On Episode 157 of the Ballislife In The Paint Show, hosts Ronnie Flores and Chelsea Hopkins go in on the latest high school and NBA news and give their hot takes on the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Ron and Chelsea talk about the latest gun incident (surprise) involving Shawn Kemp and Ja Morant's rehab stint away from the Memphis Grizzlies. Is this the first step to a total re-make for Ja?

The ITP crew also talk about the issue of NBA load management and how guidelines could be put in place for player awards through the CBA.

Ron also breaks down the CIF state championships and the atmosphere of the California state tournament. Is there going to be change in order to make it more appeasing to the average fan? Ron also talks about how the CIF and UIL (Texas) state tournament affect the latest FAB 50 rankings.

Chelsea also gives her hot takes on the women's NCAA Tournament. Can anyone challenge South Carolina? Who are the favorites to reach the Final Four? Chelsea also breaks down players to watch.

Both Ron and Chelsea give their team and players to watch in the wide-open men's NCAA Tournament? It truly will be March Madness this season!

The ITP crew offers some terrific insight on all levels of the game and both genders, so make sure to tune in to Episode 157 from start to finish!

(0:00) - Intro
(1:16) - Gun Incident with Shawn Kemp... WTH!
(3:52) - Ja Morant in Rehab: Will He Turn the Corner?
(10:49) - New NBA CBA Will Address Load Management
(13:28) - NBA MVP Debate: A Racial Thing or Flawed Process?
(17:11) - Life of Pro: Preparing for Adjustment or Staying in Moment
(19:45) - Ballislife Podcast Network Shout-Outs
(20:04) - Ron’s CIF Championships Hot Takes
(27:21) - Ron’s FAB 50 Update
(28:24) - Ron’s UIL Final Four Break Down
(35:15) - Chelsea’s Women’s NCAA Tourney Breakdown!
(49:09) - Hot Take on Men’s NCAA Tournament!

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If you have ever seen any Shawn Kemp highlights, I'm assuming you have seen the infamous "Lister Blister" dunk (above). I'm also assuming you don't know the amusing story behind it and why one of the greatest and most disrespectful NBA dunks ever is also one of the best revenge dunks ever.

Let's go back to April 23rd of 1992, Game 1 of the first round match-up between the Golden State Warriors and Seattle SuperSonics. Kemp dominates the Warriors' big men with 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks. NBA lottery pick and starter Tyrone Hill played only 15 minutes before leaving with 0 points and Alton Lister matched Hill's donut while racking up 3 fouls in just 7 minutes. The Sonics end up with a 117-109 win.

In Game 2, Lister got the start and did a great job at keeping The Reign Man to a drizzle, holding Kemp to 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting. He also got Kemp to lose his cool after a flagrant foul, which led to a couple of punches (13-second mark of the following video) and since this was the early 90s, they each received a tech and kept on playing. The altercation also sparked the Warriors as they dominated the 2nd half -- outscoring the Sonics 61-41 -- and came away with a 14-point win.

(The original video was removed. The fight occurs at the beginning of this replacement one)

With the success of Game 2, the Warriors strategy in Game 3 was to foul, foul, and make Kemp earn his points at the free throw line. They kept fouling and he would end up scoring 12 of his 22 points from the charity stripe. They also did a good job of containing the other half of the Sonics' young duo, keeping Gary Payton to just 8 points. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they couldn't stop the Sonics' vets -- Derrick McKey (27 points on 12 of 14), Ricky Pierce (21 points on 8 of 16), Eddie Johnson (19 points on 8 of 11) and Nate McMillan(11 points and a team-high 10 assists off the bench) -- and ended up losing Game 3 by a point.

The final minute of the game also featured Kemp's most popular alley-oop from Payton.

Here we are. Game 4 of the series. The game which featured two of the greatest dunks in NBA history and sweet revenge for Kemp.

Down by 1, midway through the 2nd quarter,  Kemp grabs 1 of his 20 rebounds, passes to Gary Payton, who passes to Nate McMillan. Nate gets double-teamed in a corner, spots a wide-open Kemp at the 3-point line, Kemp gets it back and instead of shooting a 3 like most big men today would, he takes one dribble towards the basket and then cuffs the ball like he's about to throw down a windmill dunk. Chris Mullin briefly considered getting in the way but was wise enough to change his mind. The same can't be said of Alton Lister, who tried to take a charge. He ended up getting dunked on, falling to the ground and being pointed at by a crouching Kemp. The dunk would go on to be known as "The Lister Blister" and the celebration just might be the most famous post-dunk celebration of all-time. If it happened today, it would be a taunting tech.

