If you’re an elite NBA player, and you’re from the New York area, you’re going to be inundated with rumors tying you to the Knicks for the entirety of your career. Them’s the rules. Charlotte Hornets star Kemba Walker has dealt with this throughout his time in the NBA, and the rumors have intensified during this season, a contract year for Walker during which he has played arguably the best basketball of his career. Walker addressed the rumors in a story written by Zach Braziller of the New York Post:
“I don’t have any interest in coming back home — right now,” the Hornets’ free-agent-to-be point guard said when asked if playing for his hometown Knicks would appeal to him.
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“I mean, I’m home. This is where I’m from,” Walker said when asked why he likes playing at the Garden so much. “I’m pretty sure anyone that goes home to play where they’re from, it’s exciting for them. [It’s exciting] for me, when I get a chance to play in front of my family and friends, play in front of the people that know me best.”
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“I have no idea. I’m in the season right now,” he said. “Whenever the time comes, it comes.”
In the summer, Walker shed more light on the situation, and the chatter he hears potentially about coming back home.
“I’ve been hearing it for years now, the Knicks,” Walker said then. “Every time I come home, it’s ‘When are you coming home to the Knicks?’ MSG is a special place, man. The Knicks are a special team. Of course, I’ve been a Knicks fan growing up, always rooted for the home team. But I really can’t see myself in a Knicks jersey — only because I’ve been in one jersey. I really don’t know.”
The only real draw of the Knicks right now is the massive nature of the city and franchise, and the fact that it is his hometown; the team itself is awful, and its only player resembling a star is 7-foot-3 and nursing a torn ACL.
Walker has played 26 games for the Hornets this season, averaging a career-high 25.8 points per game to go with 4.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
