The Reunion, The Sequel Kemp Comes To Seattle For Second Game Against Former Teammates

And now, the rematch.

When last we saw Shawn Kemp, he was in a state of denial. On a night he’d been anticipating for eight months, the Seattle SuperSonics’ defense had reduced him to a keenly interested but ultimately uninvolved spectator in a 109-84 victory over Cleveland.

But as Kemp has discovered once or twice, time travels fast in the NBA. He enters KeyArena tonight at 7 for the first time in a Cleveland uniform.

Since Reign Man’s first reunion with Team Tranquility, the pastry-shop schedule of his old team has been replaced by a slice of meat: back-to-back road defeats at New York and Chicago - Seattle’s first losing streak of the season - followed by a home win Thursday over the Miami Heat.

Seattle’s Sam Perkins, for one, doesn’t expect the reunion to be all bad.

“There’ll be some mixed feelings,” Perkins predicted.

“I think Shawn is trying to close the chapter on this. We still respect him in a good way from a player’s standpoint, and I’m sure the organization does, too. Since he’s coming back for the first time, it’ll be interesting. And it won’t die down ‘til after the game. There’s gonna be some more drama there. He has to live with it, and so do we.

“I’ll clap for him, and after that, I’m going against him.”

Kemp will be out to avenge his last game against Seattle’s Vin Baker. Baker scored 25 points in Cleveland while holding Kemp to 2-of-11 shooting and nine points.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Coming up Today: Cleveland at Seattle, 7 p.m. Radio: KXLY 920-AM.