# Shawn Kemp
**Shawn Kemp** (born 1969) is an American former professional basketball player, a power forward who played 14 NBA seasons and became a six-time All-Star, best known for his years with the [Seattle SuperSonics](https://www.edgepedia.org/seattle-supersonics) from 1989 to 1997 and for reaching the 1996 [NBA Finals](https://www.edgepedia.org/nba-finals).[1](https://www.nba.com/player/431) • [2](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kempsh01.html) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/7bd12c50659a4e438341b71c3fa5a23c) Known for explosive dunks that earned him the nickname "Reign Man," he later played for the [Cleveland Cavaliers](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleveland-cavaliers), Portland Trail Blazers, and Orlando Magic.[3](https://apnews.com/article/7bd12c50659a4e438341b71c3fa5a23c) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1969, Elkhart, Indiana; 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), 280 lb (127 kg)[1](https://www.nba.com/player/431) |
| Draft | 1989 NBA draft, first round, 17th overall, by the Seattle SuperSonics; the fifth player to go directly to the NBA from high school[2](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kempsh01.html) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn) |
| Peak season | 1995-96: 11.4 rebounds per game on .561 field-goal shooting; led Seattle to the 1996 Finals against the 72-win Chicago Bulls[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn) |
| Career averages | 14.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists per game over 14 seasons[2](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kempsh01.html) • [5](https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nba/news/best-nba-players-not-in-naismith-memorial-basketball-hall-of-fame/1xio1ubrktrxf14bekur6j6uzb) |
| Hall of Fame | Not inducted[6](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/is-shawn-kemp-in-the-hall-of-fame) |
| Later life | Pleaded guilty in May 2025 to second-degree assault for a March 2023 parking-lot shooting; sentenced to 30 days of electronic home monitoring[7](https://apnews.com/article/b2bbfb25ed5e0926c4911f87fc46aa81) |
## Early life and path to the draft
Kemp grew up in [Elkhart, Indiana](https://www.edgepedia.org/elkhart-indiana), raised by his mother Barbara, and starred at Concord High School, where NBA scouts began attending his games when he was in the tenth grade.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn) He accepted a scholarship to the [University of Kentucky](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-kentucky), but a low SAT score made him ineligible to play as a freshman, and he left the school without playing a game.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn) After briefly attending Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, he entered the 1989 [NBA draft](https://www.edgepedia.org/nba-draft).[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn)
The SuperSonics selected him 17th overall, making him the fifth player to jump directly from high school to the NBA.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn) He signed a six-year contract in September 1989, and debuted in the 1989-90 season as a 20-year-old who had never played college basketball.[8](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/09/06/Sonics-sign-Kemp/7180621057600/) • [7](https://apnews.com/article/b2bbfb25ed5e0926c4911f87fc46aa81)
## Seattle years
Kemp's rise came quickly. In 1990 the Sonics traded Xavier McDaniel and made him the starting power forward, and he was named an All-Star for the first time in the 1992-93 season, a year in which he averaged almost eighteen points and eleven rebounds per game.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn) Writers compared his strength, quickness, and jumping to [Michael Jordan](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jordan), and Jordan himself agreed that Kemp showed remarkable talent.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn)
By the mid-1990s Kemp anchored, with point guard [Gary Payton](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-payton), a Sonics team that also included [Sam Perkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-perkins), Detlef Schrempf, Nate McMillan, and Hersey Hawkins under coach [George Karl](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-karl).[9](https://as.com/baloncesto/nba/el-anillo-que-se-les-escapo-a-los-sonics-las-finales-del-96-y-la-risa-de-jordan-n/) In the 1995-96 regular season he averaged 11.4 rebounds and shot .561 from the field.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn)
He left the Sonics in 1997 as the franchise's all-time leader in blocked shots.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn)
