Peter May must be crying, all this praise on the most hated player in the NBA.

["Shailendra K Mishra" <skmishra@sprintmail.com>]

Four basketball seasons ago, Antoine Walker was so, shall we say, spirited,
that Rick Pitino regularly threw him out of the Kentucky practices.
Yesterday, Pitino officially made Walker the highest-paid player in Celtic
history, effectively casting the club's lot with the third-year
professional.

``He was brash back then,'' Pitino said. ``He got less brash each year. All
that's left to that brashness is a little wiggle every now and then.''


Even when Walker was running up technical fouls aplenty last year, Pitino
was aware of what lay behind the bluster. The Celts' coach and president
thus had no problem entrusting Walker with a $70,875,000 extension (that
includes a player option to sever after the 2003-2004 season).


``He's been a college and professional player of mine, and he's very dear to
my family,'' said Pitino before turning a little brash himself.


``And now for the rest of my tenure, he can buy whenever we go out,'' the
coach cracked. ``He can treat the team. So we're going to depend on Antoine,
not only for his leadership, not only for his offensive and defensive
prowess, but for his money.''


Walker then dutifully thanked God and his family.


``I would also like to thank coach Pitino,'' he said. ``I've been with him
for a long time. I remember when I came through the door (on a recruiting
trip) and he told me I could become a pro and that he'd make me a pro.


``So I do owe him a lot. He's put me in the situation I'm in now. That was
one of the main reasons I chose to stay here and play for the Celtics,
because I've had great success with him, and I know throughout my career
he's going to work me to where I'm going to be one of the best players in
the league. He was one of the major reasons why I wanted to stay and be a
part of the Celtics organization hopefully for the rest of my career.''


With the financial particulars in place, Pitino said it is time for Walker
to put all his focus on the premier issue of basketball - winning.


``Money is nice to have for your family and look back on, but it can be a
burden,'' Pitino said. ``Now after you have it, what do you do with it?


``And in terms of leadership, I pointed out Bill Russell and Larry Bird in
the organization, Michael (Jordan) and Magic (Johnson) in others, and I
said, `The one thing about leadership is to make other people better around
you. Your game has to do that.' So far (in this training camp) I've seen a
maturity level in Antoine that I haven't seen, because right now he wants to
lead his teammates. Becoming captain last year was a start, and now the
security in life allows him to just go out and not have to worry about
injury. He has his family taken care of. He can just concentrate on being
the best he can be and leading his teammates - and he realizes that.''


And Pitino fully believes the best Walker can be is outstanding.


``You know, everybody prints each day the heir apparents to Michael Jordan,
who could be the best,'' he said. ``And they name all the young players. I
said this to him when he was in college: he could be the best in our game.
I've always believed that with him, because he loves to play so much he'll
do whatever he can to drive himself to be the best. He wants to be the best.
He wants the limelight. I think he can get what he wants.