Photo: thegruelingtruth.com

Former NBA coach George Karl remembered a story about one of the biggest non-trades in NBA history, as he described it. Twenty five years ago, Scottie Pippen was very close to being traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Shawn Kemp.

The Sonics cancelled the trade just prior to the 1994 NBA Draft, after the team’s owner Barry Ackerly got a sense of what the fan reaction would be. Karl knew the situation from the inside as he was the head coach of Seattle.

Shawn Kemp had this to say about the trade, per Alex Wong of Complex:

“Ackerley called me and told me they weren’t going to make the trade,” Kemp said. “He was telling me people were calling the local radio stations saying they were going to burn down the stadium if I was traded.”