{"id":16674,"date":"2018-12-25T05:31:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-25T05:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/?p=16674"},"modified":"2018-12-26T03:29:20","modified_gmt":"2018-12-26T03:29:20","slug":"the-antoine-walker-interview-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/the-antoine-walker-interview-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Antoine Walker Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Written By: Michael D. McClellan |<\/strong> Their journey begins with college basketball\u2019s signature program and culminates with a two-year run as part of the NBA\u2019s most-decorated franchise, their brotherhood built on hoops and hip-hop, their friendship sealed with slam dunks and Soul Train. They win a national championship as part of \u201cThe Untouchables,\u201d Rick Pitino\u2019s 1996 UK juggernaut that produces nine NBA players, and then reunite with Pitino prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Jim O\u2019Brien in Boston, their contributions appreciated but their Finals aspirations unfulfilled. Antoine Walker eventually gets his ring in Miami, winning a title alongside Shaq Diesel and D-Wade, but it\u2019s his financial ruin that grabs the headlines and obscures a solid, 12-year NBA career that includes three All-Star Game appearances. That\u2019s what happens when you blow $108 million in career earnings and land in bankruptcy court. Walker\u2019s running mates, Walter McCarty and Tony Delk, have no rings to sell, but they leave their marks; McCarty plays seven and a half seasons in a Celtics uniform, never reaching the NBA Finals but becoming a fan favorite for his hustle and willingness to do the dirty work. Delk, who plays for eight teams in 10 seasons as the NBA\u2019s quintessential journeyman, brings grit in helping the Celtics reach the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals. Together they grow from boys to men, looping Tupac and Biggie on the way to that \u201996 national championship, their combined 32 years in the Association a testament to the professionals they become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFriends for life,\u201d Walker says with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bright, articulate, and big-hearted, Walker is arguably the most well-known member of the trio, his shimmy celebration floating around message boards, chat rooms, and MySpace pages long before memes become popular. He signs with adidas early in his Celtics career, dubbing himself \u201cEmployee No. 8\u201d in one of the company\u2019s shoe commercials, and later, when a reporter asks why he shoots so many threes, he responds, straight-faced, \u201cBecause there are no fours.\u201d That the fun-loving Walker is even able to capitalize on his oversized sense of humor qualifies as a minor miracle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was born on the South Side of Chicago, and my mother was a single parent,\u201d he says. \u201cI was the oldest of six, and we grew up poor, so I helped raise my siblings. My neighborhood wasn\u2019t as bad as the press makes it out to be, but it wasn\u2019t the safest place, either. There were gangs and drugs, and plenty of opportunity to get into trouble.\u201d
Basketball provides the escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI came from an athletic family,\u201d says Walker. \u201cMy uncle played professional baseball, and he\u2019s a big reason that baseball was my first love. By the eighth grade, I was 6\u20134, so I shut down my baseball career and pursued basketball. I attended Mount Carmel High School, which was a private school on the South Side of Chicago. My basketball career really took off from there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Walker navigates hood life and hones his game in Chicago, Delk is busy shooting buckets in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI made my name growing up in Brownsville, Tennessee,\u201d Delk says. \u201cI have brothers who are 15 to 20 years older than me, and they were my role models growing up. They didn\u2019t drink or smoke, and were really good influences. I didn\u2019t get to see them play because I was too young, but I lived vicariously through the stories that I heard from family and friends. They\u2019re the ones who taught me how to play fundamental basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCarty, for his part, gets his start in basketball-crazed Indiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvansville was a great place to grow up,\u201d he says. \u201cI shot ball occasionally, but I didn\u2019t play organized basketball until I was in the fifth grade. Most of my friends and classmates were either coached by their parents or playing in some kind of league. I was just another kid shooting hoops in the neighborhood, which was what you did if you grew up in Indiana. It was during my freshman year at Harrison High School that I realized I could become a good basketball player if I put in the work. That motivated me. Before you know it, I was headed to Kentucky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delk is the first of the three to land on the Wildcats\u2019 roster. The long-armed shooting guard