## Cleveland, Portland, and Orlando
In 1997 Kemp was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, signing a contract worth $107 million over seven years.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn) He made a sixth All-Star appearance in his first [Cleveland](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleveland) season, the first Cavaliers player to start in an All-Star Game, and in the strike-shortened 1998-99 season posted a career-high scoring average of 20.5 points per game.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn) • [12](https://www.notinhalloffame.com/basketball/1750-3-shawn-kemp/amp)
His later career declined. Traded to Portland in 2000, he ended that season early to enter a drug rehabilitation program for cocaine abuse and was later suspended five games for not complying with his aftercare agreement.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn) In 2002 he gave up roughly $20 million to leave Portland and signed a one-year, $1.03 million deal with the [Orlando Magic](https://www.edgepedia.org/orlando-magic), accepting the league minimum for a ten-year veteran.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn)
## Hall of Fame debate
Kemp has not been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.[6](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/is-shawn-kemp-in-the-hall-of-fame)
## Later life and legal case
On March 8, 2023, Kemp's truck was broken into outside a Seattle concert venue, with a cellphone, keys to his cannabis dispensary, and game-worn jerseys among the items stolen, according to his attorneys' court filings.[3](https://apnews.com/article/7bd12c50659a4e438341b71c3fa5a23c) Using a phone-tracking app, he located a [Toyota 4Runner](https://www.edgepedia.org/toyota-4runner) near the Tacoma Mall; a man in the vehicle fired at Kemp, who returned fire. No one was hurt.[7](https://apnews.com/article/b2bbfb25ed5e0926c4911f87fc46aa81)
Kemp, then 55, pleaded guilty in May 2025 to second-degree assault in Pierce County Superior Court as part of a plea agreement.[3](https://apnews.com/article/7bd12c50659a4e438341b71c3fa5a23c) In August 2025, Judge Michael Schwartz found the circumstances warranted a lesser sentence than the nine months of jail prosecutors had recommended, imposing 30 days of electronic home monitoring, one year of state supervision, and 240 hours of community service.[7](https://apnews.com/article/b2bbfb25ed5e0926c4911f87fc46aa81) After the hearing Kemp said he planned to advocate against gun violence among young people.[7](https://apnews.com/article/b2bbfb25ed5e0926c4911f87fc46aa81)
His son Shawn Kemp Jr. played college basketball at the University of Washington.[14](https://static.gohuskies.com/pdf/recordbook.pdf?db_oem_id=30200)
## References
1. [Shawn Kemp player page, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/player/431)
2. [Shawn Kemp Stats, Basketball-Reference.com](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kempsh01.html)
3. [Ex-NBA star Shawn Kemp pleads guilty to assault charge in Washington parking lot shooting, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/7bd12c50659a4e438341b71c3fa5a23c)
4. [Kemp, Shawn, Notable Sports Figures, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kemp-shawn)
5. [Best NBA players not in the Basketball Hall of Fame, Sporting News](https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nba/news/best-nba-players-not-in-naismith-memorial-basketball-hall-of-fame/1xio1ubrktrxf14bekur6j6uzb)
6. [Is Shawn Kemp In The Hall Of Fame, StatMuse](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/is-shawn-kemp-in-the-hall-of-fame)
7. [Former NBA star Shawn Kemp gets 30 days of home monitoring for Washington parking lot shooting, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/b2bbfb25ed5e0926c4911f87fc46aa81)
8. [Sonics sign Kemp, UPI Archives](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/09/06/Sonics-sign-Kemp/7180621057600/)
9. [El anillo que se les escapó a los Sonics, AS.com](https://as.com/baloncesto/nba/el-anillo-que-se-les-escapo-a-los-sonics-las-finales-del-96-y-la-risa-de-jordan-n/)
10. [Shawn Kemp Finals Appearances, StatMuse](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/shawn-kemp-finals-appearances)
11. [All grown up, Kemp is the man for the Sonics, Deseret News](https://www.deseret.com/1996/6/16/19248893/all-grown-up-kemp-is-the-man-for-the-sonics/)
12. [Not in Hall of Fame: Shawn Kemp](https://www.notinhalloffame.com/basketball/1750-3-shawn-kemp/amp)
13. [Where are 1995-96 Sonics 20 years after NBA Finals appearance, Seattle Post-Intelligencer](https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/storm/article/Where-are-1995-96-Sonics-20-years-after-NBA-7964490.php)
14. [2012-13 Supplemental Player Bios, Washington Huskies record book](https://static.gohuskies.com/pdf/recordbook.pdf?db_oem_id=30200)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › Basketball players and coaches (biographies) › NBA players, 1980–1995 › NBA forwards, 1980–1995*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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