Kemp Leaves Lasting Mark, And He Didn’t Need Tattoo Artist

Dennis Rodman has a new tattoo: Shawn Kemp’s footprint.

Kemp levitated 36 inches on Wednesday night, blindly hammered down a reverse dunk and landed on the the first bleached head he could find - Rodman’s. It was Rodman’s first facial since he wore eye shadow to a recent book signing, and high school seniors everywhere rejoiced.

Kemp pulled a Kevin Garnett before a Kevin Garnett was fashionable. He did not play a millisecond of college basketball, became a Seattle SuperSonic at the age of 19 and has spent the last seven seasons traveling - and being called for traveling.

He was always late to team buses and always late to team flights, but better late than never: Shawn Kemp has just pulled in and double-parked on the Chicago Bulls.

His 25 points and 11 rebounds in Game 4 on Wednesday night kept the SuperSonics from turning in their monogrammed club bathrobes Thursday. He has grown up before Seattle’s eyes - not before Bobby Knight’s eyes - and is now forgiven for fighting Tom Hammonds, for not sychronizing his wristwatch and for fouling just for the sake of fouling.

Kemp, 26, went from the prom to the pros, managed not to disappear from the face of the earth, and now Bob Whitsitt’s 1989 experiment is officially a success.

“I remember using that giant word, ‘If,”’ said Whitsitt, the former Sonics president who guides the Portland Trail Blazers. “I remember saying, ‘If it works out, he could be a mix of Dominique Wilkins and Charles Barkley.’ And if it didn’t work out, well, he could go back to school.”

Kemp, in his formative years, was one of the few Indiana legends who never shot jumpers out by the back porch light.

“Nope. He was a dunker,” Whitsitt said. “I remember one of his pals telling me I should’ve seen him in Indiana with those metal playground nets. He said it’s legend. He said Shawn dunked so hard, sparks would be flying off the metal.”

Knight, the Hoosiers’ head coach, came to Kemp’s hometown of Gary, Ind., but left empty-handed. Kemp chose Kentucky and Eddie Sutton instead, but scandal kept him from playing. The Wildcats were headed for probation, and Kemp allegedly stole jewelry on campus. He never suited up, transferred to Trinity Junior College and, by spring, applied for the pro draft.

Kemp interviewed with 12 intrigued teams, and the SuperSonics were like most of them - cynical.

“I was told he wasn’t a smart guy, that he pawned the jewelry, to stay away from him,” Whitsitt said.

“But Shawn came to meet us with no agents, no entourage. He answered all the tough questions. He was a real person.”

He was drafted 17th over all, the same year Pervis Ellison went first, Danny Ferry second, Sean Elliot third and Glen Rice fourth. Boston took Brigham Young’s Michael Smith ahead of him. Denver took Stanford’s Todd Lichti in front of him.

His mother stayed with him a month, his guardian was Dana Barros (a fellow rookie who had spent a whole four years in college) and he had mastered only one offensive move: the dunk.

“He’d travel a lot,” Whitsitt said. “He’d catch the ball 10 feet from the basket and instead of the jumper, he’d take one pivot and extend his body like he was an airplane and try to dunk it.”

He was also chronically late, until his conscience finally kicked in this season. He missed a flight to Portland, joined the team on his own and then stood up and apologized in his most sincere baritone voice.

He felt worse when he sucker-punched Denver’s Hammonds in this year’s regular-season finale - meaning he had to sit out the first game of the Sacramento series.

“We all disliked that,” teammate Sam Perkins said. “But it only set him back a minute.”

When Kemp is not on the bench in foul trouble opponents are in trouble. He is averaging 22 points per game in the postseason, is routinely splashing in jumpers and became a leader this week when he ripped his team for “quitting.” He and the team bus driver are even tight now.

“To get where I’ve gotten, I’ve had to work O.T., overtime,” Kemp said.

Meanwhile, his dunk on Rodman was so harsh, some of Rodman’s black fingernail polish scratched off.

“Surprised they didn’t call traveling,” said Kemp, cynical in his old age.