Chet Walker Made a Significant Impact on and off the Court
Chet Walker--a key member of Philadelphia's 1967 NBA championship team that set a since-broken record for regular season wins (68)--passed away on Saturday at the age of 84 after a long illness. Sam Smith, who now works for Bulls.com after making his name covering the team for the Chicago Tribune and writing the best selling book The Jordan Rules, penned a must-read tribute to Walker, tracing the arc of Walker's life from childhood in Mississippi and Michigan to leading Bradley University to the 1960 NIT title to a great NBA career highlighted by seven All-Star selections, an 18.2 ppg career scoring average, and tremendous durability (he played at least 76 games in each of his 13 NBA seasons). Walker played seven seasons for the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers before playing six seasons for the Chicago Bulls. Walker averaged at least 21.5 ppg in each of his first three seasons with the Bulls, and he set a franchise single game regular season scoring record (56 points) that stood from 1972 until Michael Jordan scored 58 points in a 1987 game.
Walker was one of the "NBA 14" who paved the way for the huge contracts that today's players enjoy, but Walker's activism came at a price: his career ended abruptly when no team would sign Walker after a 1975 season during which he averaged 19.2 ppg in 76 games, and he had to wait a long time before being inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, an honor that he belatedly received in 2012. Walker chose Billy Cunningham, Adrian Dantley, Earl Monroe, and Isiah Thomas as his presenters, and those four legends represent a cross section of Walker's impressive life on and off the basketball court: Cunnningham was his teammate, Dantley incorporated Walker's moves into his Hall of Fame caliber arsenal, Monroe played against Walker in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, and Thomas shares Chicago roots with Walker. Walker produced "A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story," a movie about Isiah Thomas' mother that won an Emmy.
Years ago, I asked Cunningham--a teammate of Walker's on Philadelphia's 1967 championship team who later coached the incomparable Julius Erving on Philadelphia's 1983 championship team--to compare those two legendary squads, and he told me, "Dr. J would match up against Chet Walker. Julius was obviously better in the open court offensively than Chet and a better shot blocker. Chet was a better one-on-one player offensively and would probably try to post up Julius and do things like that." I asked Cunningham to elaborate about the Erving-Walker comparison, and he replied, "Julius was the greatest open court player who ever played. Chet Walker was a better jump shooter and he had, I think, a little bit more of an arsenal in the set offense. But by no means am I taking anything away from Julius Erving."
There is statistical evidence supporting Cunningham's description of Walker's offensive arsenal. Walker finished in the top 20 in field goal percentage six times--including sixth during Philadelphia's 1967 championship season--and he ranked in the top 10 in free throw percentage six times, including leading the NBA in that category in 1970-71. Walker ranked in the top 10 in free throws made seven times. Walker was a dependable third scoring option (19.3 ppg) behind Wilt Chamberlain (24.1 ppg) and Hal Greer (22.1 ppg) on the 1967 championship team, and when the Bulls needed a clutch basket during the early 1970s they usually relied on Walker.
Jaylen Brown would not be a $300 million player without Walker's sacrifices. A role player like J.J. Redick who shamelessly mocks the basketball stars from the past would not be a famous multi-millionaire without Walker's sacrifices that helped transform the NBA into a multi-billion dollar business. It would be great if Brown, Redick, and everyone else who benefits from the NBA's huge pot of gold acknowledged their debt to Walker and the other members of the "NBA 14."
Labels: Adrian Dantley, Billy Cunningham, Chet Walker, Chicago Bulls, Earl Monroe, Isiah Thomas, Philadelphia 76ers, Wilt Chamberlain
posted by David Friedman @ 10:27 AM
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