Then with a little less than a minute left before halftime, Chris Gatling swats a layup attempt by Nate McMillan, Kemp catches it, takes one step and throws down a vicious 1-hand and-1 dunk on Gatling. The dunk was so nasty, Gatling even gave him some dap. The free throw gave Kemp his 19th point of the half.  He would finish with 21 points and the Sonics took the series with a 119-116 victory.

As for Lister, he had 4 points on 1-of-5 shooting, 3 blocks and 3 fouls in 19 minutes.

After the series win, the Sonics had to wait on the winner of the Clippers and Jazz series. Since the Sonics beat the Jazz in 3 of their 4 regular season meetings, they were actually pulling for Stockton and The Mailman to deliver a win in their Game 4.

"Utah would be the team we want," Nate McMillan said. "But I'm superstitious. I think it'll be more difficult to beat them again."

He was right. They got their date with the Jazz and the Jazz took them out in 5 games as Karl Malone outplayed the 22-year old Kemp throughout the entire series, especially in Game 4, when he had 37 points to Kemp's 10.

Kemp did get his revenge 4 years later when they beat the Jazz in the WCF and went on to play the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.

The post The Story Behind Shawn Kemp's "Lister Blister" Revenge Dunk appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Here is a short highlight on Dwight Howard during his high school days at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy in Georgia.

A comparison that may fit better for Edrice "Bam" Adebayo is ex-NBA great, Shawn "The Reignman" Kemp. Kemp comes from the slow-paced, basketball rich state of Indiana much like Adebayo and North Carolina. Kemp was drafted at 6'9" and was listed at 6'10" for most of his 14-year NBA career that included 6 All-Star selections. If Adebayo is able to become the next one-and-done from Kentucky, he will be drafted at the age of 19 - the same age that Shawn Kemp was drafted in 1989 at the 17th position to the Seattle SuperSonics. The easiest of the Kemp/Adebayo comparisons comes in two parts: the first being both have unreal athletic ability and the second being the University of Kentucky connection. Kemp enrolled at University of Kentucky to play for Coach Eddie Sutton in 1988 but left the team in November of his freshman year after being accused of theft by a teammate. Kemp transferred to Trinity Valley Community College in Texas but never played a game. That spring, at 19-years old, Kemp declared for the NBA draft. Kentucky's Big Blue Nation never got the chance to cheer for the showtime dunks Kemp was capable of but maybe now, almost 20 years later, they will have the chance to embrace the same type of highlight plays via Bam Adebayo.

Here is a highlight film showcasing Shawn Kemp's best dunks from high school.

The main difference from Bam and anyone else mentioned above, or that he'll find himself on draft boards with, is his work ethic and mind set. Bam is a kid the works hard 100% of the time and when it comes to concepts of team and growth, he just "gets it." Look for Adebayo to dominate the boards & run the floor with the best of them this season in Lexington. He will need to improve his back to the basket game as he continues to mature but that should come. Unlike the super mobile NBA power forwards of UK past (Anthony Davis & Julius Randle) Bam will bring power first & finesse will be secondary. Expect him to buy in at UK, trust Coach Calipari and the proven process, and find himself on stage with Adam Silver next June in a lottery position. Enjoy the show!

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You don't even have to be a Seattle Supersonic fan or a resident of Seattle to appreciate what happened last night at Key Arena.

The night began with a WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury and concluded with a Seattle Pro-Am game between Team Brand Black and Team Ballislife.  The game, which featured highlights from Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Kelly Olynyk, Terrence Jones and Martell Webster was exciting as expected, but the real excitement was seeing all the Seattle legends in the building.

For the first time since 1997, there was The Glove and The Reign Man in Key Arena exchanging high fives the way they used to after a Sportscenter worthy lob.

There was the great Lenny Wilkens from the 1979 Champion Sonics sharing a laugh with the man who inspired Jamal Crawford to wear a headband in his early days: Donald "Slick" Watts!

There was Brandon Roy, one of the best Seattle high shool players ever, sitting with his kids and Spencer Hawes of Seattle Preparatory on the sideline.

