Shawn Kemp = Vastly Underrated Defender

AStark1991 · Post #1 » by **AStark1991** » Sun Jun 29, 2025 1:47 pm

Probably because he's mostly remembered for his crazy athleticism and ferocious dunking, a lot of people seem to forget or just don't realize how great of a defender and rebounder Shawn Kemp was as well. At his peak (1995-96) he was 2nd in the league in defensive rating, 4th in defensive win shares, and 3rd in total rebounds. Plus, after he left Seattle they dropped from 6th in defensive rating to 10th while Cleveland instantly became the #1 rated defensive unit in the league during his first season with the Cavs. And in hindsight, the fact that he was never selected for an NBA All-Defensive Team is pretty egregious, especially when you take into account that during his best 4 year stretch (1992-1996) Horace Grant was named to the All-Defensive Second Team every year during that span, but when you compare their respective on court stats and advanced defensive metrics, Kemp was superior in pretty much every category...
1992-93
- Shawn Kemp: 10.7 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 1.9 BPG, 18.8 REB%, 2.3 STL%, 3.8 BLK%
Defensive Rating: 100, Defensive Win Shares: 5.1, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 1.0
- Horace Grant: 9.5 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 15.3 REB%, 1.7 STL%, 2.3 BLK%
Defensive Rating: 105, Defensive Win Shares: 3.7, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.1
1993-94
- Shawn Kemp: 10.8 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 2.1 BPG, 19.4 REB%, 2.8 STL%, 4.6 BLK%
Defensive Rating: 96, Defensive Win Shares: 6.0, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 2.0
- Horace Grant: 11.0 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 17.5 REB%, 1.5 STL%, 2.2 BLK%
Defensive Rating: 101, Defensive Win Shares: 4.3, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.9
1994-95
- Shawn Kemp: 10.9 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 19.8 REB%, 1.9 STL%, 3.5 BLK%
Defensive Rating: 102, Defensive Win Shares: 4.7, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.1
- Horace Grant: 9.7 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 15.2 REB%, 1.4 STL%, 2.2 BLK%
Defensive Rating: 106, Defensive Win Shares: 3.5, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.6
1995-96
- Shawn Kemp: 11.4 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.6 BPG, 20.3 REB%, 1.8 STL%, 3.8 BLK%
Defensive Rating: 97, Defensive Win Shares: 6.1, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 1.3
- Horace Grant: 9.2 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 14.8 REB%, 1.4 STL%, 2.4 BLK%
Defensive Rating: 105, Defensive Win Shares: 3.1, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.6

migya · Post #2 » by **migya** » Sun Jun 29, 2025 2:12 pm

His stats don't really show his worth. He wasn't a true superstar for that decade, with so many alltime great bigs, but he was arguably the best player on a finals team in 96 and the previous few seasons also. He was very versatile defensively but obviously his value wasn't as good as the great Center defenders, which had top 5 alltime defenders Robinson and Olajuwon, Mutombo, Ewing and Mourning not too far away either.

Post #3 » by **penbeast0** » Sun Jun 29, 2025 2:14 pm

He was also a bit of a knucklehead and foul prone, not the guy you have calling your defensive signals which Grant did well (at least later in his career), but . . . that said, he was a force on the defensive end.

One_and_Done · Post #4 » by **One_and_Done** » Sun Jun 29, 2025 8:57 pm

Who underrated Kemp? He is very well regarded.

SportsGuru08 · Post #5 » by **SportsGuru08** » Tue Jul 1, 2025 2:42 am

He was a better defender than he was credited for but he was prone to foul trouble.

kcktiny · Post #6 » by **kcktiny** » Tue Jul 1, 2025 6:11 pm

His stats don't really show his worth.

Oh but they do.

From 1992-93 to 1996-97 (5 seasons), Seattle was the 2nd best defensive team in the league (102.0 pts/100poss allowed). Only New York was better defensively.

He played the 2nd most minutes on the Sonics over that time (only Payton played more) and:

- grabbed 2820 defensive rebounds, no other Sonic grabbed even 1250 def rebs
- blocked 642 shots, no other Sonic blocked even 220 shots.

Those 5 seasons among all PFs and Cs in the league Kemp ranked:

- 7th in most rebounds(4288)
- 2nd in offensive rebounds (1468, only Rodman had more)
- 4th in steals (581)
- 10th in blocks (642)
- 7th in points (7415)

and this was in an era where all of the following PFs and Cs played all 5 of those seasons - Karl Malone, Olajuwon, Shaq, DRob, Ewing, Mutombo, and Mourning.

He wasn't a true superstar for that decade

Perhaps.

But for those 5 seasons he certainly was thought of as a true superstar. During that time Seattle had the 2nd best W-L record in the league in the regular season (only the Bulls won more), averaged a 59-23 record.

