Kemba Walker Opens Youth-Focused Multi-Sport Facility in Concord, North Carolina

A man once given the nickname Cardiac Kemba due to his heart-stopping heroics at the University of Connecticut, Kemba Walker is back to breathe life into the 704's youth basketball community.

The Charlotte Hornets' legend officially opened the Kemba Walker Sports Academy in Concord, North Carolina this afternoon, a multi-sport facility just north of Charlotte that's mission is "to provide a safe, fun, and inclusive environment for athletes to learn, grow, excel and compete."

Outside of the Kemba Walker Sports Academy | Matt Alquiza

At a ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of the 54,000 square foot facility, Walker took some time to answer questions from assembled media about his latest venture that was created with community in mind.

"It's really bigger than, you know, basketball," said the Hornets' all-time leading scorer this afternoon when talking about the academy. "We want the kids to have some discipline and really teach them how to work hard you know? That's what we're chasing. We're chasing something that's much bigger than the actual sport."

It's a bold vision, and one that Walker has dreamed of fulfilling since he was a kid suiting up for his childhood AAU program, the New York Gauchos.

"(The Gauchos' facility) is probably not quite like this. It's not as big as this. But that was my safe space, you know? That was the place I was able to go to, to enjoy the game of basketball and meet some of my closest friends that I still have to this day who actually run this place."

Walker has been a pillar of the grassroots basketball community in Charlotte since he was a baby-faced, 20-something-year-old suiting up for the Bobcats. And even though he spent some time playing elsewhere in his professional basketball career, the four-time All-Star has considered the Queen City his domain since draft night.

"I never left, first of all" said Walker when asked about returning to the Hornets as an assistant coach and being able to now give back to the community that embraced him with open arms when he was drafted in 2011. "Obviously, I went to a couple of different teams and, you know, my path took me to a couple of different places, but I always kept my house here, and my family was always here, and whenever I had time in the summer, something like that, I was always here."

"But it is amazing to be back. I love Charlotte."

And Charlotte loves him back.

Walker stamped his name in the franchise record books with a successful career on the court, but he forever endeared himself into the community by embracing the basketball-crazed city he didn't have a single tie to until he was drafted there.

The Kemba Walker Sports Academy will host its first grassroots basketball event this weekend, the Kemba Walker Invitational, where AAU teams from across the country (including Walker's own New York Gauchos) will convene in Concord to christen the facility.

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