The Story Behind the “Lister Blister”

Before Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton were international superstars, they were youngsters on a middling team looking to cement their place the league. In the 1990-91 season (Payton’s rookie year), the Sonics made their first playoffs of the Payton/Kemp era, but fell to Portland, 3 games to 2. In 1991-92, they looked to take the next step.

The Sonics finished 47-35 in 1991-92, thanks to a winning streak after hiring George Karl mid-season. The 6th-seeded Sonics drew a tough first-round matchup in Don Nelson’s dynamic Golden State team. The Warriors boasted three elite scorers in Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, and Šarūnas Marčiulionis. Mullin was, at the time, a bona fide superstar and an especially difficult matchup.

The upstart Sonics needed to make a statement in the series to show the Western Conference that they’d arrived. And they did – particularly Shawn Kemp.

Some of Kemp’s most famous dunks in his entire career occurred in this series – but one stands above the rest. Up 2 games to 1, in Game 4 with an opportunity to close out in Seattle, Shawn Kemp delivered an all-timer. Off a stalled fast break, Kemp receives a cross-court pass from Ricky Pierce at the top of the three-point arc. With just one dribble, Kemp barrels down the lane and throws down a vicious windmill on former Sonic Alton Lister. The crowd at the Coliseum goes wild and Kemp’s celebration is almost as good as his dunk.

Seattle would go on to win the game and take the series. The Sonics had arrived; the rest is history – and one hell of a poster.