has plenty of options, most guaranteeing playing time right away, but the allure of playing at UK wins out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe recruiting process started for me when I began playing AAU basketball,\u201d Delk says. \u201cComing from a small town, it was my opportunity to show the world that this country boy could play with the city guys. I came out of nowhere\u2014I was this long-armed kid who could jump out of the gym and score the ball. We finished third in the nation when I was 15, and a year later, I was voted the most outstanding player in the whole AAU tournament. That put me on the map as far as being one of the top recruits in the country. All of the teams in the South started recruiting me\u2014Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Memphis State. I signed a letter of intent to play at Kentucky, even though I knew that it was going to be tough. The Wildcats had guys like Jamal Mashburn and Travis Ford. They\u2019d barely lost out on a Final Four berth against Duke, so I knew that this Kentucky team was pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s Mashburn, not Pitino, who proves to be the lure for Walker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was one of the top five players in the country during my junior and senior years in high school, but to be honest, Kentucky really didn\u2019t have to pursue me,\u201d Walker says. \u201cI was a huge Jamal Mashburn fan, and I loved their style of play. I loved the pressing and the three-point shooting. Even though I went through the recruiting process and looked at a bunch of other schools, Kentucky was always my first and only choice. Mashburn was leaving to go pro, and I was able to step right in and get his number.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For McCarty, Lexington is all about fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndiana University recruited me hard, and I was friends with Calbert Cheaney, but I really had no interest in going there,\u201d McCarty says. \u201cIt boiled down to the style of ball they played, which was that classic Big 10 style with the big men confined to the post. I was just as comfortable being out on the perimeter. Pitino\u2019s up-tempo system really fit me. I also got close with guys like Tony Delk and Jared Prickett by playing AAU ball, and that was a big factor in my decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Delk turns in a choppy freshman season, his potential is hard to ignore. The Wildcats finish the season 30\u20134, losing to Michigan\u2019s Fab Five in the Final Four. By his senior season, Delk is the team\u2019s go-to scorer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a freshman, I didn\u2019t play that much,\u201d Delk says. \u201cDale Brown played my position. He was a ju co All-American, and he\u2019d started as a junior, so I knew I couldn\u2019t beat him out of his position. After three or four games, I was ready to transfer. I remember calling home to my mom and saying, \u2018I don\u2019t like it here. I\u2019m not playing. Maybe I should look somewhere else.\u2019 It was very disheartening to watch my peers play, knowing how hard I\u2019d worked. Billy Donovan was an assistant coach at the time and started working out with me. We would lift in the mornings and then we\u2019d play at night. He kept me in shape, and he kept me engaged, and he told me that my time would come if I just stayed ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDale Brown hurt his shoulder playing against Michigan in the Final Four,\u201d Delk continues. \u201cCoach Pitino put me in the game. We ended up losing in overtime, but I played well against the Fab Five. The next year I led the team in scoring. The whole experience taught me to work hard and not buy into your own hype, because there\u2019s always someone out there working to take your job. Conversely, I learned that I wouldn\u2019t be given the job. I had to go out and earn it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 6-foot-10 McCarty is as comfortable shooting threes as he is finishing at the rim, something that\u2019s commonplace today but rare when he plays. It\u2019s his made three-pointer that completes Kentucky\u2019s 31-point comeback over LSU in \u201994\u2014the biggest second-half rally in NCAA history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoach Pitino trusted me to shoot from distance,\u201d he says. \u201cHe knew I could knock those down, so he never tried to take away that aspect of my game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fan favorite, the hometown fans routinely shower McCarty with love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUK fans are the greatest fans in the world,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a high-pressure situation\u2014Kentucky has a great tradition, and the expectation is to reach the Final Four and compete for a national championship. The support there is unlike anything I\u2019ve ever seen. Other schools may say the same thing, but Kentucky fans are insane about their team. It was a privilege to play there, and those were some of the best years of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker arrives on the scene in \u201994, when Delk and McCarty are juniors. The three become fast friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTony and Walt were great teammates and guys that I looked up to when I came to school,\u201d Walker says. \u201cThey were two years ahead of me, so they were the elder statesmen on the team. They welcomed me with open arms and really embraced me. I became very close to Tony and Walt. They would come back to Chicago with me during the summer and hang out with my family. They are special guys, and to this day, we\u2019re all still very good friends. We\u2019ve always had each other\u2019s back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kentucky dominates the college basketball world during the 1995\u201396 season, as Pitino\u2019s Untouchables string together 25 consecutive wins, including a 16\u20130 mark in Southeastern Conference play, rolling to the school\u2019s sixth national championship. Delk, Walker, and McCarty lead the team in scoring. The 76\u201367 win over Syracuse in the title game isn\u2019t as close as the final score indicates, and it caps a magical run for the talented trio. It also creates memories to last a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe journey to the championship was incredible,\u201d McCarty says. \u201cWe knew we were talented and had the potential to be great, but what we had went much farther than just talent. We were such a close team. We really enjoyed each other\u2019s company and hanging out with each other away from the basketball court. We truly cared for each other, and those relationships stand to this day. And we worked hard\u2014losing left a bad taste in our mouths, and we were determined to finish that season as the last team standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always going to be bumps along the way, it doesn\u2019t matter what team you play for, and it\u2019s more about how you react to that adversity\u2014how you handle it\u2014that determines your outcome. It\u2019s the same thing when I went to the Celtics. There were times when I played a lot of minutes, and there were times when someone else was out there on the court. If I found myself not playing, I wanted to figure out what I needed to do to get those minutes back and to get back on the court. You just have to be excited about the opportunity to get back on your feet and make the most of every situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker: \u201cPeople were excited because we came into the season ranked Number One in the country. We lost our second game and then ended up winning 27 straight. It was a magical run. Obviously, I\u2019m biased, but I believe that we were the best college team ever assembled. I\u2019m sure that a lot of people would beg to differ. It was a very humble and very close-knit group. It was probably the most exciting season that I\u2019ve ever had playing sports and just being a part of that team and the most fun. We dominated everybody, and then we went into the tournament and were able to bring a national championship home to Kentucky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For all three players, that championship season is as much about the fun away from the court as it is about cutting down the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTupac and Biggie were the artists on the rise back then,\u201d Delk says. \u201cThose guys were at the top of their games. When we won the championship, Tupac\u2019s double CD, All Eyez on Me, was blowing up across the country. I can\u2019t even tell you how many times I played that CD. He was a musical genius, just like Biggie. Friday also came out that year. Walter McCarty and I watched that movie over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker: \u201cRoderick Rhodes was our teammate at Kentucky, and he\u2019s the guy who introduced me to the music of my man Biggie Smalls\u2014the Notorious B.I.G. Prior to that I listened to people like MC Hammer, Rob Base, and then Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and those type of rappers coming in. But as soon as I got to Kentucky, I started listening to Biggie. I remember when Tupac died, it was September 1996. I was at home in Chicago, getting ready for my first training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was an N.W.A fan as a kid,\u201d Delk continues. \u201cI remember when Ice Cube left the group and came out with his first CD, AmeriKKKa\u2019s Most Wanted, which I had on cassette tape. I\u2019ll never forget being at a team camp in high school, and our coach walked in when we were playing it. He heard the profanity, made this face\u2026and then he took my tape [laughs]! It was a big deal to me at the time, because back then you had to go out and buy your music, and cassette tapes were like $14 or $15. I had to save up for it . . . but I never got it back [laughs].