NBA
Point guard Kemba Walker is still a free agent after he was waived by the Dallas Mavericks
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated30 Jan 2023
Unbelievable as it may sound, four-time NBA All-Star Kemba Walker has been a free agent for over a month and he is yet to find a team in the league as we enter the final days of the transfer window.
Maybe even more unbelievable was the way the Mavericks waived the player after only a nine-game stint with the Dallas team. The 32-year-old still has ways to go as an NBA player and just over a month ago he was scoring 30+ games for his team. With the Mavs, Walker averaged 8.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.
Watch one of Kemba’s last games for the Mavs, scoring 32 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers:
At the beginning of 2023, Dallas announced to be waiving point guard Kemba Walker after only nine games, just a day before Walker’s salary would have become guaranteed on. According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, the move was motivated by a desire to find minutes for some of the team’s younger guards.
Well, we aren’t as naive to believe the decision was based on giving more opportunity to the new generation. Although there is some truth to this, it’s most probable his high salary was the biggest issue. The Mavs still have a free spot in their roster after releasing Walker and they haven’t tried any 10-day contract yet. Another spot is taken by Theo Pinson who has performed poorly this season so far.
Shortly after, Jayson Tatum hinted at a possible reunion with Kemba Walker in Boston with a tweet he posted three weeks ago. Just a couple of emojis and the internet went into Kemba-mania, as you can see below:
👀☘️☘️ https://t.co/kijXsvlpd2
— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) January 6, 2023
Kemba Walker isn’t just any All-Star player, he’s also is the Hornets all-time leading scorer with 12,009 points. In the franchise’s history, the point guard also possesses six records out of the top 7 highest-scored games for any player wearing Charlotte’s uniform.
The legend was spotted in Charlotte’s stadium this weekend
On this past Sunday afternoon, the Hornets hosted the Miami Heat in North Carolina. And in the stands was their franchise icon Kemba Walker witnessing as Charlotte beat their rivals 122 to 117. What message did that give to the home team? Well, everyone got excited!
The current free agent was spotted by the cameras and the stadium gave him an ovation as his face was shown on the screens. Watch the moment on the following tweet:
Franchise legend 🫡@KembaWalker in the building. pic.twitter.com/LpkzNCeZlg
— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) January 29, 2023
The former first-round pick spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Hornets and averaged 19.8 points and 5.5 assists per game over 605 regular season games. He also led Charlotte to the NBA Playoffs twice and averaged over 20 points per contest in four different seasons.
In addition to the Hornets and his recent spell at Dallas, Walker has also played for the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. Just three years ago, he helped lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Kemba should be a name to keep an eye on over the next few months as the trading deadline is on February 9th and many NBA teams may still need to fill vacant spots on their roster for playoffs.