There was Payton hugging his NBA Finals teammate Detlef Schrempf

There was the crowd chanting "SUPER SONICS" the way they did when Seattle used to win the division title year after year in the 90s.

“Overall, it really was what I envisioned,” Crawford said. “But it was still so different. Running onto the KeyArena court, it gives you goosebumps. They started playing the old Sonics music and I got chills.”

Just like the chills Crawford gives fans when he unleashes a move so cold it freezes a defender.

THE JAMAL CRAWFORD RULES

Jamal, who had 26 points and 12 assists in the game, did miss the potential game-winner but unofficially his team won the game.  With 5 minutes left in the game and his Brand Black team winning by 17, Crawford reset the score to 100-100 just so the crowd could see 5 more competitive minutes of basketball.  As awesome and unusual as this sounds, I've seen Crawford do similar things in the past at the Pro-Am to make sure nobody leaves the court and arena feeling cheated.

Last summer at the Pro-Am, down by 1 with 9 seconds left in regulation, the refs called a very questionable foul on an opposing team putting Jamal at the line for 3 freebies.  The call was so bad that Isaiah Thomas took off his shoes and jersey, exited the court and went to the locker room.  Crawford then calmly stepped to the line and hit a free throw before intentionally clanking two free throws so the game would be decided by the players in OT and not the refs in regulation. Thomas ran back on the court, finished racking up his 47 points and came away with the victory. And just like last night at Key Arena, Crawford lost the game but won by sharing his love for it.

It's a love for the game and the city that's shared by many and hopefully one day, the NBA will be able to reward the city the way Jamal has, and bring basketball back to Seattle.

Source: Seattle Times
Photos by Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times

BONUS VIDEO: THE JAMAL CRAWFORD STORY

Crawford talks about growing up in Seattle, playing with Payton and Kemp while in high school and the Seattle Pro-Am.

The post Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Isaiah Thomas & Jamal Crawford Brought Basketball Back To Seattle Last Night appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Nowadays, an overzealous celebration or a simple stare at a defender who just got dunked on is enough to warrant a tech. Back in the early 90s, you could celebrate however you wanted -- with your teammates, towards the fans and even the opposing team -- and the refs wouldn't blow the whistle. No player took advantage of this liberty more than Shawn Kemp. Not even a young Shaq, with his rim-hanging and kung-fu doing antics, competed with the Reign Man when it came to excessive (but oh so awesome) celebrations.

For an example, let's go back to Game 5 of the 1993 WCSF, when high-flying Robert Horry had the assignment of guarding the higher-flying Kemp. Kemp had three monster dunks in the game and celebrated each with a memorable motion that would surely get any player 20-years later a tech without hesitation from the refs.

Dunk 1:  Horry tried to take a charge and ended up on a poster by Kemp. I mean he literally was made into a poster. This dunk has become one of the most popular Kemp dunk pics ever and the scream that Kemp does afterward has been put on sportscards and t-shirts. I even had the pleasure of bringing this dunk up during a dinner with Horry and Kemp.

Dunk 2: After a turnover by current coach Scotty Brooks, former NBA coach Nate McMillan passes to a running Kemp, who gets the and-1 dunk and celebrates by waving his arms back and forth in an odd mechanical way that represented many of Kemp's mannerisms.  This is the one celebration that I don't think would be called today.

Dunk 3:  Kemp gets an offensive rebound, goes straight up with a reverse dunk and celebrates by hanging on the rim with one hand while grabbing "deez nuts (this happened months after the release of Dr Dre Chronic album, which had people everywhere saying this phrase)." Kemp added the testicle grab to his celebration repertoire a year earlier, but after this instance, he must have received a warning from Stern because I can't recall another instance from Kemp.

I remember Shawn Kemp receiving a few fines throughout his career but never one for taunting a defender, then again, Kemp has to be the only player to ever get (a well deserved) dap from a defender after dunking on them. You can check out that dunk along with some other great and disrespectful dunks from Kemp in the following videos.

• 0:22: the infamous pointing
• 1:05: more ball grabbing
• 1:37: two dunks on Zo
• 2:10: yelling at Barkley
• 2:35: sitting on Rodman's shoulders
• 8:00 (2nd video): staring down at Brian Williams

MY FIRST & LAST KEMP MIX (2003 & 2018)

If you only have one minute to watch Shawn Kemp highlights... pic.twitter.com/fWAgcxEgBz

— David Astramskas (@redapples) October 6, 2018

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When you think of the Reign Man you think of a slim, athletic beast catching alley-oops from GP and throwing down the most vicious dunks outside of Shaq in the 90s.  But when you hear post-Seattle Shawn Kemp you probably remember the player who showed up after the NBA lockout at 300+ pounds.

