Ja'Kobe Amare Walter (born September 4, 2004) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2023 class.

Early life and high school career

Walter grew up in

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas, United States. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about ...

and initially attended

McKinney High School McKinney High School (MHS) also called McKinney High is located at 1400 Wilson Creek Parkway in McKinney, Texas, and is within the McKinney Independent School District (MISD). MHS is the oldest high school in McKinney and the current building open ...

. A

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

, he averaged 23.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 2.3 steals per game as a junior leading McKinney to a state championship. Walter transferred to Link Academy in

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, Missouri, Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County, Missouri, Stone County. Branson is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountain ...

prior to the start of his senior year. Walter was selected to play in the 2023 McDonald's All-American Boys Game during his senior year. He was also selected to play for Team USA in the

Nike Hoops Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, held once a year, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of international players. The players demonstrate their ...

Recruiting

Walter was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2023 class, according to major recruiting services. On June 22, 2022, he committed to playing college basketball for Baylor over offers from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, Auburn and

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

College career

Walter enrolled at

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

in June 2023 to take part in summer practices. In his college debut against Auburn, Walter set the Baylor school record for points in a debut by a freshman, netting 28 on the night. He averaged 14.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. Walter was named

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

Freshman of the Year.

Professional career

Toronto Raptors / Raptors 905 (2024–present)

On June 26, 2024, Walter was selected with the 19th overall pick by the

in the

2024 NBA draft The 2024 NBA draft was the 78th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft. Unlike recent years, the 2024 draft took place over two nights. This was the first NBA draft to be held on multiple nights since the draft ...

and on July 4, he signed with the team. However, he missed the beginning of the season, including training camp, because of an AC joint sprain. Throughout his rookie season, he has been assigned several times to

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods ...

. On November 1, 2024, Walter made his NBA debut and on November 27, he made his first NBA start in his career while achieving his first

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

with 11 rebounds, 14 points and 5 assists in a 119–93 road win against the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

. On December 22, he scored a career high of 27 points in a 114-110 home loss against the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

. On March 4, 2025, in a 114-113 win against the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

, Walter had 3 rebounds and scored 17 points, including the game-winning

three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

with 0.5 remaining on the clock in the 4th quarter. This propelled the Raptors to victory on the road at the

Kia Center Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) is an indoor arena located in the downtown core of Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, and the Orlando Pr ...

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , style="text-align:left;",

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 52 , , 18 , , 21.2 , , .405 , , .349 , , .795 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .2 , , 8.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 52 , , 18 , , 21.2 , , .405 , , .349 , , .795 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .2 , , 8.6

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 35 , , 35 , , 32.3 , , .376 , , .341 , , .792 , , 4.4 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 14.5

Personal life

Walter was born and raised in McKinney, Texas, where he has deep family roots. Walter's father, Eddie Walter, played college basketball for

Birmingham–Southern College Birmingham–Southern College (BSC) was a private liberal arts college in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1856, the college was affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SA ...

from 1994 to 1996. His parents named him after basketball legends

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

and

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

. Walter is a Christian and has said that his faith "allowed him to stay humble and use his gifts to serve others".

References

External links

Baylor Bears bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Ja'Kobe 2004 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball players from Texas Baylor Bears men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Raptors 905 players Shooting guards Toronto Raptors draft picks Toronto Raptors players