And the former NBA star is trying for a comeback. Those were the two conclusions I found in this column by the Seattle PI's Robert Jamieson. The second I am willing to believe; the first is harder to swallow, in spite of this evidence from the column.
A local fitness foundation asked if Kemp would come to speak with kids. He didn't think twice. Kemp also puts on an annual "Reign Man Classic" in which hoops teams compete and raise money for high school basketball in Seattle.
"Shawn has pure love for youth in the inner city, which is a lot more than I can say for so many other athletes in town," said Gordon Curvey, a Seattle producer of Music Inner City, a hip-hop TV show. "He doesn't care about publicity, doesn't want it. His big heart is gold."
Others might have a different opinion about how much Kemp loves children, especially if they read, or even have heard of, a famous Sports Illustrated cover story.
Nearly one-third of all children in this country are born to unwed mothers. But this week, Sports Illustrated reports that among professional athletes out-of-wedlock births are epidemic. And of athletes in the major sports leagues, those in the NBA appear to have the greatest number of cases. According to SI, one of the NBA's top agents says he spends more time dealing with paternity claims than he does negotiating contracts. The agent tells the magazine that there might be more kids out of wedlock than there are players in the NBA. According to Sports Illustrated, Larry Johnson of the Knicks is supporting five children by four women, including two he has with his wife, and Shawn Kemp of the Cavaliers, who is not married, has fathered seven children. Other NBA players who have been the subject of paternity-related lawsuits include Patrick Ewing, Juwan Howard, Scottie Pippen, Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury, Hakeem Olajuwon and Gary Payton, as well as Larry Bird, who is now the coach of the Pacers, and current NBC game analyst Isiah Thomas.
This City Journal article is more precise about Kemp's children.
Cleveland Cavalier power forward Shawn Kemp, 28 and unmarried when the SI article appeared, led the list with seven illegitimate children born to six different women.
Now then, for the sake or argument, let's say that Kemp does love children. If so, he does not understand — perhaps because no one ever told him — that kids do far better when they have two married parents. If so, someone should tell him — and someone should tell Gordon Curvey and Robert Jamieson the same thing.
Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.
(Jamieson says in the column that Kemp is now married to "Marvena" and that they have three children. She may be one of the six women; if so, only five or six of his kids are now missing their daddy.
By way of contrast, you might want to look at this article on another NBA star, Doug Christie. He behaves as a man should — and is thought to be strange for doing so.
Note to commenters: Given Kemp's record, it would be tempting to be crude about his past behavior — but let's keep this site fit for children, even Kemp's children.)
Posted by Jim Miller at October 09, 2006 01:57 PM | Email ThisTroubling indeed is the article about Doug Christie and his wife which drips with condescension. How dare he and his wife have a loving marriage! Are members of the Mainstream Media so far over the edge that traditional marriage actually makes them angry?
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on October 9, 2006 02:28 PMREAL MEN care for, support and raise their children.
Posted by: JCM on October 9, 2006 02:33 PMNothing wrong with that. Bill, only the strawman inside your head is angry and dripping condescension. But the Christies are certainly not typical Americans, let alone typical celebrities. Hence the article.
Posted by: Bruce on October 9, 2006 03:44 PMcalling them bastards is not ok--but--honoring the irresponsible loose-cannon sperm bank 'Daddies' is celebrated as a "cultural thayng," right?
double-standard. do we see this in the Asian communities? the other ethnic communities? i don't. thus their curtural downfall. self-created. but not self-policed.
Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on October 9, 2006 05:24 PMYou said it youself Bruce, "But the Christies are certainly not typical Americans".
Please don't tell me you think Shawn Kemp is a "typical American".
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on October 9, 2006 05:45 PMI'm not making excuses for Shawn, but the Sonics organization was remiss in not recognizing that Shawn was a kid who needed coaching both on and off the court.
Posted by: Organization Man on October 9, 2006 09:09 PM
Me thinks that Jamieson went out on a limb again here, like he often does in his other editorials. It is good to see someone clean up their life and make a comeback, but it will be an uphill climb for Kemp. As a sports fan, I'd like to read an update on him after the upcoming NBA season is over.
Posted by: KS on October 9, 2006 09:51 PMI blame a lot of this on NBA Commissioner David Stern for failing to police the drugs and other minor stuff that create a "broken window" scenario that ultimately condones disintegrating values. Growing up in Portland, the Blazers were generally great family guys who enjoyed their civic role. This in turn fostered great city-wide pride in the team and made for a fantastic franchise. As the hip-hop culture infected the sport in the mid 1990s, the path to demise was set. One of the most notorious practitioners in the rise of the defective NBA culture was Kemp, just to the North in Seattle.
I doubt Kemp's sudden love of children is anything more than an attempt to bail out a poor financial picture. Sadly, some left leaning dupes in the media like Jamieson, will believe anything.
Posted by: Jeff B. on October 10, 2006 05:31 AMIf he wants to help kids now, it really doesn't matter why he's doing it. Better image, money, whatever. It's the action that counts.
Posted by: Palouse on October 10, 2006 08:15 AM1. The morality clause in the NBA contracts should be honored if they have children outside of wedlock. Please see morality clause below...
Their morality clause in the NBA contracts states...
(a) The Team may terminate this Contract upon written notice to the Player if the Player shall:
(i) At any time, fail, refuse, or neglect to conform his personal conduct to standards of good citizenship, good moral character (defined here to mean not engaging in acts of moral turpitude, whether or not such acts would constitute a crime), and good sportsmanship, to keep himself in first class physical condition, or to obey the Team?s training rules;?
2. There should be trusts set up for these children preparing for after these deadbeats go broke and there is no longer funds to provide these children with food or education OR they try and hide their funds.
3. There should be parental classes established which are mandatory for each player to attend. Have mothers, children and old players come back and share the hardships they face after the limelight dims.
Also know - not all of these women are groupies. Some of us, myself included were with these men from high school (or earlier) and they lead us to believe that we will marry and at the last minute (for me 7 months into pregnancy) decide not to and have their agents run threatening intervence. It has taken me 10 years to proscute my deadbeat NBA dad. He even received a $600k disablity settlement with a misdemeanor plea bargain on the table. He then still refused to pay his support and claims to have spent the money.
When he was finally arrested you should have seen the hate mail I received, some from the minor league general manager from the team he then coached. It does not matter, I am a strong woman but I will say society has to stop supporting immoral, wrong and criminal behavior just because a guy can dunk a ball.
Thanks for posting this story there needs to be more awareness made of this issue.