Former NBA star Shawn Kemp arrested on felony drive-by shooting charge

Former NBA player Shawn Kemp was booked into jail in Washington state on Wednesday on a felony charge of drive-by shooting, according to Pierce County records.

Local reports linked the arrest of Kemp, 53, to a burst of gunfire near a Tacoma shopping mall.

Tacoma police said in a statement that an unidentified 53-year-old male was booked for drive-by shooting after "an altercation between the occupants of 2 cars led to shots being fired at a parking lot." The incident took place shortly before 2 p.m. and there were no injuries reported, police said, with one vehicle fleeing the scene.

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The vehicle that fled had been shot at by the driver of the other car, police told the Tacoma News Tribune. That driver was said to have "fired off several rounds" before later being arrested "without incident." Police said they also recovered a gun. Authorities are continuing to look into the incident.

Kemp is a former star for the Seattle SuperSonics, a franchise that moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and was renamed the Thunder. He operates a pair of cannabis shops in Seattle.

Drafted 17th overall by Seattle in 1989, the 6-foot-10 Kemp was known for his athleticism and ferocious in-game dunks. A six-time all-star, he helped the Sonics reach the 1996 NBA Finals, in which they lost in six games to Michael Jordan's 72-win Chicago Bulls. After spending eight seasons with Seattle, Kemp had a three-year run with the Cleveland Cavaliers before moving to the Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic to finish his 14-year career. During the decade of the 1990s, he never averaged fewer than 15.0 points and 8.4 rebounds, and he had at least a 17.2 player efficiency rating in each of those 10 seasons.

Drive-by shooting is listed as a class B felony in Washington law. If convicted, Kemp could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, with a fine of up to $20,000.