3-on-3 | Shawn Kemp's fashionable arrival; Seattle beats Portland, 142-141

Some would call it arriving right on time.

The national anthem was sung and Kanye West had just rapped "you should be honored by my lateness" over the KeyArena sound system. And then Shawn Kemp created a stir with his appearance — 17 minutes after the scheduled tip-off for the Seattle debut of 3BA International, a proposed three-on-three basketball league.

Draped in gold again, Kemp and his tardiness didn't seem to bother the announced crowd of 3,400, though the attendance appeared far short of that. With the Sonics gone and the Storm on an Olympic hiatus, these basketball junkies were happy to relive their NBA memories.

Kemp, 38, is working his way back into the game. He recently signed a contract to play for Italy's Premiata Montegranaro and has slimmed down to a svelte 262 pounds after battling weight problems toward the end of his NBA career.

"I feel like I can still play," said Kemp, who's leaving for Rome next week to begin training. "My conditioning is pretty good. I was at 262 when we went to the NBA Finals [in 1996].

"I want to go over there and see how good I am because I don't want to come back to the NBA and sit on somebody's bench. I want the respect. I want a chance to play. And I don't know if I'll get that chance [in the NBA]. I may stay over there in Italy, Greece or Russia playing for the next three or four years."

Seattle was the fifth and final city on the exhibition tour. The home team defeated Portland 142-141 behind 34 points apiece from Jamaal Miller and Rashad Powell.

And if the city becomes a home to one of the 3BA's desired 15 to 20 teams, it's only fitting that creator Kevin LuBahn brings the game here. A native Seattleite, LuBahn had seats to every Sonics playoff game during their 1978-1979 championship run.

"I look back on it now and go, 'Wow, what a privilege,' " LuBahn said. "I was so hurt and sad when they left. But look, there's something else out there. It's something new [Seattle] can come out and watch. It's not the NBA, but it'll be fun."

LuBahn and business partner Brenda Ford are the only financial backers of the league, which took 10 years to finally materialize into actual games this year.

LuBahn would not say how much it would cost to run the league. He did say there would be a salary cap for the six-player rosters and that his business model is based on the Arena Football League.

Salaries for the 3BA players would be about $2,000 per game, mirroring the AFL. And the season would run from April to late August, like the WNBA.

"We're not looking to compete with [the NBA and NCAA], we're looking to complement," LuBahn said. "We can be a very complementary franchise anchor model to a WNBA squad."

Storm star Sheryl Swoopes sat courtside for Friday's exhibition, stating that "you definitely need to be in shape to play" and "Shawn is really playing to the crowd."

High-stepping with his dribble and hitting soft fadeaway jumpers, Kemp finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds.

Kemp, who last played for Orlando during the 2002-03 season, was overshadowed at times by the younger players and doesn't have the hops that moved people to dub him the "Reign Man" when he was a dominant force with the Sonics in the 1990s. He didn't even dunk.

But even on the 3BA's mostly blue court that's 22 feet shorter than the NBA's, Kemp displayed flickers of his former self. Portland coach A.C. Green, a former NBA player, was just amazed Kemp still had the drive to play organized hoops.

"The last time I saw Shawn play was on my DVR, and he was awesome, too," Green said. "It was an honor for us for him to even be here. But I wouldn't do this; this is stupid. It's too fast, the guys jump too high, and they have too much fun."

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com