Shawn Kemp update: He might sign to the Denver Nuggets or Toronto Raptors...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Nik i will not waste my time arguing with you about Brown again.



 

LOL...Whats your point? That in 15 games, Brian Cook has provided better offense than Kwame in 8, but still hasn't been rebounding nor defending as well as the bust himself, Kwame? Cook is improving. Kwame is flopping and he's still providing more...Imagine what'll happen when Kwame REALLY starts playing.

the key for the stats is the MPG Nik,.........Cook is putting up the same numbers in only half the minutes as Kwame....Give Cook 28 MPG and you can X2 to his stats pretty much.  Sorry, I didnt mean to rain on your parade, but I had to point that out.

Well, that's not the point. Cook is a shooter, his first instinct when the ball touches his hand is to shoot it. He obviously has gotten more looks than Kwame, he is mainly an offensive-minded player...The point is, Kwame is a great presence on defense, he's shut down the elite bigs, he just hasn't been providing shit offensively...Look at how Sasha sucked his first few games, but barely started emerging and even hit the game winning shot in the Utah game...Who's to say that Kwame wont emerge? Anonio simply gives me the feeling that he WANTS to see Kwame fail, possibly only so he can turn around and say "I told you so"...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Shawn Kemp + George Karl reunion?

By Marc J. Spears
Denver Post Staff Writer

Auburn Hills, Mich. - Former NBA star Shawn Kemp's agent plans on calling a handful of teams - including the Nuggets - to gauge their interest.

Kemp's agent, Tony Dutt, said he believes Denver could be a good fit because his client had his best years under Nuggets coach George Karl in Seattle. With Nene out for the season with a right knee injury and Kenyon Martin suffering from tendinitis in his right knee, another frontcourt player could aid Denver. But to add a free agent, the Nuggets would have to waive a player.

"Shawn told me he has had no problems with Karl and he could play there," Dutt said.

Kemp played for the SuperSonics from 1989-97. The five-time all-star also played for Cleveland, Portland and Orlando before ending his career in 2003. He has a history of weight issues and off-the-court problems. The Nuggets worked him out two years ago, but Kemp was grossly overweight and didn't have a solid outing. Dutt says Kemp now weighs about 270 pounds. Shocked

"That was a real wake-up call that if you're going to try to return, really do it right," Dutt said of the workout with the Nuggets.

Karl said he is in favor of taking a look at Kemp.

"I like Shawn," Karl said. "He and Gary (Payton) made my career. Without them, I'd probably be coaching a high school basketball team somewhere."

Said Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe: "I wouldn't discount anyone. There is that connection (with Karl). If anyone can bring it out of him, it's George. But it's nothing we've pursued."

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Raptors Eyeing Kemp

24th November, 2005 - 6:37 pm
Toronto Sun - Raptors general manager Rob Babcock yesterday said that he may dispatch a scout to have a look at former star NBA power forward/centre Shawn Kemp, who is training for a comeback and has reportedly dropped 55 pounds.

Babcock admitted that he also has talked with Kemp's agent about the troubled player's intentions in terms of his planned comeback. However, the GM believes that Kemp, who will turn 36 later this month, probably is not a good fit for the Raptors, even though he was the type of player who brings exactly what Toronto needs: Rebounding ability and size.

"He's not exactly the type of player we're looking for," Babcock said yesterday from Iowa, where he is attending a college game. "We're committed to the development of our young players."

Babcock recently did sign veteran point guard Darrick Martin to a short-term deal, but that was more of an insurance policy with the club having only two healthy point guards at the moment, Mike James and Jose Calderon.

Kemp, no doubt, would want much more money than the journeyman Martin and a multi-year deal.

Kemp apparently has attracted the interest of a number of NBA teams, even though his problems with drugs in the past are well-documented. He also is known to have fathered at least seven children by seven different women, all out of wedlock -- the type of character the Raptors in the past have shied away from.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Shawn Kemp: The Reign-Man Is Back

By Eric Johnson

HOUSTON - He knows he screwed up. And he knows what you think the moment you hear the name "Shawn Kemp".

He grew up right before our very eyes -- we met him when he was just 18. We watched a supernova of raw talent explode, and then collapse back into itself like a black hole.

We saw him turn his back on Seattle, and then ultimately on himself.

He can't take it back. It doesn't work that way. But he desperately wants to change the last chapter; the final act.

