Lonnie Walker IV (born December 14, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In high school, he was named

Mr. Pennsylvania Basketball Mr. and Miss Pennsylvania Basketball is a yearly award given to the best high school basketball player in Pennsylvania. Twenty-five of each boys and girls student athletes are nominated by ''PAbball.com'' and states coaches and media vote for final ...

and earned McDonald's All-American honors. Walker played college basketball for the Miami Hurricanes. After being named to the all-freshman team in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC), he was selected in the first round of the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

by the San Antonio Spurs with the 18th overall pick. He played four seasons with the Spurs before signing with the Lakers.

High school career

Walker attended

Reading Senior High School Reading Senior High School, colloquially known as The Castle on The Hill, is a 9–12 public high school in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1927 and is part of the Reading School District. It is the largest traditional high school ...

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

. Walker made his varsity basketball debut as a freshman and played 27 games averaging eight points per game, and later as a sophomore he averaged 16.9 points per game in a short season due to injury. In 29 games, as a junior, he averaged 17.1 points per game. During his senior year, Walker was named a McDonald's All-American and voted

. He averaged a career best 18.4 points per game and surpassed Reading High grad and former NBA player Donyell Marshall's school record in points by finishing with 1,828 total points scored. On March 25, 2017, Walker led Reading Senior High School to their first state championship in the program's 117-year history in a 64-60 win over the Pine-Richland Rams. Walker finished the game with 22 points, eight rebounds, four steals, and three assists. During the season, Walker signed with the Miami Hurricanes, passing on other scholarship offers from Villanova, Kentucky,

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, and Arizona.

College career

Walker made his collegiate debut with the Miami Hurricanes on November 10, 2017, recording 10 points and a season-high five assists coming off the bench in a 77–45 blowout win over Gardner-Webb University. He created new highs of 12 points and 5 rebounds on December 2 in an 80–52 blowout win against Princeton University before recording season-highs of 26 points and 7 rebounds during his first collegiate

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

three days later in a 69–54 win over Boston University. Against Louisville, he scored a game-high 25 points including an acrobatic layup in traffic to force overtime. In a game against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, he hit a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining to win 79-78. Walker finished the season averaging 11.5 points per game and was named to the ACC all-freshman team. After his sole season with Miami concluded, Walker declared for the

Professional career

San Antonio Spurs (2018–2022)

On June 21, 2018, Walker was selected with the 18th overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs in the

. Walker was later included in the 2018

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

roster of the Spurs. On July 11, 2018, the Spurs announced that they signed Walker. On October 6, 2018, Walker was revealed to have a right medial meniscus tear. On November 25, 2018, the San Antonio Spurs assigned Walker the first time of the season to the Austin Spurs. Walker made his NBA debut on January 3, 2019 in a 125–107 win against the Toronto Raptors, scoring three points and grabbing one rebound in five minutes of play. On December 3, 2019, Walker scored a career-high 28 points, including 19 in the 4th quarter, in a 135–133 double overtime win over 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 team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

with four rebounds, three steals and a block.

Los Angeles Lakers (2022–2023)

On July 6, 2022, Walker signed with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

on a one-year, $6.5M contract. He began the 2022–23 season playing in 32 games, all starts, before being sidelined beginning in late December with knee tendinitis. At the time, he was averaging 14.7 points in 29.8 minutes per game and shooting 45.5% from the field and 38.9% on 3-pointers. He seemed to be the Lakers top scorer after LeBron James,

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward and center positions. Davis is an eight-time NB ...

, and Russell Westbrook. Walker returned after missing 14 games, but his playing time was limited with the development of Austin Reaves and particularly after the Lakers acquired D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley,

Jarred Vanderbilt Jarred Jakobi Vanderbilt (born April 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected as a McDonald's All-American in high school. Vanderbilt played ...

, and Rui Hachimura before the trade deadline. After playing in a bit shy of 28 minutes through the first eight games of the 2023 playoffs, Walker returned to the rotation and scored 12 points in 25 minutes in a 127–97 win over Golden State, giving the Lakers a 2–1 series lead in the conference semifinals. In Game 4, he scored all 15 of his points in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers overcome a seven-point deficit and win 104–101.

Brooklyn Nets (2023–present)

On July 10, 2023, Walker signed with the Brooklyn Nets.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 17 , , 0 , , 6.9 , , .348 , , .385 , , .800 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .4 , , .2 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 61 , , 12 , , 16.2 , , .426 , , .406 , , .721 , , 2.3 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .2 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 60 , , 38 , , 25.4 , , .420 , , .355 , , .814 , , 2.6 , , 1.7 , , .5 , , .3 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 70 , , 6 , , 23.0 , , .407 , , .314 , , .784 , , 2.6 , , 2.2 , , .6 , , .3 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 56 , , 32 , , 23.2 , , .448 , , .365 , , .858 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .3 , , 11.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 264 , , 88 , , 21.0 , , .422 , , .349 , , .800 , , 2.3 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .3 , , 9.9

Play-in

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

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 1 , , 1 , , 17.3 , , .250 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 1 , , 0 , , 16.5 , , .556 , , .500 , , , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 12.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 2 , , 1 , , 16.9 , , .412 , , .286 , , 1.000 , , 3.0 , , .5 , , .5 , , .5 , , 10.0

Playoffs

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

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 6 , , 1 , , 3.5, , .375, , .000 , , , , .3 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0, , 1.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 13 , , 0 , , 13.8, , .483, , .382 , , .750 , , .9 , , .8 , , .5 , , .1, , 6.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 19 , , 1 , , 10.5, , .471, , .371 , , .750 , , .7 , , .7 , , .4 , , .1 , , 1.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Miami , 32 , , 18 , , 27.8 , , .415 , , .346 , , .738 , , 2.6 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , .5 , , 11.5

Personal life

Walker is the son of Lonnie Walker III who moved from New Jersey to

, to play basketball at Alvernia University. Walker III dropped out of university when Walker IV was born in 1998 and he had to raise his son as a single parent while working multiple jobs. Walker IV was encouraged to read after school by his father and maintains reading as part of his pregame ritual. Walker has a dog named Zola, who appeared with him in a

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

ad campaign, reminding people not to leave their dogs in hot, parked cars. In June 2020, Walker revealed he had been the victim of sexual abuse by family members as an adolescent, and had grown out his trademark long hairstyle as a coping mechanism. In deciding to cut his hair, Walker described the act as having "shed my skin mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually."

References

External links

* *
Los Angeles Lakers bio

Miami Hurricanes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Lonnie 1998 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Austin Spurs players Basketball players from Pennsylvania Los Angeles Lakers players McDonald's High School All-Americans Miami Hurricanes men's basketball players San Antonio Spurs draft picks San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Reading, Pennsylvania