I don't know what got me thinking about this, but today I was reliving some memories of the Rick Pitino/ Jim O'Brien era Celtics teams and especially my fond memories of Antoine Walker. My basketball consciousness started right around 1998 when I wa 9 years old, and so 'Toine and Paul will always have special places in my heart as those hometown athletes of your youth usually do.
Remembering his game it dawned on me that Antoine would have fit perfectly in today's NBA. He was an awkward star back in the day - he was the best player or second best player on a number of bad to mediocre teams, and I recall him being included among the first targets of the nascent consciousness of the "chucker" phenomenon and the move towards efficiency.
Here are some facts: Antoine was a 6'8" forward who could move with the ball like a guard, capable of both finessing bigger defenders and overpowering smaller players down low. He had great court vision and passing ability for a foward. He was a smart defender who could guard out on the perimeter and struggled with players who stuck around the hoop (Kenyon Martin). And boy oh boy could he shoot the three: In his prime he was around 36%, which is not amazing, but keep in mind he had the greenest green light I have ever seen besides Steph Curry, and according to my memory probably half of those were basically from halfcourt for no other reason than why not?
Finally, he used to take a lot of crap from announcers and the media for his shimmy, which as a kid I loved and mimicked whenever I could. Nowadays it seems like half the league has some signature dance or move they do after hitting a big shot, and I love it.
I just felt compelled to share my renaissance of love for 'Toine here. It would be great to have seen him in today's era. I think his career could have gone a lot better with some more structure and in the overall basketball philosophy of todays NBA.
Remembering his game it dawned on me that Antoine would have fit perfectly in today's NBA. He was an awkward star back in the day - he was the best player or second best player on a number of bad to mediocre teams, and I recall him being included among the first targets of the nascent consciousness of the "chucker" phenomenon and the move towards efficiency.
Here are some facts: Antoine was a 6'8" forward who could move with the ball like a guard, capable of both finessing bigger defenders and overpowering smaller players down low. He had great court vision and passing ability for a foward. He was a smart defender who could guard out on the perimeter and struggled with players who stuck around the hoop (Kenyon Martin). And boy oh boy could he shoot the three: In his prime he was around 36%, which is not amazing, but keep in mind he had the greenest green light I have ever seen besides Steph Curry, and according to my memory probably half of those were basically from halfcourt for no other reason than why not?
Finally, he used to take a lot of crap from announcers and the media for his shimmy, which as a kid I loved and mimicked whenever I could. Nowadays it seems like half the league has some signature dance or move they do after hitting a big shot, and I love it.
I just felt compelled to share my renaissance of love for 'Toine here. It would be great to have seen him in today's era. I think his career could have gone a lot better with some more structure and in the overall basketball philosophy of todays NBA.