Former Sixth Overall Pick Antoine Walker Discusses His Rise From NBA Prospect To All-Star And More
After an illustrious 12-year career, Antoine Walker now sits in the history books as a three-time All-Star and NBA Champion. However, his NBA journey began back in 1996 as a top prospect fresh off a National Championship run with Kentucky. The Boston Celtics selected Walker with the sixth overall pick, and he quickly established himself as one of the franchise's foundational pieces, even outgrowing this label by earning his first All-Star nod in year two.
Decades later, Walker's rise towards the top of what he regards as "the best draft class ever" still offers key insights regarding early-career development for NBA prospects.
Walker's "unique" pre-draft experience featured workouts with every team holding picks two through eleven. Throughout these interviews, teams placed a heavy emphasis on learning about the type of person Walker was off the court.
“[NBA teams] know everything about you," Walker told Draft Digest. "And that's crazy because I came out at 19 [years old]. You would think I didn't have that much stuff going on in my life. In those interviews, you're trying to defend yourself, sell yourself, and let them know that you could be a great basketball player, but also a great person off the court as well.”
These experiences occurred nearly three decades ago. In the years since, the explosion of social media has placed a constant spotlight on players. This fact has only made it tougher for prospects to sell themselves to NBA organizations.
“Every aspect of these guys’ lives are pretty much highlighted and there are a lot of self-infected wounds posting everything on social media. Things are not private anymore. Everything is kind of public. So you have to be very cautious in the way you carry yourself," said the former Celtic. "I think it's actually harder now because you can't be a kid when you're a kid. You have to try not to make mistakes.”
This is because teams view their draft picks as "investments" as Walker emphasized. The Celtics clearly felt good enough about Walker to invest the sixth overall pick into selecting him, which played a key part in his ascent. He remarked that earning guaranteed money as a top pick was "huge" as it gave him "wiggle room to develop."
“As a guy who drops to the second round or is a free agent pickup, it's a lot harder because you don't have guaranteed dollars, so you have to try to hit a home run and hope you fit, hope you can stick," Walker stated. "Whereas being a first-round pick and having guaranteed dollars, you can kind of pace yourself, learn the game, get better and better, and still be able to make a living for yourself…so there’s definitely two sides to going in the first round and second round.”
Walker's journey highlights the need for prospects to maximize their stock, for opportunity varies drastically based on draft slot. Even 28 years later, Kentucky's prospects will have to take that fact into consideration. Between Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard, D.J. Wagner, and Aaron Bradshaw, the Wildcats boast four touted freshman prospects. The former champion is a "huge fan" of these young players, but believes it's instrumental that they record enough experience in college basketball before leaping to the NBA. Walker returned to Lexington after his freshman season and improved tremendously, allowing him to become a top pick. He suggests that some of them could use two or three years at Kentucky to increase their draft stock, just as he did.
But these young players will have to weigh their opportunities; it's always tough to delay the accomplishment of a lifelong dream. For Walker, he knew his dreams had morphed into reality during his first sports card photoshoot.
“For me, having a card was huge. When I was 12, 13, 14 years old, I collected cards. To be on a card was very special to me," Walker told Draft Digest. "Growing up in the inner city where I came from, to be on a trading card was something so special."
Walker has pursued his childhood passion by partnering with Panini, the Exclusive Trading Card Partner of the NBA. Now, trading cards of himself and all NBA players can be found at stores like Walmart and Target as well as in Digital Collectible form directly through Panini.
After entering the NBA ranks, Walker "didn't know what type of pro [he] could be", but ultimately, his situation with a "storied" Celtics franchise brought the most out of him, making him an All-Star by age 21. He credited legendary coaches and former Celtics such as M.L. Carr, Dennis Johnson, JoJo White, Tommy Heinsohn, and Cedric Maxwell in establishing an organizational tradition fostering success. Walker also credited the city of Boston, raving about the many ways in which the Celtics' fanbase motivated him.
“Their sports culture is one of the best in the world. People in Boston take sports very seriously; they're hardcore fans. They appreciate hard work even if you're not the best player on the team. Whether you're a hustle guy, whether you're just a rebounder," Walker said. "They appreciate the 12th and 13th man just as much as they appreciate the best guy on the team. That's what’s special about playing in Boston…If you want to work hard and you dedicate yourself to Boston, they're gonna take you in as family. So I always consider Boston my second home.”
Just as Walker's circumstances in Boston brought out the best in his early development, he believes San Antonio Spurs sensation Victor Wembanyama needs the right situation to truly reach his ceiling.
“His size is very unique and his skillset is very unique. I think as he gets stronger, as he understands the pro game, I think he could be a ten-time All-Star in this league, but I think it's going to be very important that the San Antonio Spurs continue to put good talent around him," Walker told Draft Digest. "He's getting coached by arguably the greatest coach of all-time in Greg Popovich, so that's a plus for him. I think his growth and development is still going to be predicated on the type of players you can put around him, but wow, is he off to a great start. He's looking like for the next 10 to 15 years, he can be one of the most dominant players in this league.”
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