Former Seattle SuperSonics All-Star Shawn Kemp will spend 30 days under electronic home monitoring and must perform 240 hours of community service after pleading guilty to charges in a 2023 case.
Kemp pleaded guilty in May to one count of second-degree assault in relation to a shooting incident outside a Tacoma, Wash., mall in March 2023. He was sentenced Friday.
Prosecutors had asked for nine months of jail plus a year of community custody, which is similar to probation. The community custody was granted, and the community service must be done in that year.
Kemp admitted to firing at two men in a Toyota 4Runner after his cell phone, sports memorabilia and other belongings were stolen from his truck. He traced his phone to the Toyota 4Runner and he said he was fired on by an occupant and shot at the vehicle in self-defense.
“I should have used better discretion,” Kemp, 55, said in court Friday in Pierce County, Wash.
He told reporters outside the courtroom that he looks forward to going into the community and advocating for gun safety. He also said he should have called police instead of taking the law into his own hands.
“A simple call to cops probably could have handled this.”
No one was injured in the incident. Prosecutors said they could trace four shots fired by Kemp, with three of them hitting the 4Runner and the fourth striking another vehicle.
He had no prior criminal history.
Kemp was selected by the SuperSonics in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft and spent the first eight of his 14 NBA seasons in Seattle. The “Reign Man” averaged 14.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game during his career. He made six consecutive All-Star appearances from 1993-98.
–Field Level Media
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