Top 100 NBA Players: #74

Antoine Walker

(BBR: #219)

It's easy to write off Antoine Walker when you see what happened to his promising career, as he allowed weight problems, financial difficulties, and indifference to hijack his career and cause an early exit from the NBA, but when he put everything out on the floor, he was one of the top players there was.

In 1997-98, just his second season in the league, he had already established himself as one of the top 10 players in the NBA. Despite missing the playoffs with Boston, he racked up some huge numbers, averaging 22.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. While the averages were always impressive, his shooting percentages rarely were. His career averages of .414 FG% and .633 FT% would be considered below average for players at any position, let alone a big man.

He missed half of the following season, and after one year to get back in the groove, he had his two best seasons as a pro in 2001 and 2002. It was around this time that Paul Pierce came into his own and became recognized as the best Celtic, but the two of them formed a very potent 1-2 punch and led the Celtics all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002. Here are their stats from those two seasons:

Walker - 22.8 pts, 8.9 reb, 5.3 ast, 1.6 stl
Pierce - 25.7 pts, 6.7 reb, 3.2 ast, 1.8 stl

Those two players represented more than half of the points scored by the Celtics over those two seasons, and it was the most successful time enjoyed in Boston in nearly a decade, but it didn't last. Walker played one more good season in Boston before being shipped off to Dallas, where he was unhappy with his reduced role, which is where a lot of the bad opinions of him may have started.

Two years and three trades later, he landed in Miami, where, despite coming off the bench for the first time in his career, he was finally able to reach the ultimate goal and win an NBA Championship. Even though he was not a starter, he ended up ranking as the #3 player on that championship team, behind only Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, guaranteed Hall of Famers.

After that his stock dropped quickly, and he was out of the league within two years, after which stories of gambling debts and holdups started to put his name back in the news. It turns out that he was a horrible manager of money, and despite earning over $100 million during his career, he was completely broke less than two years after retirement.

Walker may not have ever achieved the popularity that Hill did, but he did manage to maintain a high level of performance for 8 seasons at the beginning of his career, which included a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, a place that Hill never reached until his star had fallen. Walker also owns a championship ring, something Hill is still dreaming of, and he was actually an important member of that team, not just someone who was along for the ride. Even though many, including me, have a higher opinion of Hill, there are many signs that point to Walker as having been the better player overall in his career.