Shawn Kemp was one of the better players in the NBA during his tenure there. At the end of the day, the man did make 6 All-Star teams, and 3 All-NBA teams during his playing days. That may not be a Hall of Fame career, but it sure as heck isn’t anything to sneeze at.
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However, since his time in the NBA came to an end, Shawn Kemp has largely been outside of the media’s eye. He has quietly lived out his retirement so far, and it’s hard to imagine he planned to do anything differently.
However, that’s the thing about life. Often, nothing goes according to plan. And sure enough, it didn’t for Shawn Kemp either. The man was recently arrested for quite the controversy. And that has in turn also brought attention to some of his more embarrassing moments during his career. And arguably the biggest has been his embarrassing weight gain back in the 1998-99 NBA season.
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The weighing scale was not Shawn Kemp’s best friend after the end of the lockout in 1999
During the 1998-99 season, there was a lockout that spanned from July 1st, 1998, all the way to January 20th, 1999. That’s over 7 months of no NBA games. So, it became justified for NBA players at the time to believe that the season was going to be canceled.
This was a rare opportunity for players to forgo their diets for an extended period. However, even compared to other players with a similar mentality, Shawn Kemp went just a bit too far with it, going from 280 lbs, all the way up to 315 lbs.
When he came into training camp, he had a rather honest conversation with Mike Fratello, as the then Cavaliers head coach revealed.
“He was really very honest about it,” former Cavs coach Mike Fratello recalled. “I said, ‘Shawn, how did this happen?’ He said, ‘Coach, I didn’t think we were coming back.’”
Weight gain and all considered, at least the former NBA man was honest about it. No matter who you are, you just can’t help but appreciate that level of candidacy. However, the story doesn’t end there.
To make up for lost time, David Stern made sure the remaining 50 games were played in a rather short amount of time. And apparently, that had quite the effect on Kemp as well, as John Newman revealed.
“I don’t remember a season when more players ordered room service. Guys would usually go out, get a bite to eat or whatever on road trips. But we would be so tired after playing so many games guys were like’You know what, I’m just eating in the room.’”
With games coming as hard and fast as they were, it’s hard to say all the room service wasn’t justified. However, with all this aside, let’s move on to why this is receiving all its recent notoriety.
Shawn Kemp was recently arrested
Shawn Kemp was arrested on Wednesday due to being connected to a shooting in Tacoma, as reports claim.
It is alleged that there was an altercation between two parties, in two separate cars, which later led to a shooting in a parking lot in the 4500 block on South Steele Street, as per police reports.
Fortunately, there were no injuries reported. Kemp was later arrested at about 6 pm, and a firearm was recovered from the former NBA star. Further details are awaited on the matter in the upcoming days.