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMusic was a huge part of my life back then. I listened to old school R&B legends like Marvin Gaye and the Temptations. Michael Jackson was a favorite. I grew up during the Ice Cube era, so I also listened to Public Enemy, Run DMC, Fat Boys, Houdini, Eric B, Rakim, the list goes on and on. Those artists were from my generation and brought in a completely different style of hip-hop and rap. It addressed topics like police brutality, which is still a major concern in the black community today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCarty: \u201cI\u2019m all over the place musically, but R&B and Motown were big for me. Growing up I used to listen to Stevie Wonder. I was a huge fan of the Jackson 5. In high school, I started listening to Boyz II Men, Babyface, and Brian McKnight. In college, it was hard to ignore what guys like Tupac and Biggie were doing with their rap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delk: \u201cMy favorite Tupac song ever is \u201cHit \u2018Em Up\u201d. Tupac fired off at anybody that had something negative to say, and you\u2019d better not say anything negative about him because he would come back hard. He put some lyrics together, and \u201cHit \u2018Em Up\u201d is a prime example. Tupac could spit fire. You could feel the venom that was coming out of his mouth whenever he was rapping. There was an intensity to his rap that very few could match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I played the game, my intensity level went off the charts. Off the court, I like to have fun and joke around, but on the court, I wanted to rip your heart out. A lot of that fire came from sitting the bench at Kentucky, watching my peers play and knowing that I should be on the court. I took it personally, and I was pissed off. I\u2019d take the court pissed off at the person guarding me, even if they didn\u2019t know it. I wanted to annihilate them. That has to be your mentality. I tell kids today, you have to have a soft voice and a killer instinct. All of the great ones have that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Walker lands in Boston via the \u201996 NBA Draft. He\u2019s the sixth overall selection. Ten picks later, Delk goes to Charlotte. New York snags McCarty with the 19th selection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe draft was very special,\u201d Walker says. \u201cI got the opportunity to fulfill my dream. To be among the best in your chosen profession is the ultimate feat, so it was very special for me and my family. I came from a very humble beginning, and being drafted gave us an opportunity to escape poverty. After so many years watching my mom struggle taking care of six of us, to be able to take care of her and do things for her was very special for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCarty: \u201cTo be able to do things for your family that you never thought you\u2019d be able to do, that\u2019s just the greatest feeling in the world. I\u2019d always dreamed of buying my parents a new house and giving them a new car, but you don\u2019t think you\u2019ll ever be in that position. And then suddenly you\u2019re able to help take some of that pressure off of them. I never took it for granted. I knew that I had to prove myself and that I had to go out there every day and show the coaches that I belonged in the NBA. I also knew that I had to earn my salary, and fortunately I had the work ethic to go out there and do the things to perform in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Walker spins up his career in a Celtics uniform, McCarty plays 35 games during the 1996\u201397 regular season, averaging 5.5 minutes and 1.8 points. And then, on the cusp of his second season in a Knicks uniform, he finds himself traded to Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was getting ready to play in the last preseason game, which was against the Celtics when I got a call in my room. It was Jeff Van Gundy telling me that I\u2019ve been traded to Boston,\u201d McCarty says. \u201cIt was the highlight of my NBA career, being traded to the Celtics, because Boston is the place that I call home. The fans are the best in the world. They know their basketball, and they appreciate blue-collar players who play hard and know their role. That was me. I tried to do my best to help the team win\u2014if that meant diving for loose balls or running to my spot and shooting a three, I could tell that the fans appreciated what I brought to the court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s in Boston that McCarty carves out his niche, something the oft-traded Delk knows all too well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about being in the right situation and being on the right team,\u201d Delk says. \u201cWalter had that in Boston. I bounced around a little more than he did. I had really good seasons with certain teams . . . I was finding my rhythm, loving the city, and enjoying my teammates . . . and then I would get traded and have to start all over again. That was the hardest thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a young Antoine Walker, Boston is the ideal situation. It\u2019s also unique in that the Celtics, led by head coach M. L. Carr, are tanking games for a shot at Tim Duncan in the \u201997 NBA Draft. Walker averages 36 minutes-per-game and lands on the All-Rookie Team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy rookie season was rough as far as wins and losses, but individually I thought I played great from start to finish. I was around a lot of great veterans, guys like Purvis Ellison, Dee Brown, Frank Brickowski, and Rick Fox. Playing for M. L. Carr was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Not only did he help me as a basketball player, but he was also a father figure away from the court. He made sure that I did the right things, that I made the right decisions. He helped me with the whole process of transitioning to the NBA because I came into the league at 19 years old and didn\u2019t know anything. He really helped me to stay balanced and understand what it takes to be a pro.