NBA: Former Sonic Talks Relationship With Gary Payton, Aftermath Of Shawn Kemp Trade

Seattle Supersonics legend Detlef Schrempf recalled what happened after Shawn Kemp was traded and opened up about his relationship with Gary Payton.

One of the teams Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls destroyed during NBA Finals were the Seattle Supersonics. Back then, the team was almost unstoppable under the leadership of Payton and Kemp.

After more than two decades, Schrempf, the team’s former starting forward, revealed the story behind the downfall of the once phenomenal NBA team in the 90’s.

In a recent interview with GQ, Schrempf reminisced about the good times he had with the Sonics. According to him, most teams in the NBA were “scared” of them as they play really well together.

“We had a great time. We knew every night that we could win, most teams can’t say that. We knew that a lot of teams were scared of us. We were up by 20 points in the first quarter because the teams were scared of how we played,” Schrempf recalled.

The German native then admitted that he and former Sonics star Payton used to have a lot of arguments. But overall, the team was all about having fun.

“It was never boring. Looking back now. You know Gary (Payton) and I, we used to fight a lot. We’re good friends now but back then we used to fight all the time,” Schrempf admitted.

With regards to Kemp, the other star of the team, Schrempf revealed that his departure has contributed to the dismantling of the Sonics. He even noted that the team lost in the trade which sent Kemp to Cleveland in exchange for Vin Baker.

“They made some changes the following year. Shawn, Gary and I played together in 1997. I think then they made the trade, the lockout season. They broke up the team, wanted to get younger and just made a very bad trade and then the lockout happened,” Schrempf said.

“We got Vin Baker who was not himself, he had a lot of off-court issues and you know we struggled that season and then the team kind of dismantled,” Schrempf added.

In the same interview, Schrempf made a bold prediction regarding who’s gonna make it to the NBA Finals this year. Based on his assessment, the Detroit Pistons will once again compete for the title. He even said that Anthony Davis will win the MVP award but the Lakers will not qualify in the Western Conference Finals.

“Western Conference finals is going to be between Portland Trailblazers and LA Clippers. And the MVP is going to be Anthony Davis,” Schrempf predicted.