ABOUT LAST NIGHT #588 - Shawn Kemp

you did it in all of them, I mean, yeah, I mean, Tommy was like my son at first. even though they beat us, seriously, I have a lot of dunks on my table, he's a great player, you know what happens if you block enough shots? I think my whole career, well, maybe three times if you count four or five with Shag Shaq, yeah, but I mean, yeah, well, yeah, you know, I got sunk into Robert Peck. He got me real good once and while he was in the morning I think the doctor got me. I once talked about the new arena, uh, coming soon and um, for Seattle, the coliseum, for me, you know, I went to so many science games growing up in Key and the coliseum and I'll be, you know, in the future, soon.

Come on, but I found the Colosseum to be so much fun for you guys to be a fan because it felt almost like a black box theater for a small play, it was so intimate even in the man in the rafters like you said you were playing for uh for those guys up there we would absolutely be sitting there uh it was just so the noise was compact something about I was also walking through downtown Seattle to get there it felt a little hidden in the back it felt underground which I think was right yeah can you talk about playing there in the 90's?

Oh man, I didn't want a kid, I didn't want them to remake the university simulator, I thought the university symbol was Perfect, I really did it and I enjoyed playing there because of the crowd. I mean, yeah, there was a lot of concrete and a little cold inside that building. It was cold. Calabro told me it was like a barn, but you know. At the same time, we had a great time, we had a great time playing there, the fans were great, the noise inside was tremendous, the way the setup was in the first place and, like I said, it was like a beer

night

, You know, those

night

s when they had beer nights those guys motivated me man, seriously, they motivated me here you're a little kid you're sitting at the end of that bench and you're dying to get in the game and do something so then it all goes down. reduced it to me like getting into the game diving after loose balls getting rebounds um making these exciting plays the coliseum is where it all happened williams jumped in front of mcmillan on the near wing he will stop with the ball with the turns of the head that the leather on claps feeds over cage covered by ellis michael removes peyton's hands up feint leads ellis slower into lane turns corner stops in midair emits cap juggles got it hooks it missed rebound cage fighting with ellis saved by peyton right to camp under cover stutter step hit block recovered it hooked it without bounce sail up not blocked by williams grab with a touch on the

last

jump next blocked by williams out of bounds cross from mcmillan to gary passed by many changes like when I first came to Seattle We played the Lakers, you know, I come to the game and, uh, all the Seattle college kids basically wore Magic Johnson jerseys, yeah, 32.

I mean, I thought we were playing in Seattle , it felt like we were playing in uh, yeah. We were playing in Eagle Wood somewhere and at that moment it was like for me to see that I was selling myself it was like I was telling Gary that we have to change this, we have to make it where every time they come to this arena We we put in some green and gold and we were able to do that, but I think we went from second in merchandise sales to first to first in merchandise sales and that's really big, we're doing that crazy, yeah, that's really big. in professional sports, I mean, obviously, that's billions of dollars, but not only that, it's just the popularity of what you have to become to go from second to

last

to number one is incredible because we were selling more merchandise than um Chicago Blizzard. at one point, really, yeah, absolutely those playoff series, the phoenix, obviously, uh, sticks out, the west was always stacked, I mean, it was like you had Malone in Stockton and then Phoenix with their own yeah, Barkley, uh, Houston felt like it was always a problem, yeah.

I was there? Did you treat all opponents as if they were not the same? But were they there? What did Malone Barkley and Elijah Wan bring? That was, he was one of those less intimidating guys to play with. Was there a squad like? It's good, awesome. We draw Houston. First, this wouldn't be as bad as Phoenix, well, I like it on myself. I didn't really have any problems playing against Charles Barkley because we play the same position, yes, and Charles is a great player and does very well for his team, but my advantage over him was much greater than him.

I'm at 6 10 and Charles is about six four six three listed at six six the way he heard at six three six six but he actually has six in a row so I really had no problem playing against Charles Barkley you know , I was very afraid to play against Carl Malone. um obviously he, John Stockton, myself and Gary learned a lot. We modeled our game myself and Gary after Stockton and Malone. just put some ice on that game rebound stockton back to utah the long feed to malone almost with my eyes closed almost our games were over because i could run and jump and shoot but we did the same things as stockton malone everything tangible the little things and that's what it was about, we stole a lot from their playbook, yeah we respect those guys who still left us a lot of them, now Stockton Malone was kicking our bus for a long time and then we did it every time.

