Kevin Pelton, SUPERSONICS.COM | August 28, 2006
With the sun shining and fans crowded around, Shawn Kemp was honored Saturday at Colman Park at the third stop on the Sonics & Storm Legends Tour. Kemp was feted by emcee David Locke and Sonics and Storm President and CEO Wally Walker, but brushed aside some of the nostalgia with a reminder that there is a reason he is in the best shape he's been in since the turn of the millennium.
"To Wally and to David, thank you for all the great things you said, but my basketball's not over yet," Kemp told fans. "It's not over yet. It's taken me a while to get my body back right and my mind back right. I put a lot of time into it. I'm looking forward to getting back on the court and having some fun and ending my career in a positive way. Again, I thank you all for coming out and I appreciate all the cheers, but big fella still has some more work to do."
Kemp also thanked the fans for the part they played in his standout career with the Sonics.
"I fed off the energy from the fans, from the Seattle Center Coliseum on to KeyArena," he said. "That just led me to do some great things, I think, on the basketball court."
While the purpose of the day was to remember Kemp's time in the Green and Gold - and, with newly re-signed forward Chris Wilcox on-hand, consider new aerial artistry to come - it was also to celebrate the Sonics and Storm's work in the community, as Kemp reminded.
"I will say that the one thing I'm most proud of is doing work in the community," Kemp said. "In 1989, when I got to Seattle, they got me out in the community doing different stuff. That stayed with me for years to come. Still to this day, I enjoy coming out to the community - doing camps and doing different things to help people out. Outside of basketball, that's one of the things I most enjoy doing. The Sonics kind of started me off and led me in a great direction. Outside of basketball, it's a very big part of my life."
After Kemp finished signing autographs for fans, he took a few moments to quickly chat with SUPERSONICS.COM:
How important is your relationship with the Seattle community to you?
I've been involved with the Seattle community since I was 1989, when I was 18 years old, and it's never stopped, even when I was traded to Cleveland. Not just here but all the cities I've played in, I've stayed attuned to the community. I do more here in Seattle than other places, no doubt about it.
Even during your NBA career, you would go play on playgrounds, so does a court like this mean something special to you?
I still play playground. I go to Greenlake and play; I still play in Renton at the playground. I grew up playing at the playground. Until the day I stop playing basketball, I'm always going to go on the playground and play. I just left Houston last night - I was playing on the playground two nights ago at the University of Houston with just regular college guys. It's a part of my game and a part of me - I'm a playground guy.
Do you think that helps explain your continued popularity?
Probably so. I've never tried to separate myself from it. I came into the league at 18 years old; it's not like I came from a major university or was one of those guys like that. I always felt I was just as normal as anybody else - I could just play basketball.
Are you talking to teams about attending training camp this fall?
Oh yeah. I've been putting in work. I haven't decided what camp I'm going to go to, but I'll be in somebody's camp this year playing. It's looking good. I put a lot of time into it. It took me a while to get my body right and strong. It's one thing just losing weight, but I also had to regain a lot of strength in my body to get my jumping back and all that back. It's looking good.
How would coming back to the NBA rank amongst the accomplishments in your career?
I'm 36 years old and I haven't played (NBA) basketball in three years. If this happens, it will be the biggest deal of my career. I haven't played in three years, I'm 36, I went from 300 pounds to right now I weigh about 254. It took a lot of work to do that.
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