The former basketball player was arrested Wednesday evening by Tacoma police in Washington
Former Seattle Sonics NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp was arrested Wednesday evening by the Tacoma police in Pierce County, Washington in connection to a drive-by shooting.
According to Pierce County Corrections, the 53-year-old former basketball player was booked just before 6 p.m. Shortly before 2 p.m that day, the Tacoma Police Department reported “an altercation between the occupants of 2 cars” that “led to shots being fired at a parking lot.” In the report, police stated that a gun was found and a 53-year-old male was booked for a drive-by shooting.
Kemp was a first-round draft pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and is a six-time NBA All-Star. Nicknamed “Reign Man,” he played 625 games with Seattle from 1989 to 1997, forming a powerhouse duo with Gary Payton, and helping lead the Sonics to the NBA Finals in 1996. From 2000 to 2002, he played with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Kemp has a reported history of arrests. In 2005 he was arrested for investigation of drug possession in Shoreline, Washington, and in 2006 he was arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession in Houston, Texas.
In 2022, the six-time All-Star was part of a campaign to bring an NBA franchise back to Seattle. “We’re not going to stop with the process here until we get the actual Sonics back,” Kemp told The Athletic. “We want the Sonics back, because the people in this community deserves that.”