They were kicking our butts, we were just writing notes and stuff really, we were going to get back together and we finally got to the point where we were beating them and then it felt pretty good because that's what you want to do. but you want to learn about your business, but you also want to be able to master it and it's like, man, here are these people that I was looking at three years ago, now I'm mastering it and that's great. Through that, it's amazing to hear them say that they would take notes like that after a few sets because that happens in any job, even comedy, that's why they record all their sets, absolutely listen to them, I mean, you know the acting jobs that They are doing.

No, I mean, it's kind of a lost skill set, that is, just not feeling good. I'll just play better or I'll just think in your head like, oh, shoot more shots before the game and that'll be enough or I'll do it, I'll try harder in the next game, no, absolutely, I think nowadays it's funny that you said that. because I think nowadays a lot of people see it that way where they say, oh, I can practice a lot, no. no, you actually have to go study this movie, identify things, identify, look at what some of these great people are doing and then change your game to do what they were doing, but even better, yes, I'm serious and That's absolutely how it works. the first half kept it under reverse hammer spins the dunk contest the first one you went to was 91 and I heard you say that was intentional because you were trying to build your brand right you start to get some notoriety.

They're like, how can I take this to a higher level? And that was a way to get some global respect, yeah, yeah, man, it really came from something like my mom and my mom was like that, watch for you to become popular. one of these best guys that you have to build, build your brand, like I said, it wasn't really a big slam dunk, but then I was like, damn, I'm going to take this opportunity to go here and do the slam dark contest. I want to see what I can do, yeah, you know, instead of trying to win the dunk contest, I'll try to be the person who dunks the hardest.

I want to do something different, so instead of trying to win the trophy, how about this? If I make the hardest dunks you've ever seen, everyone's going to walk out of this building saying my name and I just don't know, I said okay, that's what I'm going to stick with and then I made some of them? Like, oh, this is now, I'm in business, so I just tried to rip the hoop out of the goal, man and uh, and that's what it's all about, having fun with it, you know, and Sean Kemp, by the way, says . he's got some new stuff this year he's very lucy goosey you see he's very disjointed this guy will go in all different directions before he dunks his basketball a powerful body 6 10 240.

I had a little trouble with the catch but then a very powerful slam oh look he is the favorite magic your opinion on that magic johnson well he has about 40 cheerleaders here all the NBA players are cheering for him here for me like you said before they like power and he just gave him power but also him I jumped so high when I played shh I played 14 14 years man and I never sprained my ankle, so you know, absolutely two ankles, that physical exercise 24 hours a day, three days I still haven't sprained my ankle playing ball or nothing like that, so no, no, I feel like I felt it.

However, I was very fortunate to be able to go through my entire career without any injuries. Absolutely, it's one of the reasons I wanted to stop playing when I was younger because I was always afraid of getting hurt, getting hurt, that happens and, you know, I look at the guys. Even today I look at guys like Lebron James and marvel Jason Terry Good defense Wade from behind takes it to Chalmers Whoa now it looked like he jumped off the mezzanine to dunk this ball he's sending it down uh, um, the play that uh, when kevin durant got a preseason game to come back and play at key arena, yeah, um, by the way, which by the way, the key arena coliseum had its own big arena, I mean, I know we didn't want to see it renovated and improved .

Absolutely great house, lots of good memories, oh yes, without a doubt, especially when I first did it. You know, I wasn't crazy about the maroon colors they added to the green. Yeah, I wasn't that crazy, but you know, I guess. uh you know, as far as the arena when Kyrie was first made, I think he was definitely in top form and I think this one is going to be great, also the intros that the player presents to me, you know, I went. I've been to a lot of NBA games. I feel like it was the and I was always curious if you guys were as excited for them as we were because everything was like the logo appeared in the key arena.

The squat drops now, ladies and gentlemen. standing for the 1996 oregon state pacific division champions number 20 gary washington number eleven trinity junior college the way it works is like this when the day goes by when you go to the game and you're getting ready for the game and stuff something that clicks when you're going through all that, so when you get to the arena, you put on the uniform, it still has a click that you're going to play, yeah, you wait, you wait what normally clicks. That's when I do the intros, usually that's when you start to smell like the popcorn that's smelling around because that's when people are filling their rings and then when you start to smell that popcorn and then the intros come, that's when you get a Many times you get totally locked in and that's when you know you're really about to go out and get your ball in the year we made it.