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite two lottery picks, the Celtics whiff in the Duncan Sweepstakes. Carr is ousted, and ownership signs Rick Pitino to the richest coaching contract in sports, a 10-year, 70 million dollar contract giving complete control over basketball operations. The deal opens the door for a UK pipeline into Boston, as Pitino brings Jim O\u2019Brien and Frank Vogel with him, but the honeymoon ends quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoach Pitino wasn\u2019t patient,\u201d Walker says. \u201cHe\u2019d sign guys and trade them right away. He didn\u2019t give guys like that time to develop. We drafted Chauncey Billups and traded him after half a season. Coach also wanted guys who could play his style, but that style didn\u2019t translate to the pro game. You can\u2019t press for 48 minutes in the NBA. The season\u2019s too long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCarty: \u201cI don\u2019t think he or anyone else really knew whether it would work or not. We were still trying to find ourselves as basketball players, so it wasn\u2019t something we could plug into the NBA and guarantee success. But Coach P. believed in it. He needed guys who knew his system if he was going to pull it off, and what better group of guys than Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer, and myself? We\u2019d played for him in college, but it was hard to find twelve guys who would buy into his system at the pro level. Mentally, it wore on him. I think that\u2019s why he quit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Pitino walks away, O\u2019Brien is elevated to head coach. Delk arrives in Boston via trade late in the 2001\u201302 regular season, plays 22 games, and immediately makes an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce I got to Boston it felt familiar,\u201d Delk says. \u201cWalter, Antoine, and Coach O\u2019Brien were all there. Those guys knew me, and they knew my game. Coach O\u2019Brien allowed me to play to my strengths. He knew that I wasn\u2019t a traditional point guard, so he would have guys like Antoine help handle the ball. My role was to play tough defense and put the ball in the hole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overachieving Celtics reach the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals, storming back with a 41-point fourth quarter to take Game 3\u2014and a 2\u20131 series lead\u2014against the heavily-favored New Jersey Nets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was the highlight of my Celtics career,\u201d Walker says. \u201cWe were down 23 points and ended up winning the game. It was probably my finest moment in a Boston Celtics uniform. Being able to win that game, and going up 2\u20131 in that series, and believing that we could actually get this team to the Finals . . . that was an incredible game and an incredible moment in my career. Whenever I\u2019m in Boston, people still bring it up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCarty: \u201cWe trusted each other and played great help defense. If someone got past me, I knew that Eric Williams was going to be there. If someone got by Eric, we knew that Tony Battie was going to be waiting. It was a great experience for us, but also disappointing because we came within two games of reaching the NBA Finals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Celtics take a step back the next season, finishing the season 44\u201338 before being swept away by the Nets in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. A new ownership group arrives, and Danny Ainge is hired to oversee an on-the-fly rebuild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy second season with the Celtics was a lot better,\u201d Delk says. \u201cI suffered a bad ankle injury partway through the season, but I finished strong in the playoffs. Danny Ainge was hired and had a different vision. I wasn\u2019t part of the plans. That\u2019s life in the NBA. My time in Boston was amazing. Getting to play for one of the greatest franchises in history, it doesn\u2019t get any better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Playing for the Boston Celtics means you\u2019re part of an exclusive club that includes royalty like Bill Russell and Red Auerbach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBill was around the organization a lot, especially early in my career,\u201d Walker says. \u201cWe had a few private talks when he would just talk to me about the game, and that was very special. It\u2019s a humbling experience to learn what he had to go through when racism was rampant in Boston when his house was vandalized and all of that. He\u2019s an amazing man and a