Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 10:15 am  |  84 responses

For Old Time’s Sake: Make it Reign

EMPHATIC, WITH AUTHORITY, BEAST…. those are just a few of the things that come to mind when thinking of Shawn Kemp (early 90s Shawn Kemp). Dude was a straight RIM ROCKER. Remember what he did to Alton Lister?!?! I think I used to check under my bed for the Reign Man when I was a kid, not the Boogie Man. Check out his top 10 below.


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  • grandmama

    you cant stop the reign ….

  • http://www.boogiewilliams.com Boing Dynasty

    Ya you trying to say you were affraid of a retarded Dustin Hoffman under your bed, or did you mean Reign Man?

  • ben

    Rumor had it that Shawn Kemp dunked so hard on a basketball goal with a chain net that sparks flew. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but if anyone could do it, the Reignman could.

  • tom

    you have to love it

  • http://realgm.com Ryan

    Cocaine is such a terrible drug :( .

  • kh

    I absolutely Abhor Shawn Kemp. A 6’11 guy who can dunk does not impress me. Kemp is a major contributor to the delightful exchange between someone who plays basketball and someone who doesn’t…
    “you play basketball?”
    “yup”
    “can you dunk?”

  • martey

    Well to abhor Shawn Kemp, you have to be the someone who doesn’t play, doesn’t watch, and therefore doesn’t know that along with the rain came the teardrop jumpshots, the spin moves, hell at 6’11 he could even put the ball down on the floor, with the shake and bake moves. To think he was all dunk and nothing else is crazy. Him and the glove took the Sonics to their best years and the NBA finals. That team that went to the finals wasn’t that deep therefore making Kemp and Payton extremely underrated. Makes me wanna look for an old pair of Reebok Kamikazes.

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    one of my favorite players in the 90′s too bad he isnt the same reign man when he came to the cavs.

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    i really thought jason maxiell would be this generation’s kemp.. well im wrong.

  • http://joeloholic.wordpress.com Joel O’s

    Probably the best PF in the 1990′s behind Charles and Malone.

  • ben

    Look kh, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t say anything. Kemp wasn’t just a dunker. Besides just dunking, he could rebound. 10+ rebounds per game between 1991 and 1996. He also was a decent shot blocker. 1989 (rookie season): .9 bpg, 1990: 1.5 bpg, 1991: 1.9 bpg, 1992: 1.9 bpg, 1993: 2.1 bpg, 1994: 1.5 bpg, 1995: 1.6 bpg, 1996: 1.0 bpg. He was never the same player after he got traded to the Cavs.

  • kh

    Martey, I appreciate a more fundamentally sound, well rounded player. I simply refuse to watch or acknowledge Kemp with any kind of admiration. I didn’t like the way he played. Is your current favourite player Dwight Howard?

  • http://www.twitter.com/mansonovic Mansonovic

    Chuck Norris lays awake at night, wishing he could be Shawn Kemp.

  • kh

    Thanks for wasting your time Ben. His stats do not impress me, nor do they change the way I saw him play. I can’t help but wonder with all the love Kemp is getting in these comments if a few of you aren’t his offspring. Why else would anyone care so much about my opinion on the man’s game?

  • dub31582

    Seattle was never the same after Kemp.

  • martey

    Actually no, Dwight Howard isn’t. You don’t have to admire Shawn Kemp but to abhor him is a little strong and leads to believe he may have denied your autograph request back in the day. You don’t go to the NBA finals with that team on dunks alone and take Jordan to 6 games. Like Ben said, he could block and rebound, had a 15 foot jumper and a nice handle for someone 6’11.It’s just that the dunking was so great it overshadowed the casual watcher which i gather you’re not. He’s not Kenny Skywalker who was all dunks. And Ben I think he was never the same player because of the coke. He was the only person I’ve ever seen gain weight off cocaine abuse.

  • martey

    …and relax KH, you post your opinions so people can see them or else your would have kept them to yourself. People respond to them. We’re all basketball fans so a debate is all in fun. your opinion is respected.

  • kh

    I feel ya Martey.
    I think I’ve always felt strongly about his game becasue Kemp was my best friend’s favourite player back in the day and we used to battle all the time!

  • logues

    god i love the old school kemp. i remember watching NBA Superstars 3 as a little kid with his mixtape with Pearl Jam playing. This makes me really wanna see an old school feature on kemp

  • Robb

    man Kemp was so awesome. He wasn’t all dunks at all.

