Alonzo Mourning recalls high school Shawn Kemp: "He was a 6-10 Vince Carter"
alonzo-mourning-and-shawn-kemp
Alonzo Mourning was one of the best players in the NBA during the 90s. The 6-foot-10 center was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner and a 20-point scorer before his injury days.
During Zo's recent appearance on the All The Smoke podcast with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, the former Miami Heat champion player was asked about one of his contemporaries, former Seattle Super Sonics high-flyer Shawn Kemp.
"Incredible to watch, really, because he was so athletic," said Mourning. "He was a 6-10 Vince Carter. The elevation, the hangtime, the explosion, all of that."
Zo and Shawn belonged to the 1988 Class
Mourning and Kemp belonged to the Class of 1988. Zo played for Indian River High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, leading his team to 51 straight wins and the state title in his junior season. Meanwhile, Kemp starred for Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, which he led to the state finals.
Both Zo and Shawn were selected to play in the 1988 McDonald's High All-American game. They joined forces with Billy Owens and Malik Sealy on a West team hailed as one of the greatest in the High School All-Star game, but despite Kemp's 18-point scoring output, they fell short with a 99-105 loss.
Kemp committed to Kentucky but never played a single collegiate game and went straight to the NBA in 1989. Meanwhile, Mourning played four seasons at Georgetown before becoming the No. 2 pick in the 1992 NBA Draft behind Shaq. They played 18 times against each other in the NBA, with Zo winning their head-to-head matchup 12-6. But long after their retirement, Mourning hasn't forgotten Kemp's ridiculous hops.
GP also compared Kemp with Vince
Zo wasn't the only player to compare Kemp to Vinsanity. Shawn's former Sonics buddy Gary Payton also thinks that Kemp is comparable to Carter, at least in terms of having the highest verticals he's played with.
"S**t, you know what? KG, he probably up there, man. You know who I really don't, I really can't, I'd say, and me and you played with him in the Olympics, Vince Carter. I think them the two dudes that we already played with; I think they're up in that era that they can really get it like that, and they would just do some stupid stuff," the Glove once said.
On record, Kemp's vertical was listed at 41 while Carter's was 43 inches. Either way, both numbers are impressive and when it comes to dunking, perhaps the only difference between the two is that Carter won the Dunk Contest in 2000 while Kemp never emerged victorious in three tries. Still, he will always be remembered as one of the most electric dunkers ever.