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Re: Column on Walker



You may want to read the following column on Antoine Walker by Heat beat
writer Ira Winderman, that appeared in todays Sun Sentinel.

   
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Is Walker on the run to head to the Heat?
July 25, 1998
        Sometimes, in those offseason pick-up games played far from the
spotlight, the truths that remain private during an NBA season become
all too public during the course of friendly conversation.
 Take Boston's Antoine Walker, for example. For months, we've heard of
discord between the Celtics forward and Boston coach Rick Pitino. We've
heard of how Walker has skipped offseason workout programs and
promotional events and how the Boston front office has responded with
scathing retorts. We've heard of how Pitino is intent on signing Walker
to an extension but also of how Celtics management is not quite
comfortable with approaching the $15 million annual salary that it took
the Heat to keep Alonzo Mourning or the Wizards or keep Juwan Howard,
even though Walker might have more natural talent than both combined.
And then last week we heard from Tim Hardaway, as did everyone else at
Miami Arena, when the Heat point guard commandeered a microphone during
the course of the Zo's Summer Groove charity game. Hardaway's topic of
discussion: The possibility of Walker being traded to the Heat. As the
action continued, Hardaway chided Walker about what he could get away
with under Pat Riley. He joked about how Walker could help the Heat. He
laughed about what he would allow Walker to do as a teammate. Normally,
such jocularity is a staple of such events. Nothing serious transpired
in a game that featured five-point shots from halfcourt, two foul calls
over the regulation 48 minutes and a 51-point quarter by one team. But
consider that Hardaway not only is a fellow Chicago native, he also has
spent the summer working out in Chicago with Walker and Howard. Walker
said any concerns about his conditioning are overstated because of the
intense workouts he had shared with Hardaway. So the questions become:
Mere summer chicanery by Hardaway? Or telling commentary about a
possible marriage between the Heat and a disgruntled Celtics star? For
months, there has been an undercurrent of rumors linking Walker to the
Heat. Initial reports said it would take power forward P.J. Brown and
small forward Jamal Mashburn, a package that would appear too rich for
the Heat because it would require 6-foot-9 Walker to again play power
forward. Alongside an undersized center in Mourning, that could leave
the Heat too short up front. But dating to the Isaac Austin trade talks
last season, there clearly has been a fascination by Pitino when it
comes t Mashburn. Unlike Walker, Mashburn swears by his former Kentucky
coach. It was Pitino who consoled Mashburn during those darkest of days
in Dallas. Boston is left with a player whose contract expires after
next season, who might be allowed to receive an extension (based on the
timing of the lifting of the lockout). While those close to Walker say
the marriage with Pitino and the Celtics is a perfect fit, Walker has
been sending far different signals. In many ways, the impasse is
strikingly familiar to the sequence of events that led to Alonzo
Mourning's departure from Charlotte to Miami just before the start of
the '95-96 season, Riley's first in South Florida. For Boston, the clock
is ticking. "If the lockout works out where I can sign this year and
they don't sign me to an extension, I will not come back," Walker said
to the Boston Globe of his relationship with the Celtics. "If they don't
sign me? I'm gone. That's not showing loyalty to me. It shouldn't be a
question. If that happens, no matter what I do (this coming season) I'm
gone." While a $100 million player might prove too rich for the publicly
traded Celtics, the Heat has displayed a disposition for such high-end
players. Its $100 million bid for Howard foiled in the '96 offseason,
the Heat could have the opportunity for a superior value. Though the
turnovers, the technical fouls and the poor shot selection all are of
concern, so, too, were there similar questions when Mourning was brought
on board in the Glen Rice trade. If a talent such as Antoine Walker is
available, and perhaps even wants to play alongside his summer workout
partner Hardaway, how can the Heat afford not to make a bid?

Regards,
Hart