James Walker (April 8, 1944 – July 2, 2007) was 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. A 6'3" (1.91 m)

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

, he played nine seasons (1967–1976) in 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 S ...

(NBA) as a member of 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 Li ...

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 team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, and Kansas City-Omaha / Kansas City Kings.AP via ''Kansas City Star'', "JIMMY WALKER , Former Kings player dies"
July 3, 2007 Walker was a two-time All-Star who scored 11,655 points in his career. He was also the father of former NBA player

Jalen Rose Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30, 1973) is an American sports analyst and former professional basketball player. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' " Fab Five" (along with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy K ...

, though he left Rose's mother prior to his birth and took no part in the child's upbringing. Walker died on July 2, 2007, at the age of 63, from complications related to

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

Early life

Walker grew up in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's Roxbury neighborhood. Walker attended

Laurinburg Institute Laurinburg Institute is a historic African American preparatory school in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The school was founded in 1904 by Emmanuel Monty and Tinny McDuffie at the request of Booker T. Washington. Emmanuel McDuffie was a graduate ...

, a black preparatory school in North Carolina and later earned a scholarship to play at

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

College career

Walker attended

, where he played under head coach Joe Mullaney. At Providence, Walker's game (much as that of Michigan star

Cazzie Russell Cazzie Lee Russell (born June 7, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An NBA All-Star, he was selected by the New York Knicks with the first overall pick of the 1966 NBA draft. He won an NBA championship with ...

) was compared to that of the premier player of the era,

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

superstar

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...

. Walker averaged 23 points as a junior, and led the nation with 30 points per game as a senior. His career high of 50 points came in the 1965 Madison Square Garden Holiday Basketball Festival title game, when Providence defeated

Bob Cousy Robert Joseph Cousy (, born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. Cousy played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time N ...

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisio ...

team 91-86 to win the tournament. For his efforts, Walker was named MVP of the tournament. Walker was also named MVP of the 1966 Holiday Festival when Providence defeated

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh olde ...

and

Cliff Anderson Clifford V. Anderson (September 7, 1944 – July 26, 2021) was an American professional basketball player. He played collegiately for Saint Joseph's University. He was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 4th round (35th pick overall) of t ...

in the title game. With the two awards, Walker was the first player to be named MVP in the Holiday Festival two years in a row. He was considered to be the first college players to use the between-the-legs dribble as a cross-over move. Walker led the nation in scoring in his senior year of 1966–67, averaging 30.4 points a game. He caught and passed UCLA's

Lew Alcindor Lew or LEW may refer to: People * Lew (given name) * Lew (surname) Places * Lew, Oxfordshire, England * River Lew, in Devon, England Transport * LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany * Lew (locomotive), a British narro ...

in the final weeks of the season. Walker's 2,000-plus career points led Providence for four decades, until his all-time scoring record was broken in 2005 by

Ryan Gomes Ryan Anthony Gomes (born September 1, 1982) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Cold Hearts of Overtime Elite (OTE). He was named a First Team All-American power forward at Providence Coll ...

. Walker was able to accomplish this in only three seasons; at the time, freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball. Jimmy Walker ended his college career in the quarterfinals of the 1967 NIT in the last basketball tournament held at the third

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, when he scored 36 points but missed a jump shot at the end of the game as Providence bowed to Marquette 81-80 in overtime. Walker later said that the missed shot was the only thing that went wrong for him in Madison Square Garden. Overall, Walker averaged 25.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in his three seasons (81 games) at Providence.

NBA career

Walker was selected #1 overall pick in the

1967 NBA draft The 1967 NBA draft was the 21st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 3 and 4, 1967 before the 1967–68 season. In this draft, 12 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

by the

. He was also drafted #1 overall in the first

American Basketball Association Draft The American Basketball Association draft was held from 1967 to 1975. First overall picks Note: 1974 ABA College Draft, not 1974 ABA Draft of NBA Players Further reading *{{cite book, last=Bradley, first=Robert D., title=The Basketball Draft Fac ...

by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

. 1967 was the first year the NBA had abandoned its territorial draft (under the old draft, which granted an extra first round pick to be used on collegians within 100 miles of their professional team, Walker might have been selected by the

Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

and teamed with his mentor Sam Jones). Walker was also the final pick in the

1967 NFL Draft The 1967 National Football League draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft with the AFL, part of the AFL–NFL merger agreement of June 1966. This draft was delayed as new gui ...

by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

(the pick now known as

Mr. Irrelevant Mr. Irrelevant is the nickname given to the last pick of the annual National Football League Draft. Although NFL drafts date back to 1936, the first person to be called Mr. Irrelevant was Kelvin Kirk of the 1976 NFL Draft. History "Mr. Irrelev ...

