semiautomatic pistol, according to the King County Sheriff's Office. On April 29 Kemp was formally charged with drug possession and pleaded guilty.[link]NBA comeback attempt
In April of the 2005-06 NBA season, Kemp's NBA comeback chances looked promising [link]. The eventual Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks considered adding Kemp to their roster in time for the NBA playoffs. Mavs' head coach Avery Johnson scheduled a personal workout to take place in Houston, where Kemp trained for several months. However, Kemp failed to appear because of undisclosed reasons. The two parties tried to re-schedule a workout but the NBA refused to grant Dallas an injury exception (for a 16th player). Ultimately Kemp did not get a second chance to join the Mavs that season. [link]In June 2006, the Denver Post reported that Kemp has slimmed down to the playing weight of his all-star days and is determined to join an NBA team, possibly the Denver Nuggets, and finish his career "the right way." [link]
Career transactions
- Drafted by Seattle SuperSonics in 1st round (17th overall) of 1989 NBA Draft.
- Traded by Seattle to Cleveland Cavaliers as part of three-team deal on September 25, 1997 (Cleveland also received Sherman Douglas from Milwaukee Bucks; Milwaukee received Terrell Brandon, Tyrone Hill and '98 1st-round pick from Cleveland; Seattle received Vin Baker from Milwaukee).
- Traded by Cleveland to Portland Trail Blazers as part of three-team deal on August 30, 2000 (Cleveland received Chris Gatling, Clarence Weatherspoon, future 1st-round pick and cash from Miami Heat and Gary Grant from Portland; Miami received Brian Grant from Portland).
- Waived by Portland on August 20, 2002.
- Signed as free agent by Orlando Magic on September 5, 2002.
Statistics
| SEASON | TEAM | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '89-90 | Seattle | 81 | 1 | 13.8 | .479 | .736 | 4.3 | 0.3 | 6.5 |
| '90-91 | Seattle | 81 | 66 | 30.1 | .508 | .661 | 8.4 | 1.8 | 15.0 |
| '91-92 | Seattle | 64 | 23 | 28.3 | .504 | .748 | 10.4 | 1.3 | 15.5 |
| '92-93 | Seattle | 78 | 68 | 33.1 | .492 | .712 | 10.7 | 2.0 | 17.8 |
| '93-94 | Seattle | 79 | 73 | 32.9 | .538 | .741 | 10.8 | 2.6 | 18.1 |
| '94-95 | Seattle | 82 | 79 | 32.7 | .547 | .749 | 10.9 | 1.8 | 18.7 |
| '95-96 | Seattle | 79 | 76 | 33.3 | .561 | .742 | 11.4 | 2.2 | 19.6 |
| '96-97 | Seattle | 81 | 75 | 34.0 | .510 | .742 | 10.0 | 1.9 | 18.7 |
| '97-98 | Cleveland | 80 | 80 | 34.6 | .445 | .727 | 9.3 | 2.5 | 18.0 |
| '98-99 | Cleveland | 42 | 42 | 35.1 | .482 | .789 | 9.2 | 2.4 | 20.5 |
| '99-00 | Cleveland | 82 | 82 | 30.4 | .417 | .776 | 8.8 | 1.7 | 17.8 |
| '00-01 | Portland | 68 | 3 | 15.9 | .407 | .771 | 3.8 | 1.0 | 6.5 |
| '01-02 | Portland | 75 | 5 | 16.4 | .430 | .794 | 3.8 | 0.7 | 6.1 |
| '02-03 | Orlando | 79 | 55 | 20.7 | .418 | .742 | 5.7 | 0.7 | 6.8 |
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.