Marques Johnson interviews Shawn Kemp at peak of his reign in Seattle

Shawn Kemp experienced adversity off the court during his journey through life. But there was also a chapter of Kemp’s story that provided lifelong highlights for basketball fans around the world. Nicknamed the Reign Man by longtime television broadcaster Kevin Calabro, there was not a more electric player in the NBA than the 6-10 power forward during the peak of his career with the Seattle Supersonics.

After leading Seattle to their 60th win of the 1995-96 season, the 17th pick in the 1989 NBA Draft met with TV broadcaster and basketball star, Marques Johnson, for a postgame interview at Madison Square Garden. The Reign Man had just overwhelmed the New York Knicks while earning another statement victory.

SHAWN KEMP POSTGAME INTERVIEW | SONICS vs KNICKS April 8, 1996.

“Shawn, great game tonight,” Supersonics TV analyst and five-time NBA All-Star Marques Johnson said as he greeted Shawn Kemp at MSG during what would become a 64-win season.

“You seem to thrive here. Last year you had a great game rebounding and scoring in New York. Tonight another strong performance. You like playing here, don’t you?”

“That’s the thing you know,” Kemp replied. “They’re so physical that they beat you up a little bit. Make you get some rebounds inside, make you loosen up a little bit.

“So I got a chance to get out and run early. Got some free baskets. Got the opportunity to pass, and felt good out there today.”

“What about the electricity of playing in the Garden?” Johnson asked.

“Is this a favorite place for you to play?”

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite places to play because we only get a chance to come out here once a year. The fans are here, and the guys on our team get excited about coming to New York because they’re such a physical team.

“They beat us there in Seattle this year, they played physical with us there, so we just wanted to come back and return the favor.”

“It looks like you’re looking to shoot the jump shot a little bit more over the last two or three weeks. Is that something by design that you’re doing offensively?”

“Yeah, what I’ve done since I came back from my foot injury is try to shoot the ball from the outside to try to open up the drive a little bit. It’s kinda tough to go into the playoffs when you’re just playing inside the paint.

“So I think the jump shot will give me a chance to loosen up a little bit and get out of the double-teams.

“Instead of playing in double-teams and traffic all the time, just get out of there and create some other options.”

“This is the second year in three years you guys have won 60 games. Describe what that must feel like as a player.”

“Oh man, I’ll tell you what. We were at breakfast this morning and we talked about that. Just coming out, being relaxed, playing the game and getting No. 60.

“It doesn’t mean a whole lot when it’s all said and done, but as a team it tells you that the team is playing together. And it’s hard to do. Not too many teams could come into the NBA and win 60 games in three years like we have over the past five.”

When Kemp had an opportunity to get physical it opened him up for a variety of free baskets. When you threw a double-team at him, he could pass out of it. He was also not afraid to loosen the defense up by taking a jumper. But what created the biggest boom were his precise and thunderous debauchery of rims as a Sonic. 

The six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA player needed only 14 shots to finish with 25 points and 13 rebounds before his postgame interview at the Garden. Seattle had just beat the Knicks 108-98 during a season in which they’d win 64 games and advance to the NBA Finals.

In the Western Conference Finals, Seattle beat the Utah Jazz who were led by the dynamic duo of John Stockton and Karl Malone. The similarly dynamic and more explosive duo of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp would now meet Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for a shot at the ring.

The Glove and the Reign Man 

Gary Payton kept teammates loose while backing up a lot of talk with even more game. The No. 2 overall pick by Seattle the summer after Kemp’s rookie year was witty and confident with the basketball. As one of the best point guards in the NBA, he’d help the Sonics establish themselves as one of the premier teams in the Western Conference soon after teaming up with the Reign Man.

After a 41-41 record as a rookie in ‘89, Shawn and GP led the Supersonics to at least 55 wins five times before Kemp left Seattle in 1997. Despite the frenzied and trapping brand of basketball the Sonics played under head coach George Karl, the two young All-Stars nicknamed “Reignman” and “The Glove” were consistently dominant.

Despite their youthful brilliance, Kemp, Payton and Seattle would ultimately fall to the Chicago Bulls in six games during those NBA Finals in ’96. Even though Shawn was only 26 years old at the time, he’d never return to basketball’s biggest stage after that.

Chicago jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Seattle pushed it as far as six games with two-straight wins on the ropes. But even if Kemp is one of those great talents to never win a title, we should never allow ring culture to dim the ultimate brightness of his star. The McDonald’s All-American from Elkhart, Indiana was a jolting talent who could turn the lights out on his defender at a moment’s notice.

While Shawn’s story does include a battle with demons, that should only serve to make his otherworldly acts seem more attainable. At the peak of his reign with the Sonics, Kemp was special. He was unique and groundbreaking as a player, offering a new level of thump on the basket.

The green and gold No. 40 jersey that Shawn Kemp made iconic should be hanging next to GP’s in Seattle’s NBA basketball arena. Because if there were a team still known as the Sonics, we might more often recall an accurate description of Kemp’s reign in Seattle.

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