Born: November 26, 1969
Birthplace: Elkhart,
IN
Zodiac Sign:
Sagittarius
Shawn Travis Kemp is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a three-time All-NBA Second Team member.
Kemp attended Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana. A four-year varsity starter, he was one of the top four or five players nationally in his senior year and led his team to the state championship finals.
Kemp ended his high school career as Elkhart County's
all-time leading scorer and the owner of Concord's career, single-game, and
single-season scoring records. Despite his achievements and accolades, Kemp was
bypassed for the title of Indiana Mr. Basketball; Woody Austin won the award
that year instead.
Kemp was selected to the 1988 McDonald's High School All-American team (considered one of the best classes of all time), along with such notable players as Alonzo Mourning, Billy Owens, Todd Day, Lee Mayberry, Chris Mills, Anthony Peeler, and Stanley Roberts. Kemp scored a team-high 18 points for the West in a losing cause. The final score was 105–99 in favor of the East.
During his senior year, Kemp signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Kentucky. Kemp did not score the minimum of 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, and was forced to miss his first year under the NCAA's Proposition 48 rules.
Kemp decided to enroll in Kentucky. However, he left the team in November 1988 after being accused of pawning two gold chains that had been reported stolen from his teammate Sean Sutton, the son of the-Kentucky head coach Eddie Sutton. Sean Sutton did not press charges, but Kemp transferred to Trinity Valley Community College in Texas. After a semester at TVCC, where he did not play, 19-year-old Kemp declared himself eligible for the 1989 NBA draft.
The Seattle SuperSonics drafted Kemp in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft. Although extremely athletic, Kemp was the youngest player in the NBA then and struggled to find his place.
In his first season in Seattle, teammate Xavier McDaniel heavily mentored Kemp. As the season progressed, so did Kemp's skills, which propelled him into stardom. Kemp began to find his place in the NBA as a star during his second season with the Sonics. Together with Gary Payton, Eddie Johnson, Ricky Pierce, and Nate McMillan, they became a highly successful squad.