Kemp Becomes Loaded Question

PORTLAND, Ore. — "I think he's grown."

--Portland's Scottie Pippen,

on new teammate Shawn Kemp

*

Man-Child?

Are you in there somewhere?

Man-Child, that's what they called Shawn Kemp when he broke in at 19 as a long, lean, running-and-jumping machine, but that seems like another time in another galaxy, far, far away.

Ten years and two teams later, Kemp doesn't seem to have grown as much as expanded, or multiplied into twins. That's 285 pounds worth of new Portland Trail Blazer out there, which is actually an improvement. He was at 300 in September and heaven knows what last season in Cleveland where they wondered how they would ever get rid of his big, uh, body and bigger contract.

Even for a general manager as daring as Bob Whitsitt, aka Trader Bob, and an owner as rich as Paul Allen, who's No. 2 on the Fortune 400 to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, guaranteeing $70 million to this . . . Man-Blimp . . . is a gamble.

Not that they'd put it that way, or appreciate being asked if their new $70-million investment can play the game at this weight.

"You been watching?" asks Whitsitt at halftime of the Trail Blazers' exhibition opener. "Yeah.

"I mean, did you watch him last year? He can definitely play. Obviously, he's a different style player today. He's bigger, powerful. We see him as a two-position guy. Biggest thing he's got is the experience. He knows how to play . . . There's no question he can still play."

It's true, there's no question he can play, just whether he can go back to what he was when they gave him that contract, or if not, will he play those two positions at the same time?

It wasn't so long ago that Kemp was one of the NBA's most exciting players and hungriest competitors. His scoring average improved every year for his first seven, until he was at 19.6 points and 11.4 rebounds a game, shooting 56% and the SuperSonics were in the NBA finals.

That was in 1996, after which he went into a huge funk, forced a trade to Cleveland and disappeared into the nether reaches of the Eastern Conference for three seasons to reemerge as . . . what?

Now he's like a more athletic version of Wes Unseld. Kemp may well be the quickest 285-pounder who ever played, but this isn't the NFL and no one needs a defensive tackle.