40 • October 28, 2021 - November 3, 2021
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Sports
Kemba Walker helps the Knicks build depth and maturity
By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
(Bill Moore photo)
Bronx native Kemba Walker had long established himself as New York City basketball royalty before signing with his hometown team this past August. It is a union that brought Walker full circle, from playing at Madison Square Garden as a high school star for head coach Moe Hicks at the legendary Harlem Catholic school Rice, to carrying the UConn Huskies to the 2011 Big East championship in his junior year in one of the most iconic collegiate postseason performances ever. In five games over five consecutive days, the 6-foot-1 point guard scored a major conference-record 130 points, culminating with a victory over Louisville that catapulted the Huskies to an unlikely and odds-defying NCAA title, defeating Butler University, who at the time was coached by Brad Stevens, for whom Walker would later play with the Boston Celtics. His stellar pro career, including the first eight years with the Charlotte
Bronx native Kemba Walker led the Knicks with 19 points on Tuesday night at Madison Square in a 112-99 win over the Philadelphia 76ers
Bobcats/Hornets, a franchise with which he became one of its greatest and most beloved players, then
on to the Celtics for the 2019 through the 2021 seasons, saw Walker selected to four All-Star teams (2017-2020), the All-NBA Third Team, and he was a two-time recipient of the prestigious NBA Sportsmanship Award. However, his experience Tuesday night when the Knicks took on the Philadelphia 76ers at the Garden was as viscerally meaningful to the high character role model as any of the aforementioned accolades. With 4:06 remaining in the second quarter, Walker knocked down a 16-foot step-back jumper to push the Knicks’ lead to 49-38. By the time he drained a 25-foot three-pointer at 1:42, Walker had gone on a one-man, 10-point scoring spree for his team, pushing the Knicks’ advantage to 57-40 sending the crowd into a frenzy. Many exuberantly chanted his name. “I was waiting for that moment. It was the kind of moment I dreamed of when I was a young kid, wanting to be in the NBA, watching the Knicks play, coming to a Knicks game and seeing how the crowd goes crazy,” he said after pacing the Knicks with 19 points, in a 112-99
win, improving their record to 3-1 before facing the Chicago Bulls tonight and the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday, both on the road. “That was a great moment for me.” For the fans as well, who so deeply desire their New York-made son to excel. “It was fun. Hopefully we can have more moments like that. It was just such a great team win. Everybody contributed in many different ways, and that’s how New York basketball is. Everybody brings us together.” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau also savored the occasion. Walker has added depth, maturity and leadership to his ballclub, as well as someone that can create off the dribble for himself and his teammates, critical skills they were lacking last season. “I thought he played a great game,” said Thibodeau. “So tonight, I thought the way Kemba played helped set the tone.” Although Tuesday wasn’t Walker’s first game at MSG since joining the Knicks, it was demonstrably his welcome home party.
The Nets try to find continuity and chemistry without Kyrie Even with seven-time All-Star guard Kyrie Irving maintaining his stance to be unvaccinated over one week into the start of the NBA regular season, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, an 11-time All-Star, says his team is still equipped to be a formidable presence as they play without one of basketball’s most dynamic forces in their lineup. “While we’re playing in a game, I’m not going to sit there and say ‘Oh, when we get down or it’s a tight game, like, damn, we don’t have enough.’ We’re not going to be thinking about [Irving] during the game,” said Durant on Sunday after the Nets’ 111-95 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at the Barclays Center, their first game of this regular season at home. “We definitely want Kyrie Irving out here on the floor, and he’s a huge part of what we do. But it’s not happening right now. So we’ve got to figure it out. “But no one is going to lose confidence while we’re playing and hope Kyrie comes to save us during the game. No, we’ve got to play.” There was a group of people against vaccine mandates demonstrating outside Barclays on Sunday loudly demanding “Let Kyrie play! Let Kyrie play!” and displaying signs that read “Stand with
Kyrie.” Irving is prohibited from playing home games as New AM NEWS York City public health mandates 10/07/21 require those seeking entry into large public venues to have been administered at least one dose of the AM NEWS COVID-19 vac10/14/21 cine. Two weeks ago, Nets general manager Sean Marks announced that he and team owner Joe Tsai decidAM NEWS ed they would 10/21/21 not allow the 29-year-old superstar to engage With Kyrie Irving still out due to remaining unvaccinated, the Nets, in team activities, favored to win the NBA title when the season began, were 2-2 including pracbefore facing the Miami Heat in Brooklyn last night (Wednesday) tices, until he is able to fully participate. night by defeating the Washington WizAM NEWS In his absence, the Nets have not re- ards by 104-90 in the second game of 10/28/21 sembled the dominant team most pun- a six-game homestand to even their dits predicted. They did bounce back record at 2-2. from the loss to the Hornets the next They were paced by Durant’s 25
(Bill Moore photo)
By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
points. Heading into last night’s (Wednesday) game versus the Miami Heat, Durant had topped the Nets in scoring in each of their first four games while three-time NBA 01414 AM NE scoring champion James Harden 10/07/ 0was still trying to 7find his rhythm. 74470 22784 Durant was averaging 31 points per game prior to playing the Heat in contrast to Harden’s 17.3. Nets head coach Steve Nash attributed Harden’s relatively slow start to rules changes that no 01424 longer reward players with trips AM NE to the line for initiating contact 10/14/ 0 7 74470 22784 against defenders on non-basketball moves, which Harden had mastered. He shot just one foul shot versus the Hornets and only three facing the Wizards. “I feel like he’s unfairly become the poster boy of not calling these 01434 fouls,” said Nash on Sunday. “Some AM NE be 10/21/ fouls 0of them could definitely 7 74470 22784 still, but they’re so alert and aware and he’s the poster child of these new decisions.”
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