SLAM talks to Shawn Kemp about kids, drugs, Italy and making it reign!
PRODUCED BY: MATT CAPUTO
DIRECTED & EDITED BY: MATTHEW J. SHERIDAN
It really wasn’t too long ago that Shawn Kemp was one of the most dominant and popular players in the NBA. A tall and lanky leaper, Kemp came into the NBA at 19-years-old and captivated arena audiences with his “supernatural” athleticism. At 6-10, few players of Kemp’s size had ever played the game as hard he did at the speed that he did. After 14 years in The League, Kemp’s career was both highly decorated and filled with peaks and valleys.
Today, Kemp is planning on returning to the court by playing pro ball in Italy next year. He’s living around Seattle and working on various small business ventures with his wife, as well as staying in shape to make some kind of court comeback. His son, Shawn Kemp Jr., will be a senior in high school this fall and on the D1 basketball radar. At age 38, Kemp is slimmed down and in good shape. His hard partying days seem to be over.
On a recent trip out to the West Coast, SLAM caught up with Kemp at the Rose Garden. Kemp was in Portland to serve as an Assistant Coach of the Seattle 3BA team in the league’s “pilot” game and lend his support to the new league. After the game, Kemp shared a few moments with SLAM to look back on his life and career.
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And I’d definately move to Italy, if Penny played there with him
he was good for 18 and 9 most nights add 2 blocks for good measure… He was always on my custom teams along with Alonzo and Penny Hardaway, glen Rice and Scottie Pippen.
Shaq’s 36 and still making his way up and down the court
I really hope to see you in Italy…just for some training…..but come!!i think it could be a good traning before a big back in the NBA!!!
Come on man here you have a lot of fun and we would like to see your wonderful DUNK!!
@garrett: that dunk on antoine carr was sick. it was the #1 dunk of 1995-96 on the nba action top 10 dunks of that season
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XX8g45KQYQ&NR=1
Kemp could still average double doubles without a doubt. Best power forward ever in my opinion. Yeah not in stats and rings etc, but in his prime he was athletically and skill wise at a higher level than any before or since. I never get tired of watching highlight reels of him, Kevin Calabro wailing….those were the days.
He surprised the NBA with his pump fake slams during the Slam dunk contests and was a team player. He is the reason I joined the Basket ball team in Middle school. I hope He can show everyone that he’s still got it. K
The feeling’s mutual, but Washington has yet to offer a scholarship
By DAN RALEY
P-I REPORTER Shawn Kemp Jr. visits Seattle every so often. Whether he makes it his college basketball home will be determined soon. The son of the former Sonics forward returned to class this week as a senior at Cherokee High School in the Atlanta suburbs, hoping to settle on a college choice within a couple of weeks. As of Thursday night, Kemp said he had received solid scholarship offers from West Virginia and Nevada, with Washington, Georgia and Kentucky showing significant recruiting interest. “Good coach, good team, good environment,” Kemp said of the UW. “The Huskies are a good choice. They’re a good team and they work hard. That’s where I was born. My family is there. I don’t think they’ve given me a full offer, but they’ve shown a lot of interest.” The 6-foot-9 big man met with UW coach Lorenzo Romar for the first time at his school last year and worked out in front of him. He speaks frequently with Huskies assistant Paul Fortier. The drawback in coming to Seattle would be the fact his father played here, which he says might be more hindrance than help. “It would be kind of weird,” he said. “I’d have a lot of attention. But I would deal with it.” The younger Kemp is an intriguing basketball prospect. He already has the wingspan of a 7-1 player and the potential to grow 3 to 5 more inches, which would surpass his 6-11 father. He didn’t play basketball until the eighth grade, encouraged by other classmates. He wasn’t too thrilled by the reaction of others, expecting him to emulate his famous and absent father almost immediately. Yet he liked the game and stuck with it. A year ago, Kemp averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds for a Cherokee Warriors team that advanced to the second round of the state playoffs. With a handful of key teammates having graduated, he’ll have to shoulder a bigger load. “My strengths are being in the post, just post moves and hook shots,” he said, crediting his high school coach, Roger Kvam, with teaching him the game. Kemp, who asked that he not be quizzed about his father, actually has serious basketball genes on both sides of his family. His mother’s brother is Harold Doyal, a 6-9 forward who has played professionally overseas for several years, lately in Spain. Doyal was a Seattle P-I honorable mention all-state selection for Bellevue’s Interlake High School in 1991 and led Western Washington in scoring (17.8) and rebounding (8.3) in 1995. Should he choose Washington, Kemp would become the fifth son of a former Sonics player to enter the program, joining Donald Watts (Slick), Bryan Brown (Fred), Marlon Shelton (Lonnie) and Michael Westphal (Paul). Spencer Hawes was the nephew of a former Sonic (Steve). Kemp moved to Georgia with his mother when he was 5. He made his most recent visit to the Seattle area last February, spending a week and visiting with his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. He was supposed to check out the UW, but didn’t make it to the campus. Maybe he knew something then. Still, he insists the Huskies have his interest, though he didn’t say how much. “I’m going to know pretty soon,” he said.
No way would anyone love their play like we love Kemp’s
welcome back
P.S. slam on hit me up when you come back to visit.
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