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 (appro ...

player. A

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 gu ...

, he played nine seasons (1967–1976) in 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) 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

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) ...

, 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 An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

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 Michigan Wolverines, Wolverines' "Fab Five (University of Michigan), Fa ...

, though he left Rose's mother prior to his birth and took no part in his 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, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

Early life

Walker grew up in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's Roxbury neighborhood. Walker attended Laurinburg Institute, a black preparatory school in North Carolina and later earned a scholarship to play at

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

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) 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 Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kings are the ...

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. He 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 NBA ...

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 Subdivis ...

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 university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

and Cliff Anderson in the title game. With the two awards, Walker was the first player to be named MVP in the Holiday Festival two consecutive seasons. He was considered to be the first college player 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 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. 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 Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, 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. In 2003, he was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame.

NBA career

Walker was selected #1 overall pick in the 1967 NBA draft by the

. He was also drafted #1 overall in the inaugural American Basketball Association Draft 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. 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 and teamed with his mentor Sam Jones). Walker was also the final pick in the 1967 NFL draft 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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

(the pick now known as Mr. Irrelevant), despite never having played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

; this makes Walker the only athlete drafted first by one pro league (two in his case) and last by another. In the middle of the 1968–69 season, Walker was nearly traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

for

Walt Bellamy Walter Jones Bellamy (July 24, 1939 – November 2, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. He played 14 seasons as a center in the National Basketball Association, playing for four different teams. As a star for Indiana University ...

, but the firing of Donnie Butcher for Paul Seymour meant that he nixed the trade and instead wanted

Dave DeBusschere David Albert DeBusschere (October 16, 1940 – May 14, 2003) was an American professional basketball player and coach, and professional baseball player. He played for the Chicago White Sox of MLB in 1962 and 1963 and in the NBA for the Detroit Pi ...

traded to New York for Bellamy, which was accepted. 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 in Detroit, and

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

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

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Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 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 List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

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, 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 t ...

, 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

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1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

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, 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

Walker initially settled in Kansas City when his career ended before spending a few years in

Amherst, Virginia Amherst (formerly Dearborn) is a town in Amherst County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,231 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Amherst County. Amherst is part of the Lynchburg metropolitan area. History Amherst was fo ...

and

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He moved back to Kansas City in 1994 after his daughter, Jamesa Walker-Thompson, was diagnosed with cancer. In the leadup to the NCAA Tournament in 1992, Walker sent a letter (addressed to Rose) to

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

columnist

Mitch Albom Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and musician. As of 2021, he has sold 40 million books worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing inspi ...

, as he had been interviewed by him for a book on the Fab Five. Rose wanted to wait until he was mature enough to read the letter and didn't read it for eight years. In that same time, Austin Croshere, a Providence graduate who won the school's MVP award that bore Walker's name, was drafted by the

, who Rose was playing with at the time. He gave Rose a paper that had Walker's phone number on it. In 2000, Rose opened the letter and eventually decided to call the number. The two spoke a few times over the phone and by e-mail but never met. They made plans to meet in person in the month that Walker died. Rose attended the funeral of Walker, who was cremated.

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 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Boston Basketball players from Kansas City, Missouri Basketball players from Virginia Deaths from lung cancer in Missouri Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players First overall NBA draft picks Houston Rockets players Indiana Pacers draft picks Kansas City Kings players NBA All-Stars People from Amherst, Virginia Providence Friars men's basketball players Shooting guards