By Joe Kaiser

In the early 1990's, Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton formed one of the best point guard, power forward combinations on the face of the earth. Neither Kemp, born in the winter of 1969, or Payton, born little more than a year earlier, had yet reached the age of 25 and it appeared as if they each had long, successful careers waiting ahead of them.

Both endured a few years of NBA seasoning before really coming into their own, but by the 1992-93 season each looked to have it all together. Kemp, playing in his fourth season from out of the high school ranks in Indiana, poured in 17.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, while Payton, a third-year player from Oregon State, averaged 13.5 points, 4.9 assists, and 2.1 steals per contest. It appeared to be a match made in heaven - "The Glove" (Payton) and "The Reignman" (Kemp).

With new head coach George Karl running the show, the Sonics became one of the elite teams in the NBA. The team, led by Kemp, Payton, and veteran Ricky Pierce, won 55 games in the 1992-93 season. They stormed through the playoffs, making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals versus Charles Barkley's Phoenix Suns. In a decisive Game 5 at America West Arena in Phoenix, the Sonics fell to Sir Charles and company, one win short of the NBA Finals.

A year later, the Sonics improved on their record with a season that still lives in the minds of most every Sonic fan in the Pacific Northwest. Kemp, still only 23 at that time, and Payton, 25, welcomed a cast of new characters to the Sonics. Detlef Schrempf, who played collegiately at the University of Washington, returned home in a trade that send Derrick McKey and reserve forward Gerald Paddio to the Indiana Pacers. Seattle also sent Dana Barros and Eddie Johnson to the Charlotte Hornets in return for Kendall Gill, a fourth-year shooting-guard from Illinois with seemingly unlimited potential.

Payton upped his game to the tune of 16.5 points and 6 assists per contest, and Kemp did likewise, averaging 18.1 points and 10.8 boards each time on the hardwood. The team went 63-19 before bowing out in the historic first round matchup with the Denver Nuggets, which saw a No. 8 seed beat a No. 1 seed for the first time in NBA history.

Instead of hanging their heads, the tandem of Kemp and Payton refocused for the season ahead. Entering the 1994-95 season, with Chicago's Michael Jordan retired and pursuing a career in professional baseball, the Sonics figured to have few teams standing in their way of an NBA Championship season. They would win 57 games that season, a step down from a season before, and again were unable to avoid an early round exit in the playoff. This time, it came in the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. Young Laker guard Nick Van Exel gave the defensive-minded Payton fits all series as L.A. won in four games.

The Sonics finally got over the hump in the 1995-96 campaign. Hersey Hawkins joined the team from Charlotte to replace Kendall Gill, who left for New Jersey after two seasons in Seattle in which he never really fit in. Hawkins' presence from the perimeter gave Seattle the key component it had been missing in previous seasons. Despite a 64-win season in the friendly confines of its reconstructed home court, Key Arena, the Sonics knew it didn't mean squat unless they did something in the playoffs. And they did. They got the monkey off their backs with a first-round victory over Sacramento, then swept Houston in four games before defeating Utah in a hard-fought series that went down to the wire. That led to a matchup again the Chicago Bulls in the finals, a team that returned to the decisive round thanks largely to the return of Jordan, who joined the team late in '95. Jordan's Bulls would prove to be too much, beating Seattle in six games.

At that point, it appeared that Payton and Kemp were both in their prime. Payton won the Defensive Player of the Year award that year, ripping an NBA-leading 2.85 steals per game. In addition, he had improved his scoring (19.3) and assists (7.5) considerably from his early years in Seattle. Kemp, meanwhile, had become a monster at both ends of the court. He averaged 19.6 points and 11.4 rebounds to go along 1.6 blocks per game in that, his seventh season.

But as quickly as these two came up together, they would take different paths from that point forward at an even more rapid pace.

The Sonics' offseason acquisition of center Jim McIllvaine, whom they admittedly splurged too much to get, signaled the beginning of the end of Kemp's reign in Seattle. Kemp, then 26, didn't agree with the move to give McIllvaine, an unproven seven-footer from the Washington Bullets, so much money. He demanded his contract to be restructured, and in the process fell out of favor with the team, the fans, and the city. His numbers suffered as a result. His averages dropped to 18.7 points, 10 rebounds, and one block.

After the season, the Sonics, seeing few options to keep their one-time young star, dealt him to Cleveland in a three-team trade that shipped Terrell Brandon from Cleveland to Milwaukee, and Vin Baker from the Bucks to the Sonics. In Cleveland, Kemp got his big pay-day, getting a contract in excess of $100 million.

Meanwhile, both Payton and the Sonics continued to have success. As the main scoring option, Payton scored 19.2 points per game in 1997-98 in route to a 61-win season, and followed that with marks of 21.7, 24.2, 23.1, and 22.1 in the scoring department. He was named to the All- NBA first-team in 1998 and 2000, second-team in 1999, and third-team in 2001.

Over the past two seasons in particular, Payton and Kemp's careers took almost diametrically opposed paths. The Sonics fell back to the middle of the pack in the Western Conference, but not because of Payton. Still the heart and soul of Seattle's NBA franchise, Payton's averaged over 22 points, 8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals since 2000.

Kemp hasn't been as fortunate. It took only three years for him to flame out as a Cavalier before they shipped him to Portland in a three-way deal that included the Miami Heat on August 30, 2000 . In Rip-City, Kemp started only eight games in two years. He spent most of his time riding the pine, overweight and unhappy, behind Rasheed Wallace and Dale Davis. He averaged 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 2000-01, and 6.1 points and 3.1 rebound in 2001-02. Sadly, Kemp lost his ability to jump with the significant weight gain. Being a former high-flyer and long-time fixture in the NBA's Slam Dunk Contest, he had lost what had helped make a name for himself. Kemp fell into depression, and checked himself into a drug rehab center for abusing cocaine.

How the mighty had fallen.

Today, as Payton enters his 13th season and Kemp goes for 14 as a member of the Orlando Magic, the two find themselves on different ends of the basketball universe. Payton is asking for, and has well-earned, a contract extension. Now 34, he's playing the best basketball of his career. Kemp, now 32, finds himself playing as a shadow of the lean athlete who used to scare opponents game in and game out. Orlando signed him in the offseason hoping he can provide some sort of boost of the bench in a limited role in 2002.

It wasn't too long ago that Payton, No. 20, and Kemp, No. 40, teamed together to unite the city of Seattle around it's beloved NBA basketball franchise. Now five years after Kemp's departure from the Sonics, there's no looking back.

In a tale of two paths, it's important to remember the past, savor the memories, and move on to the future.

Joe Kaiser is an aspiring sports journalist from Seattle, WA