great friend. He paved the way for black athletes like myself to succeed in Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delk: \u201cBill Russell has the best stories, and he is one of the funniest guys. That laugh is contagious. You might not know what he\u2019s laughing about, but whatever it is, you\u2019re laughing right along with him. He is one of the greatest men I have ever met. He\u2019s a guy that\u2019s helped pave the way for our culture, and what\u2019s he\u2019s done beyond the basketball court is remarkable. He is a true pioneer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCarty: \u201cBill Russell stayed close to the team while I was there. And I always called him Captain. Never Bill, never Mr. Russell. Always Captain, because he was the captain of all those Celtics championship teams. Funny story about Bill Russell: At one point he came into the locker room, and at the time we were a pretty tough defensive team. But offensively, everybody knew that Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker were going to take most of the shots. And I guess the papers were talking a lot about how much Antoine liked to shoot the ball. It was a pretty big deal in the media at the time. Well, Bill came in, and he holds up a copy of that article, and he looks at everyone in the room but Antoine. And he tells us that the secret\u2019s out, that Antoine is going to be taking a ton of shots, and that if we wanted to get our shots we shouldn\u2019t wait for him to pass \u2014we should wait for him to miss. And then he looks at Antoine, and he says, \u2018From what I\u2019ve seen out of your shot selection, there should be plenty of misses to go around.\u2019 And then the whole room busts out laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker: \u201cWhen I came in as a rookie, Red Auerbach was still very much an active part of the organization. He would come to practices here and there, and the occasional game. My fondest memories of Red are of him coming to practice and still having the authority to smoke a cigar in the building while we were practicing. It was a no smoking facility, like just about every place in America today, but no one said a word. Red would still fire up that cigar like the boss that he was, that\u2019s what winning all of those championships does for you [laughs].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRed was very good to me,\u201d Walker continues. \u201cI had the great opportunity to meet him when he was still very relevant. He understood the game, and he would always share advice with me. He would always watch the games, even though he was spending a lot of time in the DC area by that time, and he wouldn\u2019t hesitate to tell me what I needed to work on. I have a couple of cool portraits that I\u2019ve maintained through the years, photos of me with Red, and I\u2019ll cherish them forever. He was a great, great, guy and a great person to be associated with. He was the biggest Boston Celtic of them all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCarty: \u201cRed was great to be around. No matter where you were, you could always smell those cigars in the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delk: \u201cI never met Red Auerbach, but I remember him coming to the practice facility, and I could smell his cigar. We all knew that he was in the building. I never got a chance to speak with him, but I appreciate what he did for black culture. He was one of the first to open up the door and bring in black players and provide them with opportunities that hadn\u2019t existed before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mention Walter McCarty to a Celtics fan, and it isn\u2019t long before talk of \u201cTommy Points\u201d and \u201cI love Waltah\u201d surfaces. Tommy Heinsohn has a special place in his heart for McCarty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think Tommy appreciated what I brought to the table, maybe more than anyone. My role on that team wasn\u2019t to be the leading scorer. It was to play great defense, shut down the other team\u2019s best scorer, run the floor, knock down shots in the flow of the offense, and hustle all over the court. I was the guy who scrapped for the rebound, who would dive on the floor for loose balls\u2014you know, the type of player who did a lot of the dirty work that maybe other players didn\u2019t like to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe kept a tally of \u2018Tommy Points\u2019 for guys who did things that didn\u2019t show up in the stat sheet, and that was really borne out of him watching me play. He knew that everybody focused on the guy scoring 35 points or the guy grabbing 20 rebounds, but he changed the way that people look at basketball by pointing out the little things that make a big difference in wins and losses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For McCarty, his relationship with Heinsohn and the Celtics family runs deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been so lucky, privileged, and blessed. To get to know people like Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, and Tom Heinsohn, I could never truly put into words what these people mean to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was