And those 5 seasons he was the Sonics key big man. Other than Sam Perkins, who played 3800 less minutes over that time than did Kemp while being a much worse rebounder, shot blocker, and scorer, Kemp alone played as many minutes (13239) as these 8 other Sonics big men did combined (13178) - Michael Cage, Ervin Johnson, Derrick Mckey, Jim McIlvaine, Frank Brickowski, Terry Cummings, Benoit Benjamin, and Bill Cartwright, but:

- grabbed 1150 more rebounds
- blocked 65 more shots
- scored 3440 more points

than those 8 big men did combined.

migya · Post #7 » by **migya** » Wed Jul 2, 2025 5:59 am

kcktiny wrote:
His stats don't really show his worth.

Oh but they do.

From 1992-93 to 1996-97 (5 seasons), Seattle was the 2nd best defensive team in the league (102.0 pts/100poss allowed). Only New York was better defensively.

He played the 2nd most minutes on the Sonics over that time (only Payton played more) and:

- grabbed 2820 defensive rebounds, no other Sonic grabbed even 1250 def rebs
- blocked 642 shots, no other Sonic blocked even 220 shots.

Those 5 seasons among all PFs and Cs in the league Kemp ranked:

- 7th in most rebounds(4288)
- 2nd in offensive rebounds (1468, only Rodman had more)
- 4th in steals (581)
- 10th in blocks (642)
- 7th in points (7415)

and this was in an era where all of the following PFs and Cs played all 5 of those seasons - Karl Malone, Olajuwon, Shaq, DRob, Ewing, Mutombo, and Mourning.

He wasn't a true superstar for that decade

Perhaps.

But for those 5 seasons he certainly was thought of as a true superstar. During that time Seattle had the 2nd best W-L record in the league in the regular season (only the Bulls won more), averaged a 59-23 record.

And those 5 seasons he was the Sonics key big man. Other than Sam Perkins, who played 3800 less minutes over that time than did Kemp while being a much worse rebounder, shot blocker, and scorer, Kemp alone played as many minutes (13239) as these 8 other Sonics big men did combined (13178) - Michael Cage, Ervin Johnson, Derrick Mckey, Jim McIlvaine, Frank Brickowski, Terry Cummings, Benoit Benjamin, and Bill Cartwright, but:

- grabbed 1150 more rebounds
- blocked 65 more shots
- scored 3440 more points

than those 8 big men did combined.

He certainly was a prominent player, even among those alltime greats. What I meant is that his raw stats weren't huge in comparison to alltime stars and other greats at PF, particularly scoring and blocks, his rebounding was great, as was his impact which is seen by his team's success.

SHAQ32 · Post #8 » by **SHAQ32** » Wed Jul 2, 2025 3:16 pm

Should have made it over McKey, not HoGrant.

AStark1991 · Post #9 » by **AStark1991** » Wed Jul 2, 2025 4:41 pm

SHAQ32 wrote:Should have made it over McKey, not HoGrant.

Different positions. McKey was a Small Forward.

SHAQ32 · Post #10 » by **SHAQ32** » Wed Jul 2, 2025 5:31 pm

AStark1991 wrote:
SHAQ32 wrote:Should have made it over McKey, not HoGrant.

Different positions. McKey was a Small Forward.

Wasn't the format GG/FF/C, or do you not know?

AStark1991 · Post #11 » by **AStark1991** » Wed Jul 2, 2025 5:43 pm

SHAQ32 wrote:
AStark1991 wrote:
SHAQ32 wrote:Should have made it over McKey, not HoGrant.

Different positions. McKey was a Small Forward.

Wasn't the format GG/FF/C, or do you not know?

Yeah you're right. My bad.

trevon2x · Post #12 » by **trevon2x** » Mon Jul 7, 2025 2:43 am

Thinking about Kemps position in terms of defensive forwards during the 90s, it's crazy to me how the two best were on the same team.

migya · Post #13 » by **migya** » Mon Jul 7, 2025 2:10 pm

trevon2x wrote:Thinking about Kemps position in terms of defensive forwards during the 90s, it's crazy to me how the two best were on the same team.

Do you mean Kemp and another Sonics forward were the best forwards defensively in the 90s? Who is that player.

ReggiesKnicks · Post #14 » by **ReggiesKnicks** » Mon Jul 7, 2025 2:21 pm

migya wrote:
trevon2x wrote:Thinking about Kemps position in terms of defensive forwards during the 90s, it's crazy to me how the two best were on the same team.

Do you mean Kemp and another Sonics forward were the best forwards defensively in the 90s? Who is that player.

I assume they are talking about Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.

migya · Post #15 » by **migya** » Tue Jul 8, 2025 4:41 am

ReggiesKnicks wrote:
migya wrote:
trevon2x wrote:Thinking about Kemps position in terms of defensive forwards during the 90s, it's crazy to me how the two best were on the same team.

Do you mean Kemp and another Sonics forward were the best forwards defensively in the 90s? Who is that player.

I assume they are talking about Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.

Thought he meant Kemp and a teammate. Didn't make sense.