Walker

["Cecil Wright" <cecil@hfx.eastlink.ca>]

I apologize to those who have already seen this.

Cecil


Thursday, April 11, 2002

Ron Chimelis


Last Sunday, New Jersey Nets coach Byron Scott designated Antoine
Walker as
the root of all evil, as everyone seems to do at some point. Scott was
upset
because a fight had broken out, and Walker had confronted him.

"Antoine hasn't done anything in this league," Scott huffed. "He hasn't
proven nothing."

That's not true. Walker has done a lot, and as the Boston Celtics
prepare for
their first playoff appearance since 1995, no one deserves more
satisfaction
from this surprising season than he does. What's Walker done and
proven?
Well, he's outlasted losing, booing, and Rick Pitino. He's proven he
can win
if he has some help.

And he's proven that when it was decidedly uncool to be a Celtic, and
the
team was lousy, he was willing to stick it out in Boston   b?"   a city
that's
yet to fully accept him. Remember when Pitino and Walker were
squabbling?
Pitino was seen as the savior, Walker the problem, and one had to go.
One did
go   b?"   Pitino. That's when the Celtics started winning.

Yet even now, credit comes only grudgingly to Walker, who was booed at
home
as recently as last week. He's not booed often anymore   b?"   winning
cures
all b?"   but the fans still don't accept him as a team leader or even
an
unquestioned asset, let alone the borderline All-Star he is. That's
partly
because Walker the shimmy-shaker defies the age-old Celtic stereotype
of a
stoic star. We've always wanted Walker to be Russell or Bird, yet here
he is,
stubbornly insisting to be himself.

He's emotional (though so is the idolized Paul Pierce), he shoots too
many 3s
for a 6-foot-9 forward (or so we think), and he can be selfish (or so
we also
think). The selfishness rap stalks Walker mostly because of shot
selection.
He's known to force inside shots, many of which get blocked. He's fired
up
625 3-pointers to Pierce's 503, but he's made only 11 more. And other
than
Pierce, Walker doesn't seem to trust his teammates at key moments, even
though the Celtics now have a few other guys who can help.

Yet even though Walker's interpretation of team play may not match
ours, he
is in fact a great teammate. The fans don't see it this way, but his
teammates b?"   especially Pierce   b?"   do. For all his perimeter
shooting,
Walker is easily his team's best rebounder. His 5.1 assists per game
are
second to Kenny Anderson's 5.3. And for someone whose game seems to
reflect
pure ego, Walker off the court is as magnanimous as they come.

Look how he's handled the public's adoration of Pierce, the likes of
which he
never gets. If such generosity of spirit were so easy, Kobe and Shaq
would be
the best of friends, as Walker and Pierce are. Had Walker become
jealous of
Pierce   b?"   as many NBA stars would have done under the same
circsumstances
 b?"   the Celtics' delicate sense of unity would have been wrecked,
and they'd
be back in the lottery, not the playoffs.

Instead, Walker embraced Pierce, a friendship that allowed the team to
blossom around them. Both men know theirs is not an either-or deal,
that they
need each other to win. Pierce deserves all the credit he gets, but
Walker
deserves more than he has received. He cares about winning and he cares
about
the Celtics, a loyalty rarely found in the modern NBA. He also scores
22
points a game. Don't let a shimmy-shake here and an ill-advised shot
there
fool you   b?"   without Walker, there would be no playoffs for these
Celtics.

In his own, unconventional way, he's a true Celtic, and now, he's a
winner.
And if the way he plays is good enough for Jim O'Brien and Paul Pierce,
maybe
it should also be good enough for us.

(To contact Ron Chimelis,  write to rchimelis@union- news.com)

B) 2002 UNION-NEWS. Used with permission.