The NBA, like any other professional sport, lives by one simple rule, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ Players can have enjoyed storied careers, given their best to perform day in and day out for their teams and the fans, but once they are no longer at that level, people stop caring. What’s happened to Russell Westbrook and James Harden in the past year is an example of how past achievements just don’t matter, but Kemba Walker is dealing with some much more real consequences.
Walker is a multiple-time All-Star, one of the most skilled point guards in recent NBA history. His prime was spent on the Charlotte Hornets, with whom he could never quite achieve much team success. Subsequent moves to the Celtics and the Knicks showed promise but Kemba had the injury bug by then, and his game was severely hampered by that. The most recent trade saw him dealt to the Detroit Pistons, with whom he can’t seem to agree to a buyout.
Kemba Walker Says Nobody Has Reached Out To Him, But He Wants To Play Basketball Again
Walker is in a weird place, where he doesn’t fit in with the rebuilding of the Pistons at all, but he still can’t agree to terms for a buyout. In this, he finds himself on the sidelines, with no other team trying to make a move for him, either. But Kemba doesn’t feel done, he thinks he can still play and contribute in the league, and that’s what he told the Boston Globe in a heartfelt manner.
“It’s never been basketball [performance]. It’s just been my knee,” Walker said. “I don’t have [anything] to prove. Everybody knows what I’m about over the years, what I have done in this league. I’ve got a few more years left in my opinion, so I’m not thinking about that yet. We’ll see. I’m just waiting. [Nobody’s] reached out to me. I’m just waiting.
“I just want to be able to play basketball again; I don’t care if it’s the bench or not,” he said. “I started off my career playing basketball coming off the bench. Who cares? I just want to be able to play ball like I love to do, being around some great, great teammates and just have fun.”
The situation for Walker is an odd one because even if he’ll likely never play for Detroit, they can play hardball during the buyout negotiations. If Kemba wishes to play in the NBA for another team, he’ll have to find a way to become a free agent, because it doesn’t look like any team would give up any assets for him at this point.
