Walking the walk: by finally embracing the brash ways of Antoine Walker, the Celtics seek a return to the glory days

Sporting News, The, Jan 14, 2002 by Sean Deveney

There was a time when Antoine Walker was known as the least-liked player in the NBA. It's an unfair moniker--how do you measure something like that, anyway?--but, make no mistake, no player was more successful in alienating whole groups around the league than Walker. His teammates disliked his selfish play. His coaches criticized his attitude, shot selection and conditioning. Other coaches cringed at the thought of dealing with players like him. Opponents riled at his trash talking and immaturity. Referees spited him for his nonstop lip-flapping and lack of decorum. In the Boston media, he was called a "punk," a "jerk" and "brain dead."

Remember, if you will, all those gems from The Antoine Chronicles. Remember the time that Walker, during a game in which he scored just eight points, screamed at teammate Kenny Anderson, "Throw me the (expletive) ball." Remember how former Celtics coach Rick Pitino tried and failed to get Walker to lose 20 pounds, and how he said of walkers shot selection, "If you're going to keep on taking them, go out and practice for three hours until you make those shots. Or don't take them." Remember when Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich derisively referred to Walker as, "the typical new-age player," and when Tim Hardaway said of Walker, "he's just an ass. I know it, and he knows it." Remember that Walker told The Boston Globe, after two seasons in the league, that he was a "veteran All-Star," and should not have to report to summer minicamps. Remember also his 30 technical fouls in his first two seasons.

And remember that fans--the ones at the FleetCenter in Boston, mind you--hated Walker. Hated him. Booed him relentlessly, like the time in April 1999 when Walker began to hear the jeers on his first shot. Then he heard more booing, louder and louder throughout the game. He finished that outing--a loss--3-for-12 from the field, with the abuse so bad that he nearly cried in the locker room. This was the captain of the Celtics, a distinction held by the likes of Bob Cousy, Bill Russell and Larry Bird. Yet there he was, nearly brought to tears by the derision of the home crowd.

That was Antoine Walker. This should be the part where we tell you how much Walker has redeemed the sins of his past. This is where we ought to give you an overview of how he has given up his brashness and selfishness, won over the hearts of the fans and now is gallantly leading the Celtics to a stunning renewal of their past glory.

Forget it. One out of three will have to do.

Walker still is brash. He still shows up opponents with his belly-shaking, fist-flailing "Walker Wiggle," though the wiggles come less frequently now. He chatters at opponents nonstop. Walker still is selfish, too. As Hornets forward P.J. Brown says, "He thinks he is Chuck Connors out there, always shooting, no matter what. He's the Rifleman." Walker is shooting just 39 percent from the field, and he leads the league in field-goal attempts and is on pace to break the NBA's single-season record for 3-point attempts.

It's difficult to embrace a player like that, and Walker still hears boos in Boston when he is having a bad game. FleetCenter fans have taken a stronger shine to Paul Pierce, Walker's more athletic, more reserved and more palatable co-captain.

But it is Walker who is leading the team to some semblance of its past greatness, or at least, to the playoffs. Despite Pierce's performance--he is second in the league in scoring and undoubtedly an All-Star--it is Walker who drives this Celtics team, which entered the week with a 20-12 record, second best in the East. Walker has been driving this team since he arrived in Boston in 1996, and as much as he can be blamed for the team's erratic showings over the first part of his career, he should receive credit for the Celtics' success this year.

Walker has not done this through some radical inner transformation that made him more lovable and changed his attitude toward his team and his responsibilities. Walker still is not particularly lovable. But his team has changed its attitude toward him and what it asked of him, and his team is reaping the benefits.

It was a messy night for the Celtics in Philadelphia on December 17. They trailed by 22 just after the half. But a brief run in the third quarter trimmed the deficit to 13, and that's when it started. First Walker, then Pierce. Talking, talking, talking, despite what eventually was a 16-point Celtics loss. Walker shot a miserable 6-for-23 from the field, including 0-for-11 from the 3-point line--the worst 3-point performance in league history. After the game, there was a hint as to why opponents don't like Walker much. "As soon as they came back a little, all you heard was Antoine talking," said Allen Iverson. Two days later, when asked about the 0-for-11 nightmare, Walker gave a bigger hint as to why Celtics fans don't like him much. "If I go 0-for-50," Walker said, "I'll still put it up."

What gets lost in the surface arrogance of such declarations is that Walker is supposed to keep putting it up. He very well could go 0-for-50 from the 3-point line, and he would be encouraged to keep shooting. When Pitino was coaching, that was different. Pitino often called Walker, "the most important person in the organization," but he wanted Walker to be more selective with his shots and less selfish. That Pitino could not get Walker to fit that image of how Walker should play was part of Pitino's undoing in Boston.