Jabari Dominic Walker (born July 30, 2002) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

of the

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

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

. He was named first-team All-Pac-12 as a sophomore with Colorado.

High school career

Walker played basketball for

Campbell Hall School , motto_translation = Do Not Forget , streetaddress = 4533 Laurel Canyon Boulevard , city = Studio City, Los Angeles , state = California , zipcode = 91607 , country = US , type = Private, day school , religion = Episcopal , ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, for three years. For his senior season, he transferred to AZ Compass Prep in

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the ...

. As a senior, he averaged 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. Walker competed for Dream Vision on the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

circuit. He committed to playing college basketball for

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

over offers from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and Saint Mary's.

College career

On January 14, 2021, Walker recorded 23 points and 11 rebounds in an 89–60 win over

. In February, he missed six games with a foot injury. On March 20, 2021, Walker scored a freshman season-high 24 points, shooting 5-of-5 from three-point range, in a 96–73 victory over Georgetown at the first round of the NCAA tournament. As a freshman, he averaged 7.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, earning Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors. On January 25, 2022, Walker tied a career-high 24 points in a 82–78 win over

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. As a sophomore, he averaged 14.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game and was named first-team All-Pac-12. On March 30, 2022, Walker declared for the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

while maintaining his college eligibility. He later signed with an

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

, forgoing his remaining eligibility.

Professional career

Walker was selected with the 57th overall pick in the

by the

. Walker joined the Blazers'

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campu ...

team. In his Summer League debut, Walker scored eleven points, going 5-for-5 in field goals, and seven rebounds in a 78–81 loss to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

. On July 13, 2022, Walker was signed to a standard rookie contract by the Trail Blazers.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;",

, 26 , , 0 , , 14.2 , , .526 , , .523 , , .778 , , 4.3 , , .5 , , .5 , , .5 , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 28.1 , , .461 , , .346 , , .784 , , 9.4 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .7 , , 14.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , , 59 , , 33 , , 22.0 , , .479 , , .399 , , .783 , , 7.2 , , .9 , , .6 , , .6 , , 11.5

Personal life

Walker's father, Samaki, played in the

for 10 years. He has two siblings who play college basketball: his brother, Dibaji, at UMass, and his sister, Sakima, at

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

References

External links

Colorado Buffaloes bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Jabari 2002 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Wichita, Kansas Basketball players from Inglewood, California Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball players Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players Power forwards (basketball)