so special to feel like you\u2019re a part of the family, part of one of the greatest organizations in sports. You just don\u2019t get that anywhere else. For me as a kid, to think that I would get to sit down and talk to guys like that\u2014guys like Red Auerbach, Satch Sanders, Hondo\u2014the list goes on and on, it was just remarkable. As a kid growing up in Evansville, I never could have imagined any of that to be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Walter McCarty isn\u2019t afraid to put himself out there. After retiring from basketball, he moves into the music game. Truth is, music has always been a part of his DNA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was four or five, I was singing with my family in the church,\u201d McCarty says. \u201cMy aunt got me started\u2014I\u2019d sing in the afternoon services. So I grew up singing, and from a very early age, it was always a passion of mine. And as I got older, I started singing in middle school choir, then high school and church choir, and on the street corners with my friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 2003, I released my first CD, Moment for Love<\/em>, but I really didn\u2019t have the time I needed to promote it due to playing basketball. In 2011, I released my second CD, Emotionally<\/em>, and a year later released Unbreakable<\/em>. My friends give me a hard time because I\u2019m always singing, but I love it. It\u2019s the thing I like to do most\u2014that\u2019s just me, I love music, and I really enjoy being able to express myself musically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Go back a few years, and the old Antoine Walker has trouble saying no. He spends lavishly on friends and family, invests heavily in a shady real estate venture that goes belly up, places million dollar bets at the casino, and blows every dime of the $108 million he\u2019s earned in the NBA. It\u2019s a hard, painful lesson, but one from which he emerges stronger. This Antoine Walker, who, at the height of his career, never wears the same suit twice, is gone. In its place is a fiscally responsible Antoine Walker, now evangelizes financial literacy to up-and-coming athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cComing into the league at 19, there was no way that I thought I\u2019d be broke at 39. I was soon making so much money that I thought it would never end . . . The type of money that today\u2019s NBA players make is generational wealth; if you\u2019re smart, you\u2019re able to pass it down. I try to share my story and hope it makes a difference in someone\u2019s life. Money is like everything else. It doesn\u2019t last forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Their playing careers over, Walker, McCarty, and Delk have nothing but fond memories of their time together. They have that \u201996 national championship and everything that goes along with it. And even though they don\u2019t win it all together in Boston, there are no regrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe highlight of my career was to be drafted by an organization like the Boston Celtics,\u201d says Walker. \u201cWhen you look at a team with some of the all-time greats, we\u2019re talking about Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, K. C. Jones, Red Auerbach, Bill Russell, just to name a few. To be drafted by the Celtics and to have my name attached to that organization is the greatest thing that could ever happen to me professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoston\u2019s a pretty special place,\u201d Tony Delk says. \u201cTo be able to play there with these guys, it just doesn\u2019t get much better than that. We competed hard. We were able to play with an all-time great in Paul Pierce. We got to play under all of those championship banners and in front of the best fans in the world. I enjoyed my time in Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone likes to point out that I didn\u2019t win an NBA title, but I\u2019ve always loved the game of basketball,\u201d says Walter McCarty. \u201cI would have loved to have won an NBA championship, but I had a great time, and I\u2019m content to have walked away from the game like I did without winning it. I was fortunate to win a championship at Kentucky, and I was able to play 10 years in the NBA, many of those with the greatest franchise in professional basketball. And if I were to ever wonder why I didn\u2019t win it all as a professional, I would lean on the words in Proverbs 3:5\u20136: \u2018Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written By: Michael D. McClellan | Their journey begins with college basketball\u2019s signature program and culminates with a two-year run as part of the NBA\u2019s most-decorated franchise, their brotherhood built on hoops and hip-hop, their friendship sealed with slam dunks and Soul Train. They win a national championship as part of \u201cThe Untouchables,\u201d Rick Pitino\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[783,773],"tags":[459],"class_list":["post-16674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dark-days","category-featured-interview","tag-antoine-walker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}