The 1998-99 NBA lockout weighed heavily on everyone involved -- no one more so than Shawn Kemp.
AP photoShawn Kemp (right) was distinctly more ground-bound as an NBA forward after the players and owners reached a new labor agreement after a lengthy lockout before the 1998-99 season. "He was really very honest about it," former Cavs coach Mike Fratello recalled. "I said, 'Shawn, how did this happen?' He said, 'Coach, I didn't think we were coming back.'" Tom Reed and Mary Schmitt Boyer
Plain Dealer Reporters
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 1998-99 NBA lockout weighed heavily on everyone involved. Some more than others. Few more than Shawn Kemp.
Just ask his former Cavaliers teammates who returned for an abbreviated 50-game season and were astonished at the transformation of Kemp's once-sculpted frame. It was as if their All-Star power forward hadn't picked up a basketball or put down a fork since the work stoppage had begun.
The Cavs listed him at 6-10, 280 pounds -- a 34-pound increase from the previous season -- but then-General Manager Wayne Embry later revealed in his autobiography that Kemp reported to camp at 315 pounds.
"He was really very honest about it," former Cavs coach Mike Fratello recalled. "I said, 'Shawn, how did this happen?' He said, 'Coach, I didn't think we were coming back.'"
The NBA is experiencing another lockout, just the second to force cancellation of regular-season games. Owners, players, arena workers and everybody who depends on the league for income are saddled with feelings of frustration, anxiety and agitation.
Beyond the economics of the game, however, is the gnawing uncertainty of what awaits franchises and fans once NBA Commissioner David Stern and the players association announce a settlement.
Who gets heavy? Who gets hurt? Who gets lost in the mad scramble of a shortened season?
The story of the 1998-99 Cavaliers serves as a reminder that great expectations can rapidly dissolve when a team and season are thrown out of rhythm. Instead of building on a playoff appearance a season earlier, the club was plagued by injuries, inconsistency and Kemp's ignominy.
The 1998-99 Cavs finished with a 22-28 record, lost 10 of their last 11 games and alienated a fan base already angered by the labor unrest.
"It quickly became a disastrous season, and it helped cost me and Wayne our jobs," Fratello said. "That lockout took its toll on a lot of people."
Wasted time
Earl Boykins didn't know the thrill of being a first-round pick like Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, selected by the Cavs as the first and fourth overall selections in this year's draft.
The diminutive Cleveland Central Catholic product went undrafted in 1998. He began his pro career in the Continental Basketball Association before playing for the New Jersey Nets and finishing his rookie season with the Cavs.
But Boykins can relate to Irving and Thompson in one way. The lockout canceled the NBA summer league in 1998, just as it did this season. Once the season started, there was little time for practices or extended teaching sessions.
"I think it's harder for the young guys because they don't know," Boykins said. "You can work out all you want. You can even work out against NBA guys. But until you get into an NBA training camp situation, it's totally different. That's the hardest part of the lockout. You can't prepare for an NBA training camp ... especially with the shortened camp."
The Cavaliers also were relying on a promising core of second-year players that season. Brevin Knight and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had been named to the NBA's all-rookie first team. Derek Anderson and Cedric Henderson were second-teamers. But due to the lockout, the coaching staff was not permitted contact with the youngsters. Fratello and his assistants kept showing up at the office each day with no team to coach.
They designed practice schedules, created special workouts to help safeguard against injuries, drew up plays. Finally, Fratello started inviting former college players and pros who still lived in the area to the arena practice court. He had them run through sets to see how they might work.
Meanwhile, the real Cavs were scattered around the globe searching for ways to spend their extended summers. Veteran Johnny Newman tended to several businesses he opened in Richmond, Va., and attended various NBA union meetings.
"Yeah, I see the similarities ... a lot of the same conversations were going on," Newman said. "There was that same uncertainty in the air -- is there going to be a season? -- and a lot of people sticking out their chests on both sides."
Despite the missed paychecks, Newman said he was secure financially. Perhaps the lockout's toughest aspect was explaining it to fans -- one in particular.
"I had a young boy and he just wanted to see dad play," Newman said.
A weighty topic
Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer"Whatever teams were in the best shape would definitely have an advantage in the short schedule," former Cavs GM remembered about the 1998-99 lockout. "We were not one of them." Newman understands why players cannot speak to coaches and management during a labor battle. But he believes teams should grant them access to their training and athletic staffs. If that had occurred, maybe Kemp would not have returned to Cleveland looking like Buster Douglas six months after whipping Mike Tyson.
"Some guys just need that attention and they need to be monitored," Newman said.
Kemp, who could not be reached for this story, wasn't the only player to return out of shape. Vancouver's Bryant Reeves gained 40 pounds. Dennis Scott, Patrick Ewing and Oliver Miller all put on pounds.
But it was Kemp who became the puffy face of the NBA lockout.
"The franchise had a desire to have a superstar," retired Cavs broadcaster Joe Tait said of Kemp, who signed a renegotiated deal worth $100 million after joining the Cavs. "But if your star begins to look more like Jupiter than Mercury, then you have a problem."
Embry, a consultant for the Toronto Raptors, is prohibited from discussing any lockout. But in his book, "The Inside Game: Race, Power and Politics in the NBA," he wrote about 1998-99 season:
"Whatever teams were in the best shape would definitely have an advantage in the short schedule. We were not one of them. We were all disappointed in Shawn's physical condition. With the money we were paying him, we had every reason to expect him to stay in shape. It was not as if he could not afford to hire people to help him do that.
"The Cleveland Clinic nutritionist put him on a diet, but Shawn did not have the discipline to adhere to it. We even offered to have a chef go to his house and prepare meals for him. ... I told Shawn the same thing I told Mel Turpin years ago, 'I don't want anyone playing for me that weighs more than me.' That did not work either."
Kemp still produced strong numbers, averaging 20.5 points and 9.2 rebounds, but his dynamic leaping ability was compromised. He was sometimes heckled by the shrinking crowds inside the arena. The Cavs averaged 14,119 fans in 1998-99, a 16.7 percent decline from a season earlier.
Kemp sprained his left foot and missed the final eight games. The club also lost Ilgauskas, who had signed a six-year, $70.9 million extension before the season, to foot surgery after just five games. Injuries mounted. So did the minutes for the remaining Cavs, who sometimes had to play three games in three nights due to the compact schedule.
"I don't remember a season when more players ordered room service," Newman said. "Guys would usually go out, get a bite to eat or whatever on road trips. But we would be so tired after playing so many games guys were like 'You know what, I'm just eating in the room.'"
As this year's lockout lingers, the former Cavs said they hoped owners and players recalled the damage created from the 1998-99 season.
As Boykins said, "No one wants to be the next Shawn Kemp."
Editor's note: Embry's book was written with Mary Schmitt Boyer.