Detlef Schrempf (
1963- ), was a German-born
NBA basketball player from
1985-
2001, best known for his hilarious name and his devastating
3-point shot. Schrempf helped lead the
Seattle Supersonics to an appearance in the
NBA finals in
1996.
Born in Leverkusen, West Germany on January 21, 1963, Schrempf immigrated to the United States as a teenager, and became a star for the University of Washington Huskies in college. Drafted eighth overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1985 NBA Draft, Schrempf was soon traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he became known as an effective bench player, winning back-to-back NBA "Sixth Man" awards in 1990 and 1991.
Schrempf gained his greatest stardom after he was traded to the Supersonics in 1993, where he became a starting player on one of the best teams of the 1990s. In the 1994-1995 season, he recorded an astonishing 51.4 three-point shooting percentage, and generally hovered near or above 40 percent for most of his career, becoming one of the first in a long line of European sharpshooters.
Schrempf's stardom was fully recognized when he was chosen along with Shawn Kemp to represent Seattle in most incarnations of the smash-hit 1990s video game NBA Jam. Their skillful play and nearly rhyming names made the pair one of the most popular NBA Jam teams to choose for many youngsters.
The duo of Schrempf and Kemp led the Sonics to the NBA finals in 1996 and pushed Michael Jordan's mighty Chicago Bulls to six games before falling in noble defeat. Schrempf's skills were already starting to wane by this time however, and he was released by the Sonics in 1999, playing two more seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers before retiring from professional basketball in 2001.
Today Schrempf is happily retired. Married to former West German national team hurdler Mari Wagner, whom he met during his stints on the West German Olympic team, Schrempf is the father of two sons. He spends much of his time running his the Detlef Schrempf Foundation, which he founded at the height of his stardom in 1996 in order to help raise money for several local Washington-state charities. Each summer, to raise money for the foundation, he hosts the annual Detlef Schrempf Celebrity Golf Classic at McCormick Woods Golf Course in Port Orchard, Washington.
Detlef Schrempf Career NBA Statistics
YEAR TEAM G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
85-86 DAL 64 12 15.1 .451 .429 .724 1.10 2.00 3.10 1.4 .36 .16 1.31 2.60 6.2
86-87 DAL 81 5 21.1 .472 .478 .742 1.10 2.70 3.70 2.0 .62 .20 1.36 2.80 9.3
87-88 DAL 82 4 19.4 .456 .156 .756 1.20 2.20 3.40 1.9 .51 .39 1.32 2.30 8.5
88-89 IND 32 12 31.4 .514 .263 .772 2.20 5.00 7.20 2.9 .91 .31 2.41 3.20 14.8
88-89 DAL 37 1 22.8 .426 .125 .789 1.50 3.00 4.50 2.3 .65 .24 1.51 3.20 9.5
89-90 IND 78 18 33.0 .516 .354 .820 1.90 6.00 7.90 3.2 .76 .21 2.31 3.50 16.2
90-91 IND 82 3 32.1 .520 .375 .818 2.20 5.90 8.00 3.7 .71 .27 2.13 3.20 16.1
91-92 IND 80 4 32.6 .536 .324 .828 2.50 7.10 9.60 3.9 .78 .46 2.39 3.60 17.3
92-93 IND 82 60 37.8 .476 .154 .804 2.60 7.00 9.50 6.0 .96 .33 2.96 3.70 19.1
93-94 SEA 81 80 33.7 .493 .324 .769 1.80 3.80 5.60 3.4 .90 .11 2.14 3.40 15.0
94-95 SEA 82 82 35.2 .523 .514 .839 1.60 4.50 6.20 3.8 1.13 .43 2.15 3.10 19.2
95-96 SEA 63 60 34.9 .486 .408 .776 1.20 4.00 5.20 4.4 .89 .13 2.32 2.80 17.1
96-97 SEA 61 60 35.9 .492 .354 .801 1.40 5.00 6.50 4.4 1.03 .26 2.46 2.50 16.8
97-98 SEA 78 78 35.2 .487 .415 .844 1.70 5.40 7.10 4.4 .77 .24 2.15 2.60 15.8
98-99 SEA 50 39 35.3 .472 .395 .823 1.50 5.90 7.40 3.7 .82 .52 2.06 3.00 15.0
99-00 POR 77 6 21.6 .432 .404 .833 1.00 3.30 4.30 2.6 .48 .22 1.30 2.40 7.5
00-01 POR 26 0 15.3 .411 .375 .852 .70 2.30 3.00 1.7 .27 .12 1.08 1.70 4.0