It was great playing against the Bulls, but I actually think we were better. like two years before that, oh yeah, where we had the opportunity to go even further, so I always tell people, it was the two years where Michael Jordan retired and didn't play and the Houston Rockets won, yeah , we should have won a championship. In one of those two we really disappointed ourselves by not winning the championship. One of those two years because we have the perfect opportunity and opportunity, but it also shows you that opportunities come and go very quickly, yes, and you know when he retired.

It was like open season for everyone. Was there a collective like NBA group text saying that Mike was done? We have a chance, well, dad, a little. I think everyone felt like they had a better chance, but I think with us we thought. We had an even better chance, we really thought we were really good at the time, we thought our table was superior to the rest of the league and the team, the young team, had been together for at least three, four years, absolutely. So I just saw that we had everything it took to win a championship.

Our only problem is that sometimes it's like anything you do in life when you have a team, if you bring in one or two pieces from outside, sometimes that team can disrupt your team. Out of selfishness, we had a couple of guys that we brought in that weren't happy with their roles and they complained, so those complaints, those selfish thoughts dictated our future a little bit, that's why we lost because we had a lot of guys. arguing with each other and stuff, so once we cleared that up, we were great when we went back to '96 and played.

Sport is about winning, but above all it is about chemistry. Yes, you know you have to have the right chemistry to be able to be. Well, it was great to have at least those two home games and be in town. It was like I was sure it's an experience you won't forget, right, oh man, without a doubt, like shh driving being soups. It's always been sports in Seattle, even as bigbut no, I'm kidding, I'll keep it together. I'm sweating from the knees down no, um, uh, yeah, just, you know, I know sometimes it's better for your pipes if you're uh, but I don't know, man, a good joint, a good joint, I love it .

I still enjoy a good bubbler and bong, which I know you sell them too, oh yeah man Zeus, you got this guy up there, you got this, these things called Zeus tables, man three, three pre-roll bloods coming in this package, you have to try it. I'll love it, yes, I'll probably get married next April. My fiancé doesn't know. He's probably spending most of the budget here today, but you know you have to spend money to make money. You have to do it. It'll be worth it, okay, this is, this is amazing and I mean you're aware that you're still so involved in Seattle and uh and and giving back and being like that, I was telling my stepdad on the way here. and he was uh because he saw the talk with you and gary on nba tv and he's like man he seems so cool and he's articulate and like set.

I'm like, yeah, man, he's white, you can't open a business. like that and not having them together, but it's awesome, man, even when I met you at the uh rappaport show, uh, you're like, you know you're, you put people like you know, uh, a hero's mind on a pedestal . and then in moments when I met you and you know you were so kind and generous than me, what if I start crying right now, but like who you are was still there, but you were just a person because you try to like a person. and then we started lying shooting, I think I even broke my balls on my shirt, uh, which still hurts, uh, no, but we were, uh, we just had a good relationship right away, and I thought that's cool Because they say. sometimes you know you don't want to meet your heroes because there is absolutely and I'm sure everyone probably has a story like that, you know?

So I just want to applaud you for just being, you know, keeping it, keeping it real. and keep your feet on the ground and no, no, thank you, thank you very much, you know, what's funny when I got the phone call a couple of weeks ago from my coworker, training when he when he when delivered a message. to me, I automatically knew who it was, oh yeah, yeah, so whatever, absolutely thank goodness you got it on tape, yeah, I automatically knew who it was, so I definitely appreciate you, but I appreciate you reaching out and Hopefully the friendship continues.

Think about it man, and also guess what my best friend is, who was going to be my best friend, he just got the boot, man, he's going to say, hey, what happened, I'm sorry, man, the rain man wants your place, everything is fine, yes, this has been amazing. We'll go up here, walk through the store and um and uh yeah, thanks again buddy, so there goes the wedding band budget. I'll just sing in the background like what happened to the band. Oh, I will. an acapella so welcome to the game ladies and gentlemen shout out the name seattle supersonics our basketball supersonics oh yeah break invaders supersonics oh yeah supersonics not just the regular strong team supersonics oh yeah supersonics supersonics oh yeah not just a regular team your seattle supersonics