The price of success will be steep for Seattle

Sporting News, The, June 24, 1996 by Shaun Powell

For those who cringe at the sight of the many high school players and 19-year-olds in this year's draft, keep this in mind: Shawn Kemp has no regrets.

The former 19-year-old "man-child" who didn't play college basketball and entered the league in 1989, Kemp is now a full-fledged, certified NBA success story. Sure, Kemp had two things in his favor when the Sonics drafted him. He was 6-10, he had an NBA body, and he possessed an incredible vertical leap. The skills needed nurturing, but the basics were there. All he needed was seasoning, and he says he made the right decision seven years ago.

"No regrets, not at all," Kemp says. "I was able to realize, when I came in, that it was going to take a lot of `OT' - overtime - to get to this point. Unfortunately, a lot of guys don't realize that when they come into the league. I was advised by a lot of older guys who told me, `Hey, you've got a lot of work to do over the summer to be good in this league.' They told me to do whatever I could to make my game better. That's what I've tried to do. Each summer, I tried to add to my game."

Kemp says each early-entry player must be judged on a case-by-case basis. It may be a fight decision for one player, but a wrong one for another.

"It all depends on the person," Kemp says. But this league has sympathy for young guys, if they're willing to learn. When you're 18 or 19, you're going to be around older guys, and they're going to look out for you. But you make your own fate. When you put your foot in that door, you have a responsibility as player and a person to do everything you can to make it work.

"It wouldn't surprise me at all if some of these young guys coming in become All-Stars." Around the league

The dreaded "L" word - lockout - is being tossed around again, with the NBA and its players union still without a finalized labor contract. Both sides agreed to the controversial five-year deal, but the language was never completed. Since then, the dissident faction in the union managed to oust executive director Simon Gourdine. And Jeffrey Kessler, the outside counsel for the union, has taken a more visible role. The league owners may vote for a lockout by July 1, which would delay the much-anticipated free-agent signing season. ... Word is the Suns have decided to trade Charles Barkley, and now it's only a matter of when and where. The Knicks and Pacers continue to have the most interest and the best chance, because the Suns probably won't give Barkley to a Western Conference contender like the Rockets.