Despite the extra (extra, extra) pounds, Kemp was still good for 20 a game in Cleveland and was even an all-star during his first season with the Cavs.

Here's one of his final games with the Cavs with a very plump looking Kemp dunking and scoring 22 (his 3rd straight 20 point game) against the next generation of great dunkers - TMac & Vinsanity.

During the off-season, Kemp was traded to the Jailblazers.

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My eyes get a little watery every time I watch a vintage clip of The Glove throwing a behind the back pass to The Reign Man or Kemp going baseline, spinning, throwing down a dunk and then swinging on the rim.

This throwback vid of the original Lob City from 95 has it all.

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With Gary Payton heading to the ?Hall of Fame this weekend, the internet has been buzzing about the Glove and his opinions (Stockton being tougher to guard than Jordan) and reflecting about his game and the trash talking that came with it. ?And when you talk about the Glove in Seattle you have to talk about the hand that fit in the glove and that hand was Shawn Kemp aka The Reign Man.

The duo became the most exciting alley-ooping threat in the league during the 90s and The NBA wanted to pay homage to the dynamic duo by releasing a "Top 10 Alley-Oops: Gary Payton to Shawn Kemp" video. ?My beef with the video is it seems it was made by somebody that was looking through archives and judging off the visuals of the highlight as opposed to remembering Kemp and finding the clips that best represented GP, Kemp and the Sonics in the 90s.

So here's a couple of my alternate picks that belong on this list.

"It's a jamfest baby and we love it!" We did and we all loved Kevin Calabro aka The voice of the Supersonics. ?He didn't move with the team when they became the Thunder but his voice lives on in Kemp videos and this game calling on this game might have been my favorite.

If any oop was a milk carton dunk it would be this 1 hand oop (3rd play in the video above) over Alonzo Mourning. ? Kemp was called for a tech for his celebration and after the Sonics lost, George Karl was fined for saying the refs "ought to be shot!"

Nobody knew how to celebrate like Kemp and after this "1 hand mojo" vs the Bucks he made a something smells really funky and nasty expression that warrants a few moves up any list.

Speaking of celebrations and oops. I wish GP would have thrown the following oop (1:00 mark) because his 1 hand swing on the rim while grabbing his nuts post oop celebration caused a little controversy in the early 90s. ?David Stern made him stop doing it but Kemp brought it back for a Dream Team 2 game.

There's a GP to Kemp connection against an early Penny to Shaq team that I can't find so in it's place I'll show this GP to Kemp connection against Shaq's replacement in Orlando.

If you start the next video at the 2:15 mark you will see a few plays that made the top 10 list and a few that could have easily have been there but at the 2:37 mark there's a 1 hand oop that was dunked with so much power that it looked like it scared Allan Houston when the ball went through the net and bounced hard off the ground.

I can't wait to see GP inducted into the Hall of Fame this Sunday so in the meantime I'm just going to dig through some more VHS tapes for more GP/Kemp gems since it seems the NBA wasn't willing to search very hard.

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Shawn Kemp aka “The Reign Man” was Blake Griffin before Blake Griffin. Before being known for how many kids he has, he was that dude dunking everything. It didn’t matter where he was on the court, you were expecting him to get to the rim and jam. He was always looking to dunk on anyone; it really didn’t matter who was in front of him. And for his size, he was able to do some freakishly acrobatic moves you only see guards nowadays doing. His best known dunk is probably, “The Lister Blister” where he dunks on Alton Lister and then infamously points at him as Lister’s laying on the ground. Here’s that dunk plus a few other Reign Man dunks.

Dominique Wilkins was the prototype athlete for dunking standing at 6’7, 200lbs with a 40 inch vert. He was one of the most explosive dunkers the NBA has ever seen. Even though he was best known for his windmill, Dominique had an array of in-game dunks from tip-jams to double pumps. Nique was a perfect combination of power and quickness that it made it tough for anyone to stop him from throwing down. There’s a reason for his nickname, “The Human Highlight Film,” and here’s proof to that nickname.

So based on in-game dunks only, what do you think? Who was the better in-game dunker: Kemp or Nique? Let us know what you think.

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