You don’t often think about the bigs who play next to the all time greats. Shaquille O’Neal always obviously had a power forward next to him but their role was minimized due to his greatness. Samaki Walker was one of those power forwards and on the Hollywood Hoops Podcast with Josh Martin and Eric Pincus he described the kind of pressure that position comes with.
It was a lot of pressure. You think it would be easy.
The guy is so overpowering demanding, you have to be ready because he draws so much attention.
There were nights when I was ready and there were certain nights where I felt like the pressure was too big. Playing in L.A. was tough. There was nights where I really felt the pressure. I look over and you see Jack Nicholson sitting in the stands and you see Denzel on one side and Snoop Dogg on the other side. Its a little different when you come from San Antonio.
Walker became an NBA champion because of his role on the Lakers and you can listen to his complete thoughts about his NBA career below.
