TACOMA, Wash. – Former Seattle SuperSonic Shawn Kemp pleaded not guilty to an assault charge in connection to a shooting incident in Tacoma.

Kemp was released without bail following the arraignment in Pierce County Superior Court.

He was arrested after the shooting in a parking lot outside the Tacoma Mall on March 8th and released the following day.

No one was injured.

Kemp’s lawyers insist he returned fire in self-defense after tracking and trying to retrieve a cellphone that had been stolen from him earlier that day.

However, a probable cause statement by Tacoma police, filed along with first-degree assault charges last month, did not indicate Kemp was shot at.

Kemp, who has two licensed cannabis stores in Seattle, was a six-time NBA all-star and played for the SuperSonics from 1989 to 1997.