  • Overtime

    He wasnt Rainman…he was rain, man

  • Drolfe

    Posting a contentious comment like ‘all Shawn Kemp can do is dunk’ and acting surprised when people respond is weird behaviour.

  • sample

    i just love those early 90′s uniform. kenyon martin was the 2.0 version. too bad,players can’t slap the backboard after a dunk.

  • http://SLAMonline.com GotHandles?

    BEAST MODE

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    The number 1 and 2 dunks are up there as best of ALL TIME. Nobody has ever done a reverse dunk like that with bodies in the way, except Dominique. BOOK IT!!!

  • http://mlh303@hotmail.com Big Marv

    Loved Shawn Kemp. Damn.

  • http://slamonline.com Saviour

    KH talks like someone who has never even watched a full Kemp game….come off the highlight reel diet son and enjoy some full game action, it’ll not only increase your knowledge of the game but also save you looking silly in public places.

  • riggs

    my fav dunk was the one on gatling, where he gave him dap at the end.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/Uncle05Sam Earl

    Lister Blister!!

  • http://bigmel@yahoo.com Big Mel

    Always a hater somewhere if u thought he was dunkin cause he was 6’11 u a hater. Go watch a fundametals DVD with 2 hand bounce passes somewhere or some 1950′s highlights.

  • underdog

    All-time Fav.

  • JTaylor21

    the reason why he wasn’t the same player when he was traded to clevland was because playing for the cavs and being in the dreadful city makes you doing major coke. The city and its fans are so depressing.

  • kh

    I am a hater, I’ve clearly expressed myself. I’d rather have Lawerence Funderburke on my squad.

  • barnabusb

    @logues: That Pearl Jam video from Superstars 3 was the BEST. I probably watched it thousands of times back in the day.

  • tbizzle!

    dude had one of the best post spin moves
    ever. no one else…when he broke out the spin move
    in the post and sealed off his man…it was like he
    crossed him up…but with a cold spin move.

  • http://Yahoo Shanoooooooo

    Since yall are doing all these 90′s throwback mixes how about doing the best big man of the 90′s. Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.

  • http://www.twitter.com/TheDiesel Anton

    To me, best dunker of all time. He just f*ckin smashed it.

  • Brian

    Wasn’t Kemp’s problem more booze when he got to CLE? That’s why he put the weight on, I think. SI did a great article on him when he played for Seattle talking about how he would go down to some local park and buy 40′s and play ball with the homeless. Man the NBA did Seattle wrong.

  • backboard

    agree with logues and barnabusb! Pearl Jam!

    And Amar(e)(´) is this generations shawn kemp! NY = CLE (kemp)

  • http://SLAMonline.com Dave Schnur – SLAM Staff

    don’t fret SLAM Nation. many vids are planned for the days/weeks ahead and many of the suggestions have already been taken care of. Keep hitting us up and the vids won’t stop!

  • barnabusb

    Here’s the Superstars 3 video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Ykd7jqyNE

  • GHOST (OF Nick Anderson)

    PLEASE do something on Penny Hardaway. His game was retarded!!!! Lebron said that’s who he patterned his game after. Even got the Lil Penny style puppet. Damn you injuries!!!

  • logues

    Dave: how bout some white chocolate from the sacto days?

  • barnabusb

    Also, this alley-oop (the third dunk in the video) is one of my favourite alley-oops of all time, all over Zo’s face.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUjEz8u0E4

    And this dunk on Antoine Carr is under-rated, as well.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89NSYa13wS4

    Man, Youtube is awesome.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Pardeep

    Number 5: Why would u shake someones hand after they dunk it on u!?

  • http://www.borntocompete.com Money$hot

    One of the best in game dunkers of all time

  • Kashdef

    Agree with riggs, that dunk was nice to see he abused Gatling, but he showed respect in after words. That kind of sportsmanship is cool to see.

  • Donovan

    Kemp was great with the Sonics. Didn’t he almost get traded for Scottie Pippen back in the day? He wasn’t just a dunker. The Sonics advanced to the ’96 Finals when Kemp developed a mid-range jumper. The point of the post is Old Time’s Sake not if dude was over or underrated. Some of you guys can f*ck up a wet dream. Kemp was the man in the early to mid 90′s nuff said.

  • Sonicjones

    Why do you gotta bring back a seattle citizen’s anger and sadness slam? I’m still trying to get over the biggest crime in NBA history.

  • J-MAC

    Kemp was cold in the 90′s. With the way the L is now with free agency he would of got one of those contracts like Amare or Booze. He was a top 5 pf in the 90′s

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