And that's why Shawn Kemp is back.

"When all that stuff was going on, I never got a chance to talk to anybody... no one really asked me... there was so many things written about me that wasn't true... talked about me that wasn't true... and that's the thing as a person that bothers me the most," Kemp said.

"Like I said, when you're in that spotlight, and when something like that happens, you get sent off to this rehab place... all these people talking about you as a drug addict... what you find is you kind of go into a shell. You don't want to talk about it because you already know what the person is thinking about it."

Do you remember what it was like before he left? Or have you forgotten that the Reign-Man, the man-child, did things on a basketball court that few, if any, ever did before -- or since.

If you loved what he was, then you were disappointed by what he became: overweight, overpaid, and then overnight, just over.

The last time we saw him was in a courtroom. He'd been picked up in a car with a friend, and a bag of marijuana, a little cocaine, and a loaded pistol.

"I've definitely learned from this," Kemp said. "It's not a place I'm familiar with, and you shall not see me back in this position again."

Today he swears he didn't know about any of the drugs, and promises the incident changed him forever.

"I had already planned to get in shape; I was already working out at that time. And then that happened...

"Of all the things I've done -- been out drinking, used drugs... to never be caught, then all the sudden to be caught when you're not doing something... if that don't change you, nothing will ever change you."

And so he dropped everything 6 months ago and moved to Houston with a trainer. No drinking. No partying.

Just sweat and resolve -- and oatmeal 3 times a day.

He's lost 55 pounds.

"If you're a professional athlete and you've been to the top, you...you know how to get back there," he said.

Still larger than life, Shawn talks openly now about things he's kept locked up for years.

Like cocaine.

"If anything I could do all over again, I probably should have come out and talked about it a little bit more," he said. "Maybe been a little bit more open. The drug problem has never been that bad. I'm not gonna say I've never done drugs, because I have. But I think my personal demons were more of just my life... mismanaging my life, not just with drugs."

Back when everything was falling apart, Sports Illustrated did a cover story that claimed he had 7 children with multiple women.

Shawn said nothing.

"I mean there's no doubt about it, I have kids. I'm not gonna sit here and deny that," Kemp said. "But I never talked to S.I....they never called me to ask any questions. They put that story in the magazine without getting contact or anything, so...

"I'm sitting her in front of you guys and I'm gonna tell you this: Man, when you're growing up as a kid and they tell you this, they say, 'Hey, if you get in trouble and you have a lot of people around, 10 friends, people close to you and you think they're gonna help you out if something goes sour, everybody goes away.' Yeah...and I mean that."

To see him walk on a basketball court now, is to believe that he can make it back to the top of the mountain.

His face lights up; he grins like a kid, plays hoops like a kid. He's changed.

He's the Reign-man again.

Very soon, he'll work out for a handful of NBA teams. The motive is not money. Shawn's been wise -- he's financially set.

He turns 36 next week, and he says the comeback's not about reputation or redemption. It's strictly between the man and his game.

"I'm shooting for the Hall of Fame Eric; that's what I'm going for," Kemp said. "Obviously I owe something to the game of basketball at this point and that's what I'm gonna try to do.

"You live and you learn...that's what I've learned. I can't go back and change things...or change myself. But I accept things for what they are, the mistakes I've made, the good things I've done...I'm just a kid that grew up and uh, I'm a grown man now and I mean that, I've strived to get where I'm at now, and I'm gonna try to get better."

He's in great shape, he's cleaned up his messes, and he's happy again.

And believe this: whether he ever plays another minute in the NBA or not, the Reign-man is back.

http://www.komotv.com/sports/story.asp?ID=40397

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Since then, he supposedly has gained 20 pounds of the 55 pounds back. Don't know how true that is, but reports are also saying that he currently worked out with the Bucks and that he claimed he wont return if not signed by all-star break...Man, I thought this was a really inspirational story...Would suck if no team picked him up.

[jeromechickenbone]

If he kept that weight off, i'd love to see him play again.  If not, then i'd say he's not taking it as serious, and couldn't care less about seeing him play again.

[h cottie is bac-tive?]

i used to love Shawn Kemp..he was one of my favorite players back in the 90's..i really thought that he and the glove would win a championship together...i feel bad for him because of what has happened in the past, but i hope he gets a second another chance




ahhhhh...those were the good days...