Go Sonics!
Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp headline a charity game between the NBA & Former Globetrotter All-Stars and the Anchorage Police Department Search Team All-Stars at 5 p.m. at West High. [12/16/2012]
Alaska sports digest for Dec. 15
exhibition basketball
Payton, Kemp playing hoops at West tonight
Basketball fans can't watch the Seattle SuperSonics anymore, but they will have a chance to see some big names from the former NBA team in action Sunday.
Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp headline a charity game between the NBA & Former Globetrotter All-Stars and the Anchorage Police Department Search Team All-Stars at 5 p.m. at West High.
Former Harlem Globetrotters legend Otis Key will team with Payton and Kemp in the benefit for the APD auxiliary search team volunteers. Tickets are available in advance for $15 at local Tesoro stations, Kaladi Bros. Coffee shops and Blockbuster Video stores and at the gate for $20.
Members of the Alaska 49ers semipro team will also play.
Payton, nicknamed "The Glove," played 13 years of his 17-year NBA career with the SuperSonics, a franchise that left Seattle to become the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008.
Payton, who becomes eligible for the NBA Hall of Fame in 2013, teamed with Kemp to help make the Sonics a force in the 1990s. After reaching the Western Conference Finals at the end of the 1992-93 season, Seattle posted the best record (63-19) in the NBA during the 1993-94 season.
Payton and Kemp helped guide Seattle to the NBA Finals in 1996, eventually losing to a Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls team in six games.
Payton was an all-star nine times with the Sonics before leaving the team in 2003. He finished his NBA career with Milwaukee, Boston and Miami, averaging 16.3 points, 6.7 assists and 1.8 steals for his career.
Kemp, a six-time all-star who played with Seattle from 1990-97, averaged 14.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in an NBA career that included stints with Cleveland, Portland and Orlando.