August 7, 2008 – Dr. Browntorious
When it was rumored last week that Shawn Kemp aka ‘The Reign Man’ was coming out of retirement to play professionally in Italy I almost wet my pants. Along with the other high fliers of the day; such as Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkens, Spud Webb, etc., growing up Shawn Kemp was one of my favorite NBA superstars. The guy was an absolute beast. He was all about reigning down on cats in the lane. He basically invented dunking on a guy and giving him the bag sweat to the face. You know the type of dunk featured recently removed from the Nike Hyperdunk Ad’s due to the perceived gayness sexual insensitivity. Long before the league got all bent out of shape on guys hanging on the rim for an extra second or two after a vicious dunk, Kemp used to wrap his legs right around his victim’s neck and let that linger on the dude.
For some of you younger readers out there i’m not referring to the 2002-03 Shawn Kemp on the Orlando Magic squad that weighed seemingly 500lbs and only averaged 6.8 points and 5.7 rebounds on the season. The cat i’m referring to is the high flying Seattle Supersonics PF from 1989-1996 who had disgusting hops and could jump out of the gym. His high-flying windmill dunks in the dunk competition and in games are to this day some of the best i’ve ever seen. He had spindly little ankles but just the right combination of fast twitch muscle size. His body was like a young Kevin Garnett but on steroids. Teamed with Gary Payton aka ‘The Glove’ in Seattle meant lob dunk after lob dunk for highlight reel plays on a nightly basis. There was a number of years that Seattle was the team to beat in the West, but the high point of Kemp’s career probably culminated in 1995-96 when he carried the Sonics to the NBA Finals to face Michael Jordan and his NBA record best 72-win Chicago Bulls. Everyone expected to the Bulls to take care of business with a fair bit of ease, but Kemp and Payton were so young, raw, and athletic that they took the Bulls to six games before ultimately losing to arguably the best team ever assembled.
Of course most of you are aware of the well chronicled legal troubles, drug and alcohol abuse, and weight gain that followed Shawn Kemp after his departure from Seattle to the Cleveland Cavaliers, then Portland, then ultimately the Orlando Magic. But what got me so excited this week was watching the Slam Magazine video interview with Kemp discussing his kids, problems with drugs, and most importantly his comeback to professional basketball this year with an Italian league team. In the interview Kemp looks ultra fit. He has lost all the weight he had gained near the end of his NBA career, and he actually looks to have added quite a bit of muscle in his arms etc. There has been rumors and mumblings from those that have seen Kemp play within the last few months that his vertical leap is back and he is dunking all over cats again. Kemp seems very well spoken and wise about his troubled past in this interview.
Kemp has a completely shaved head now, but I still remember the days when me and my boyz would be running the nearest barbershop to get the Kemp fade haircut. It wasn’t even really a fade though, it was more like a very near shaved head with a slight edge at the front. Kind of like an army crew cut to the extreme. Even though I am super excited to see him play again in person, I probably won’t be able to catch too many Italian league games live this year, but i’m really hoping the power of YouTube can get me my regular fix of the Kemp And1’s that are sure to come.
Kemp, let it Reign man…let it Reign!
