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Great new Holley Article



Bravo Michael Holley!

*****

"Walker needn't be goner"

                  By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 07/22/98

                  It seems the phone rings every four minutes in Antoine
Walker's Chicago
                  loft. Sometimes he answers; sometimes you have to
leave a message on a
                  machine where about 850 have been left before yours.
So many calls. It's
                  time for one of them to come from Rick Pitino.

                  Everybody knows that NBA teams risk a heavy fine for
talking to their
                  players during a lockout. Maybe with a couple of winks
and some shredded
                  phone records, Walker and Pitino could get away with
it.

                  They need to chat. And they need to do it before
producers of the Jerry
                  Springer show start stalking Merrimac Street, looking
for an angle. By now,
                  everybody knows that Walker has issues with his
Celtics boss. Everyone
                  should also know that Pitino isn't too happy that one
of his players, a
                  quarter-century younger than he, told him off via this
newspaper. But there is
                  a lot that the Trade Antoine lobby hasn't considered,
the least of which is
                  that the only team that willingly gives away its best
players is the pathetic
                  Florida Marlins.

                  What you have to realize about Walker and Pitino is
that they have known
                  each other for six years. They have cursed each other
before. They'll do it
                  again. Walker knows all Pitino's drills, so that's why
you didn't see him
                  hooked up to IVs, as five of his teammates were during
last season's training
                  camp in Newport, R.I. Remember, Pitino applauded him
for being in the
                  best shape on the team, and that was after he missed
Pitino's summer camp
                  of 1997.

                  It also wouldn't surprise anyone close to the coach if
he read Walker's
                  words last Friday, spewed a few expletives, and then
went about his day.
                  That's because Pitino-Walker is the tumultuous
basketball equivalent of Bill
                  Parcells-Drew Bledsoe, with one exception: Parcells
didn't recruit Bledsoe
                  when he was 16, as Pitino did with Walker. He didn't
have a broad firsthand
                  perspective of who Bledsoe truly was, as Pitino does
with Walker. These
                  men have a history together. And as serious as their
problems are, they can
                  be resolved.

                  Refreshingly, this is not about the money(although
money may be an issue
                  later this summer). It's not about Walker's attendance
at a two-day
                  ''voluntary'' camp. It's not about Walker saying he's
not sure he wants to
                  play for Pitino again, either. This is really a tale
of communication, how it
                  often becomes mangled when third parties become
involved and how people
                  sometimes have to step back and acknowledge that their
method of
                  communicating isn't working.

                  Walker has been annoyed with Pitino for a while. It
probably started April
                  8, when the coach entered the Celtic locker room after
a 117-104 loss to
                  the Nets and told Walker - in front of the team - that
the player would never
                  be bigger than the coach. Walker had just scored 43
points, an
                  accomplishment that, at the time, Pitino said should
be ''thrown out the
                  window'' because of Walker's defense. But that
analysis was tame
                  compared to the verbal lashing Pitino gave Walker
earlier. Apparently, the
                  confrontation got so bad that veteran Pervis Ellison
called two of Walker's
                  friends the next day and asked them to see if Walker
was all right. His
                  answer? He was fine. Of course.

                  He had been cursed by Pitino before. That didn't
bother him. What he didn't
                  appreciate was the appearance of hypocrisy: The coach
tells his players not
                  to say anything negative in the media, yet he tells
the media he wasn't happy
                  with Walker after he carried the team on a 43-point
night? And what of
                  loyalty? Sure, the two men went at each other in the
locker room. But why
                  couldn't criticism stay there? When asked to comment
on Pitino's
                  throw-'em-out-the-window remarks that night, all
Walker said was, ''Hey,
                  that's nothing to broadcast.''

                  And that was the point. Broadcasting problems. It's
not Walker's style.
                  Think about it: During the Celtics' 15-win season of
1996-97, how many
                  times did you hear Walker go off to the media? How
many times did he do it
                  last season? He was accused of being M.L. Carr's pet
project during his
                  rookie season, but you never would have known from him
that he didn't
                  click with Carr until, maybe, January or February '97.

                  He overreacted to Pitino saying he was
''disappointed'' that he didn't attend
                  his summer camp, but the comment stung him because he
has a 4-year-old
                  daughter, five brothers and sisters, his mother, and
grandmother all in
                  Chicago. He takes care of them all and, after spending
six months in Boston
                  without seeing his daughter, looks forward to spending
summers with her.
                  We have seen accounts recently in this paper and
Sports Illustrated of NBA
                  fathers who have ignored their children. What about
those who actually want
                  to be there?

                  True communication for Walker and Pitino became nearly
impossible in late
                  June. Pitino wanted the players to attend the predraft
''Fandemonium'' at the
                  FleetCenter. But Walker got a call from the office of
community relations
                  director Wayne Levy two days before the event. Walker
already had plans
                  to go to Vancouver with his friend Nazr Mohammed. A
few days later, he
                  and other players who didn't show received a letter
signed by general
                  manager Chris Wallace. The letter detailed how
unprofessional the players
                  were for not showing up and how Pitino and owner Paul
Gaston were
                  disappointed in their not handling responsibility.

                  Pitino often says Walker is like a son to him. Why
send your son a form
                  letter condemning his lack of professionalism? A phone
call would have been
                  better. That was in late June. By that point, Walker
didn't realize that his
                  coach was still loyal to him, that every time he went
on television and said,
                  ''The Celtics will sign Antoine Walker,'' he was
straddling the line of defiance
                  with Gaston, who has privately spoken against
big-money, long-term player
                  contracts.

                  So the eruption came. And Walker became a villain
here. Here's some
                  advice: Don't believe the hype. If you had seen him
coach children for free in
                  90-degree heat on a summer day in Chicago - looking
very much like a
                  6-foot-9-inch Pitino - you would know that PitinoBall
is seared into his
                  basketball psyche.

                  Now is not the time for Rick Pitino to turn into Jesse
Helms Pitino, a
                  basketball reactionary ready to make a trade just
because there is a rough
                  spot. If he is going to trade Walker, let it be
because there is a deal that will
                  help the team (not an Eric Williams-like yard sale
that netted two
                  second-round draft picks). You know what? I wouldn't
be shocked if
                  Walker were traded next month. I also wouldn't be
stunned to see him at
                  Brandeis in October on Media Day. If he leaves, his
most recent remarks
                  will have little to do with it.

                  But now it's time for Pitino to pick up the phone
first. And if he wants to
                  save a few pennies among the millions, there are some
long-distance carriers
                  with rates as low as 9 cents per minute.

                  This story ran on page D01 of the Boston Globe on
07/22/98.
                  © Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.