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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kemp Can’t Save Sonics, Hide Grief

Theresa Smith Tacoma News Tribune

Shawn Kemp was handcuffed by fouls and harnessed by emotions during the Seattle SuperSonics’ 84-81 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.

Before 31,710 in the Alamo-Dome and a regional NBC audience, Kemp’s acrobatic game was grounded by a rising foul count that left him shuffling on and off the court.

In a 13-point, 29-minute performance, he didn’t have the usual dunking outlet for his feelings, although he kept himself busy, grabbing 14 rebounds.

Although Kemp and his scrappy, 36.8-percent shooting teammates couldn’t hit a clutch shot all afternoon, their smothering defense left them down three points with 10.7 seconds to go.

In a show of confidence, Sonics coach George Karl drew up a play for Kemp to take a 3-pointer. The play went off without a hitch, except for Kemp’s miss. The rebound landed at his feet and he launched another, more promising trey, but this one also bounced out, preventing the Sonics from clinching the best record in the Western Conference.

With a 61-17 mark, the Sonics have four games remaining to wrap up home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. They didn’t lose much in the psychological war with the Spurs, a potential playoff opponent, because Kemp could have just as easily sent the game into overtime.

But it wasn’t his fate to be uplifted by a clutch shot.

It was his fate, as it had been for 48 miserable hours, to deal with the disappointment of being left off the 1996 U.S. Olympic team and to will himself to prevent it from affecting his performance for the Sonics.

From the moment he learned that Charles Barkley had been selected instead of him, Kemp was at a loss.

Now, he stood in the Sonics’ locker room following their loss to the Spurs and tried to put his feelings into words for the first time.

In a moment that defines his journey from man-child to man, he faced the minicams and the scribes as the 19-year-old NBA rookie-turned classy veteran.

“It’s cool and I understand,” he said. “It’s hard to complain when there are so many good players. I wish them luck.”

Later, after the minicam operators had cleared the locker room, and his coaches and teammates headed for the bus, Kemp let his guard down and the disappointment flowed.

For the first time, he revealed how much he wanted to be an Olympian and how hard he worked to achieve his goal, from running stairs in 90-degree summer heat to shooting jumpers at midnight.

“It was supposed to happen and it didn’t happen,” he said softly, shaking his head.

“I never heard a big fella’s name except mine,” he said of the list of candidates.

When initial news reports Thursday night named Barkley for the berth, Kemp was stunned. The phone kept ringing as hopeful friends awaited the good news. But Kemp had nothing but bad news, so he went to a barber who stayed up late to cut his hair.

By Saturday, his omission from the team was a cruel reality that he had to face along with David Robinson (24 points, 16 rebounds) and the Midwest Conference champion Spurs (57-21).

Kemp and Gary Payton’s reaction to the slight is crucial to the Sonics’ hopes of finishing the last four games of the season strong and winning a first-round playoff series for the first time in three seasons.

Although Payton was not mentioned as a favorite for one of the two berths, he was a candidate.

Spurs 84, SuperSonics 81

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 38 7-14 4-6 1-6 4 3 20 Kemp 29 5-14 3-6 5-14 1 4 13 E.Johnson 14 2-3 0-0 0-2 2 4 4 Hawkins 30 1-5 0-0 0-1 5 0 2 Payton 40 5-15 5-6 1-5 4 1 15 Perkins 30 4-16 6-7 1-6 0 3 15 Askew 13 2-4 0-0 0-1 0 3 4 Brickowski 15 2-3 0-0 0-3 0 3 6 McMillan 24 0-2 0-0 1-5 2 2 0 Wingate 7 0-0 2-2 0-1 0 1 2 Totals 240 28-76 20-27 9-44 18 24 81 Percentages: FG .368, FT .741.

3-Point Goals: 5-29, .172 (Brickowski 2-2, Schrempf 2-7, Perkins 1-10, McMillan 0-1, Askew 0-1, Kemp 0-2, Hawkins 0-3, Payton 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 10.

Blocked shots: 8 (Perkins 3, Kemp 3, E.Johnson, Hawkins).

Turnovers: 20 (Schrempf 6, Payton 4, Kemp 3, Hawkins 3, Brickowski 3, E.Johnson).

Steals: 7 (Payton 3, Hawkins 2, McMillan, Kemp).

Technical fouls: Askew, 8:15 second; Askew, 2:19 third.

Ejection: Askew, 2:19 third.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb SAN ANTONIO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Elliott 17 2-4 2-4 1-2 0 1 6 Smith 28 2-8 1-2 2-6 3 4 5 Robinson 43 8-16 8-11 4-16 3 5 24 Del Negro 43 7-14 2-4 0-2 5 2 16 A.Johnson 38 3-7 2-2 0-2 13 3 8 Person 36 6-13 0-2 2-7 2 4 15 Rivers 16 2-6 0-0 0-2 0 3 5 Williams 8 1-2 0-0 1-3 0 0 2 Perdue 11 1-2 1-4 0-3 0 4 3 Totals 240 32-72 16-29 10-43 26 26 84 Percentages: FG .444, FT .552.

3-Point Goals: 4-15, .267 (Person 3-10, Rivers 1-3, Del Negro 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 11.

Blocked shots: 4 (Smith 2, Robinson 2).

Turnovers: 20 (A.Johnson 6, Robinson 4, Person 3, Smith 2, Elliott, Del Negro, Rivers, Williams, Perdue).

Steals: 10 (Del Negro 3, A.Johnson 2, Person 2, Rivers, Robinson, Elliott).

Technical foul: Perdue, 8:15 second.

Illegal defense: None.

Seattle 26 19 24 12 - 81

San Antonio 24 26 20 14 - 84

A-31,710 (35,888). T-2:35.