Jordan's tutelage helping Walker

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

There is a lot of good information further down in the Boston Globe 
article. Pretty interesting that Toine and MJ are guarding each other in 
these scrimmages.

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http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/166/sports/These_summer_school_sessions_are_paying_off+.shtml
These summer school sessions are paying off
Jordan's tutelage helping Walker
By Shira Springer, Globe Staff, 6/15/2001

Failing to make the playoffs apparently has certain advantages, especially 
if you share an offseason city with a retired NBA player named Michael Jordan.
The most competitive and most publicized pickup games this spring are 
taking place on a court in downtown Chicago. Antoine Walker plays there 
every weekday. And so does Jordan, as the 10-time league scoring leader and 
five-time MVP continues to entertain the possibility of a comeback.
The loosely organized contests are short on deference to the superstar and 
long on trash talk. Neither Walker nor Jordan backs away from down and 
dirty jawing.
''We get a lot of great lines in that can't be discussed,'' said Walker.
Anything that can be sanitized for publication?
''Nothing.''
But Walker doesn't need to edit his off-the-court comments about the 
38-year-old Jordan. Since the Celtics did not make the playoffs, Walker was 
one of only a few active Chicago-area NBA players who were ready to resume 
competition early enough to get one of the first good looks at Jordan. And 
in his view, the player who left the league in 1999 after hitting his final 
shot to clinch his sixth NBA title and cap a 13-year career has not lost 
his shooting touch or his competitive drive.
''He can still do everything that he's been doing,'' said Walker. ''He's 
still making jump shots. He's still very competitive and has that drive. 
And that's what's great about it. He ain't old. To me, he hasn't lost a 
step. He's not out of shape, not at all. ... Obviously, he's trying to see 
if he wants to come back, and this is an opportunity for everybody to work 
out together. He can come back. He's looking real good. Whether or not he's 
coming back, I don't know that. I don't really ask him what he's doing. We 
just play. He looks like his old self.''
Walker, reached by phone at his Chicago-area home, laughed at a report he 
had schooled Jordan in some games. ''He's too good to beat up,'' said the 
Celtics power forward. Walker went as far as claiming Jordan could be as 
dominant as he was before retiring Jan. 13, 1999, if he puts himself into 
the right situation, in Washington or elsewhere.
For the last year and a half, Jordan has been part-owner and president of 
basketball operations for the Wizards. As a player, he would have to sell 
his shares in the franchise but could retain his front-office post.
This spring, Jordan has taught Walker a few new strategies on the court, by 
being a competitive role model and offering advice when appropriate. 
''Anything you can pick up from him, you try to, whether it's things about 
winning or things individually about your game,'' said Walker. ''You can't 
help but get better and learn things from watching the greatest player that 
ever played. You can't go wrong with that. I would say that if I was 
playing with Magic [Johnson], [Larry] Bird, any of the greatest players 
that played the game.
''Seeing his competitive drive for the game, that's the one thing I can 
really take out of it. He hates to lose. Anything that you've heard or read 
about him being competitive, from playing with him every day, that's true. 
Very competitive. But he's always made comments to me, constructive 
criticism for things I can do to get better. It's hard for me to put into 
words because they're actual game things and they can be little things.
''You can't help but get better going against him. It's just about me 
getting better individually. Obviously, guarding him, that's a different 
type of game for me. Realistically, that's not who I'm going to be guarding 
[in NBA games]. But it's good work for me to get a chance to guard the best 
player that's ever played the game.''
After the Celtics wrapped up a 36-46 season and finished ninth in the 
Eastern Conference, Walker returned to Chicago and decided upon a more 
disciplined approach to his summer training. He hired personal trainer Tim 
Grover to develop offseason weightlifting and cardiovascular programs. 
Grover also serves as Jordan's personal trainer, though Walker does not 
work out with His Airness. Other Grover NBA clients who will join the 
Jordan pickup games shortly include Mavericks Juwan Howard and Michael Finley.
It's the first time since Walker left Kentucky that he has adopted a 
regular training routine for the whole summer. During a typical day, Walker 
works out for four hours, including pickup games. Walker breaks from his 
training schedule only on weekends, giving him time to relax with his 
family. He has not started practicing his point guard skills, but plans to 
add that to his regimen later in the summer.
''It makes it a lot easier for me just to have somebody to push me and keep 
a routine down, to keep me going throughout the summer on the weights and 
the cardio side,'' said Walker. ''I'm going to play basketball, but every 
year you just try to add something and do something differently. We do 
everything in one place: lift, then we go out and play. It's good because 
there's not a lot of traveling. You just go to one spot.
''I've been in the NBA five years, and now we need to make that transition 
as a team. As an organization, I feel like we've made great strides. I want 
to do everything to make sure I'm in the best shape possible. I want to be 
on top of my game coming into the season, because our downfall is that 
we've been off to slow starts over the past years and it's killed us. I 
want to do everything in my ability so I can know mentally that I'm going 
into the season in the best shape possible and playing the best basketball 
I'm capable of playing.''
To that end, Walker is getting a valuable assist from Jordan.
This story ran on page 9 of the Boston Globe on 6/15/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.