More than a few current NBA players grew up idolizing the subject of ESPN’s new documentary series “The Last Dance”, Michael Jordan, but Boston Celtics starting point guard Kemba Walker actually got to know him well.
Walker was Jordan’s franchise floor general for the Charlotte Hornets — who MJ is the lead Governor of — for eight seasons, over the course of which he developed a close relationship with the legendary player.
“I looked up to M.J.,” explained the UConn product.
“I remember as a young kid, I used to go to the park, [I’d] be there alone and go up and down the court making last second shots, ‘5-4-3-2-1’, shoot it, [and] try to make as many of those because that’s what MJ did. He made big shots. He made shots. He made games.”
That approach to the game would become Walker’s calling card, to the point he picked up the nickname ‘Cardiac Kemba’ for the clutch daggers he’d deliver at the buzzer.
.@KembaWalker reflects on Michael Jordan’s clutch gene and how he’s been able to cultivate his own relationship with Jordan. pic.twitter.com/MuVIyv0tEY
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 26, 2020
Speaking about his former Boss’ ESPN documentary, “The Last Dance”, the Bronx native waxed poetic about Jordan’s game-changing influence. “I wanted to be that. He changed the game; you know he’s one of the reasons why a lot of us … wanted to play basketball growing up,” continued Walker.
“Super fun to watch, super competitive — and he flew. He was the first man we really saw fly. That dude is truly amazing.”
It seems we all forgot about the sheer impact the man had on the game — or if not forgot, became distracted enough to not fully appreciate. And in a moment where the game has been taken away from us, a full-on, league-wide reminder has been both a blessing and overdue.
The NBA might have been saved by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, but it reached almost unimaginable heights as Jordan redefined basketball stardom and drove the league’s popularity to global relevance.
Even after his career ended, his influence remained even as it faded into the background as part of the league’s natural ecosystem.
“He also changed my life as well,” revealed Walker.
“On draft night, never in a million years did I think I’d be playing for MJ, and that I’d be able to have a relationship with him. And I did, that’s like my big brother. I appreciate him, I’m very grateful for what he’s done for me and my family, how he helped me progress through my career.”
The man’s influence has cast a shadow across four decades of NBA history, and changed countless lives in the process.
He may not be as blameless as some have made him out to be, but as time has passed, the greatness of those who came after has dulled the brilliance of one of the all-time greats in the same way many of us have come to take basketball for granted.
As we learned all too painfully with the loss of Kobe Bryant earlier this year and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic this spring, the presence of such greats and the game they elevated to new heights are not guaranteed.
To celebrate them one while we wait for the return of the other is not just a fitting reminder of the precarity of life itself — to say nothing of the sports we use to make it better — but a call to appreciate greatness in our lives wherever we find it.
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