), despite never having played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

; this makes Walker the only athlete drafted first by one pro league (two in his case) and last by another. Despite playing in two NBA All-Star games, Walker never reached his full potential as a pro, partly due to his weight gain. His game had been predicated on quickness. Nonetheless, he averaged 20.9 ppg in 1969–70, 21.3 in 1971–72, and 19.8 in 1973–74, averaging almost 17 per game over a 9-year career. The numbers are all the more impressive when one considers that Walker teamed with star guards such as

Dave Bing David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. After starring a ...

in Detroit, and

Nate Archibald Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald (born September 2, 1948) is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent 14 years playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings ...

in Kansas City-Omaha. Overall in 698 games with the Detroit Pistons (1967–1972), Houston Rockets (1972–1973), and Kansas City Kings (1973–1976), Walker averaged 16.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in his NBA career.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, 81 , , , , 19.6 , , .394 , , , , .766 , , 1.7 , , 2.8 , , , , , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 69 , , , , 23.8 , , .466 , , , , .795 , , 2.3 , , 3.2 , , , , , , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , , , 35.4 , , .478 , , , , .807 , , 3.0 , , 3.1 , , , , , , 20.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , , , 35.0 , , .436 , , , , .831 , , 2.6 , , 3.4 , , , , , , 17.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , , , 39.5 , , .457 , , , , .827 , , 3.0 , , 4.0 , , , , , , 21.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, 81 , , , , 38.0 , , .465 , , , , .884 , , 3.3 , , 5.5 , , , , , , 18.0 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", , style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , , , 12.7 , , .583 , , , , .000 , , .7 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , .0 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", Kansas City-Omaha , 72 , , , , 40.6 , , .468 , , , , .822 , , 2.8 , , 4.2 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 19.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kansas City-Omaha , 81 , , , , 38.5 , , .475 , , , , .855 , , 3.0 , , 2.8 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 16.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, 73 , , , , 34.1 , , .483 , , , , .865 , , 2.4 , , 2.4 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 15.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 698 , , , , 33.8 , , .461 , , , , .829 , , 2.7 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 16.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 2 , , 0 , , 15.0 , , .333 , , , , .500 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , , , , , 5.5

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 6, , , , 20.2, , .463, , , , .824, , 1.5, , 1.5, , , , , , 12.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, style="text-align:left;”, Kansas City-Omaha , 6, , , , 37.5, , .464, , , , .778, , 1.7, , 2.8, , .8, , .2, , 15.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 12 , , , , 28.8 , , .464 , , , , .800 , , 1.6 , , 2.2 , , .8 , , .2 , , 14.0

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1964–65 , style="text-align:left;", Providence , 26 , , , , 37.5 , , .475 , , , , .769 , , 6.1 , , 5.2 , , , , , , 20.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1965–66 , style="text-align:left;", Providence , 27 , , , , 39.0 , , .508 , , , , .772 , , 6.7 , , 5.5 , , , , , , 24.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1966-67 , style="text-align:left;", Providence , 28 , , , , 39.7 , , .490 , , , , .801 , , 6.0 , , 5.1 , , , , , , 30.4 , - class=sortbottom , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 81 , , , , 38.8 , , .492 , , , , .783 , , 6.3 , , 5.3 , , , , , , 25.2 , -

Personal life

"I was hurt, saddened, and selfishly disappointed that we never got a chance to meet," said

, at his father's funeral in 2007. "You want to know something? We were supposed to meet this month, we were supposed to meet this month." The two had spoken on the phone several times before Walker's death.

Honors

The basketball award at Providence is called the Jimmy Walker Most Valuable Player Award. In 2008, Providence honored Walker's number with The Friar Legends Forever Tradition. Jalen Rose hosted the Providence Late Night Event in 2014.

References

External links

''New York Times''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Jimmy 1944 births 2007 deaths African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players Basketball players from Virginia Deaths from lung cancer in Missouri Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players Houston Rockets players Kansas City Kings players National Basketball Association All-Stars People from Amherst, Virginia Providence Friars men's basketball players Shooting guards Basketball players from Boston Basketball players from Kansas City, Missouri American men's basketball players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people