Excellent, great Walker article!!

[Vinny Natale <vnatale@map.com>]

Celts' Walker still growing into his role 
by Mark Murphy 
Sunday, February 28, 1999 
There once was a young coach -- perceived as arrogant by many -- who was 
occasionally prone to acting before he considered the consequences. 
He sometimes ran his mouth. 
``As a young coach at Boston University I made a lot of mistakes that I would 
regret later on,'' Celtics coach Rick Pitino said of his early, formative 
years, before the NCAA championship, the book contracts and the subsequent 
respect for his talent. 
Antoine Walker, a decidedly tender 22-year-old, is now in a similar formative 
stage. 
He was a member of the Pitino-coached Kentucky team that won the 1996 NCAA 
title. Walker joined the Celtics that September, and the more astute basketball 
fans in town couldn't help but remember him. They had first seen him three 
years earlier, as the preeminent high school star on Chicago's entry in the 
Boston Shootout. 
Now in his third season with the Celtics, Walker -- as often betrayed by his 
emotions on the floor -- has not reached full-blown adulthood. Far from it, 
sometimes. 
So what does this say about the people who get so worked up over the sight of 
Walker arguing with teammate Kenny Anderson over something as trivial as a 
basketball? 
``People can get so carried away at the sight of a human weakness,'' said 
Pitino. ``People have really got to cut themselves some slack. They really have 
to look in the mirror and examine themselves after something like this.'' 
Lord knows that Antoine Walker has seen his share of mirrors lately. Whether 
he's bothered to look in them may be a question for an older man. 
A spotlight too bright 
Walker must deal with the pressure, regardless. Everything from his leadership 
potential to his basketball habits have been dissected into miniscule portions. 
Only his talent is immune from this talk. No one doubts that Walker has the 
necessary tools to go far. 
But he has received so much so soon. Common sense dictates that only so much of 
it could possibly be earned at this early stage. 
``It's happened fast,'' said Walker. ``There hasn't been much time to work it 
out. You'll make mistakes. But the biggest problem is that people put us so 
high on a pedestal. We like to enjoy ourselves, just like other people.'' 
Walker still finds the most solace in the advice of his mother, Diane . And he 
didn't have to look far last week, once the storm brewed over his argument with 
Anderson. 
``She was right there at the game,'' said Walker. ``She knows I'm competitive. 
She's watched me play ever since I was in eighth grade.'' 
Walker's mother, two sisters and three brothers moved into a new house in 
Chicago once he signed his first professional contract, and at the age of 19 
serious financial responsibility thus began. 
Adding to that responsibility is Walker's 4-year-old daughter, Crystal. 
``I'm already amazed by the things she's saying,'' he said. 
Little wonder that Walker has no time for that talk about athletes who have no 
idea of what to do with their newfound riches. 
``The sudden money is a good thing,'' he said. ``But with the money comes a lot 
of problems. It affects the way that you're able to treat people, and it really 
does take away from your ability to act normally with people. 
``You always have to question someone's motives,'' he said. ``You find yourself 
wondering why someone is trying to get close to you. 
``But I come from a family of six, and I'm the oldest. I don't feel it's my 
duty to help everyone, but God has blessed me to get my family out of the 
situation that I grew up in.'' 
The Walker family roll call is an interesting list. Tobias Walker is an eighth 
grader, followed by Jarvis in seventh grade and Darius in third. Kneosha is 10 
years old, and Tywanna, next oldest to Walker, has decided to attend the 
University of Kentucky. 
``She just wants to go there because I went there,'' said Walker, who is paying 
for his sister's tuition. 
Walker also considered the NBA lockout a blessing in one respect this year. 
``I was able to spend more time with them than I have in the last four or five 
years because of that,'' he said. ``There are a lot of responsibilities that 
you may not want, but when it comes to taking care of my family, well, I didn't 
even think to do it. 
``It gives me the chance to help my little brothers get the video games and 
toys that they like -- and all of the things I didn't have when I was their 
age,'' he said. ``My mother taught me well. She's a friend to me, also. She 
raised me real well.'' 
Driven to succeed 
Impeccable character is not necessarily what the FleetCenter crew sees when 
Walker asks for -- make that demands -- the ball. He hates to lose, which is a 
wonderful trait for an athlete, but can appear brat-like when acted out in the 
wrong way. Pitino, of course, was once considered something of a brat as well. 
``The best young leader I've seen in 20 years is Derek Jeter (of the Yankees), 
and he was able to get all over David Wells and Bernie Williams in that 
clubhouse when he had to,'' said Pitino. ``He's a young leader, and they're 
like young coaches.'' 
This is Pitino's way of responding to the questions regarding his captain's 
emotional nature. 
This is Walker's way: 
``It's one of those situations where we make a lot of money, and that puts us 
in the limelight in every game.'' 
But was Walker ready for that limelight? He was essentially handed the world -- 
at least as his sport knows it -- when he helped Kentucky win the national 
title in 1996 at the age of 19. 
Walker admits that he occasionally wonders what it would have been like had he 
stayed in college for another year or two. 
``Sometimes you think like that -- `What if I didn't have all this money?' '' 
he said. ``But this is also what I have strived for. I can always go back for 
my degree.'' 
He's got it covered 
Going back is almost impossible, of course. Just check out the new version of 
that ever-popular video game and software package: NBA '99. 
Walker, a self-professed video game junkie, is featured on the cover. 
No amount of dreaming prepared him for this. 
``I even called up the company, because I wanted to frame the cover,'' he said. 
``Sometimes you feel like you really don't have time to just be yourself, or be 
your age, but what I think separates me from some of the others is that I love 
this game so much. 
``I think people forget that I'm 22, sometimes,'' he said. ``They look at the 
money you make and put that responsibility on you. I grew up fast, in a way, 
though I still try to be young. 
``I want to go out and enjoy myself. I'm 22 -- a kid at heart.''