In my opinion, the single main factor in Walkers change last year was his
association with Jordan during the summer before. To participate in the
"pick up games" you were required to spend the time and effort in the gym
under . Or no basketball game. Jordan taught Walker to be a pro athlete.
Walker didn't have that influence when he became a pro as he came to the
team after the stars had retired.
Not just the lack of teammates whom he would respect enough to listen to,
but ML was his first pro coach and admitted that he basically just gave him
a green light to do whatever made him happy and put on a show. That was is
intro to life as a pro. FWIW, I also think O'B deserves some credit for
allowing Antoine a greater leadership role to grow into than, say, Pitino
ever would have no matter how much they won. Pitino and a lot of other
coaches would have talked about Walker needing to become a leader without
being secure enough in themselves to let him do it.