J-Speaks: Hornets' All-Star Guard Joins 60/40-Point Club

On Saturday night, Charlotte Hornets All-Star guard Kemba Walker had a scoring night to remember individually but his team lost in overtime versus the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night. Two days later, he had another stellar scoring performance and his team won, and in the process joined a very exclusive club. 

In the Hornets (8-8) 122-119 loss versus the Sixers (12-7) in overtime on Saturday night, Walker scored a career-high and set the Hornets single-game scoring record with 60 points, going 21 for 34 from the field, including 6 for 14 from three-point range and 12 for 12 from the free throw line. 

That 60-point night also represented an individual scoring high by a player in the NBA this season, topping the 52 Golden State Warriors All-Star guard Klay Thompson had in his team’s 149-124 win at the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 29. 

The two-time All-Star though was noticeably disappointed after his team’s third loss this season versus the Sixers, with two of them coming in overtime. 

This one was especially heart felt because the Sixers newest acquisition in four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler blocked Walker’s last shot attempt and saved the ball inbounds. Moments later Butler, who had 15 points on the evening sank the eventual game-winning triple that gave the Sixers their third win on the road in 10 tries so far this season. 

“I’m still proud, that’s an unbelievable thing to do right there,” Walker said of his record setting performance. “I’m just mad that we lost. I’m a competitor. It would have been even better with a win.” 

Walker made sure of that the outcome went in the Hornets favor on Monday night scoring 21 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter in leading the Hornets to a 117-112 win versus the Boston Celtics (9-8), which included hitting the game-clinching three-pointer with 32.3 seconds left in the fourth period. 

When asked by FOX Sports Southeast reporter Stephanie Ready how he has been getting it done, Walker, who registered his third 40-point game of the season said with a smile, “I don’t know. I’m just playing basketball.” 

“Off-course my belief in God. It’s been helping be play the way I’m playing but for the most part I’ve been working on my game. I come in here every night getting shots up, working on my game. I’m staying as ready as possible for these kinds of moments.” 

“My teammates look at me. My coaching staff, they put me in great situations to score the basketball and you know, I’ve just been making some shots.” 

With 103 points scored in his last two games, Walker joined a very exclusive club of players who followed a 60-plus point performance with a 40-plus point performance. 

The last player to do this, according to the Elias Sports Bureau was future Hall of Famer of the Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant during the 2006-07 season. Recent Hall of Fame inductee and ESPN NBA studio analyst Tracy McGrady did it with the Orlando Magic back in the 2003-04 season. The great Michael Jordan, the owner of the Hornets did this as a member of the Chicago Bulls in the 1989-90 season, while the late great “Pistol” Pete Maravich did it in the 1976-77 season. The late great Wilt Chamberlin had four occasions of scoring 60-plus followed by a 40-plus point performance in his career.

In a year where he is the sixth highest paid player on his team and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, the No. 9 overall pick in 2011 out of the University of Connecticut picked a really good time to be at the top of his game and has put the Hornets in a very serious position of deciding to trade the best player and get something for him now or take the risk of where they may go elsewhere this summer. 

That is because Walker so far this season is leading the NBA with a career-best average of 29.6 points on a career-high 46.5 percent from the field and shooting a solid 38.9 percent from three-point range. He is also averaging career-highs in free throws attempted at 6.3, where he is shooting 86.0 percent and in assists per game at 6.1 

Keeping him though may prove to be even more difficult because as FOX Sports New Orleans play-by-play commentator Joel Meyers said during the San Antonio Spurs versus New Orleans Pelicans telecast that if Walker makes either the First, Second or Third All-NBA teams this season, he is eligible under the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement for a super max extension worth $220 million. 

In the words of former Hornet’s guard and Meyers broadcast partner in David Wesley, “Somebody’s got trouble.” 

The Hornets did see this coming as last season they were entertaining the thought of trading Walker but Jordan and the organization did not as the team missed the playoffs for the fifth time in Walker’s career. 

The real question though is Walker worth that supposed super max contract? 

Future Hall of Famer and 2008 Finals MVP and champion with the Celtics Paul Pierce said on Tuesday’s edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN that the Hornets will not only be a playoff team this spring but Walker has established himself as a Top 5 point guard in the NBA right behind 2017 Kia MVP Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder; two-time Kia MVP and three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors; three-time All-Star and 2017-18 All-NBA First Team selection Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers and All-Star and NBA champion Kyrie Irving of the Celtics. 

Pierce also apologized to Walker because last week on the show he said that All-Star Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers was the loneliest star in the Eastern Conference. He said “no,” it is Walker because he cannot name the starting five on the Hornets. 

With the ways things are right now in the Southeast Division, with the only real competition so far being the Orlando Magic, who have not made the playoffs since 2012; Washington Wizards and the Miami Heat really struggling so far this season and the Atlanta Hawks rebuilding their team, the Hornets have a real shot at not only making the playoffs for the first time since 2015 but winning their division for the first time since get this ever in franchise history. 

That said, they will be in the lower part of the East standings behind the Toronto Raptors, 76ers, Celtics, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks. 

“Everything Paul said about Kemba and the Hornets is accurate. There going to win the Southeast Division because Washington a mess. Miami doesn’t have a star. Because Orlando and Atlanta are who are just who they are,” ESPN’s Amin Elhassan said on Tuesday. 

“But having said all of that, there going to be a six seed at best because if you think about Milwaukee, Philly, Boston, Toronto, Indiana all better. There going to be [the] Sixth seed at best. It’s kind of stinks but that’s life.” 

There is a report from The Charlotte Observer that the Hornets are looking to acquire All-Star guard Bradley Beal from the Wizards to give Walker that much needed running mate that he has lacked in his time with the Hornets. 

If the Hornets have any plans on making any kind of noise in the East this season, they will have to acquire another player that can be a real second scorer to go alongside Walker because for the kind of money they shelled out to Nicholas Batum and Marvin Williams a couple of off-seasons back, they have not lived to those contracts. Players like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Cody Zeller, Malik Monk, Frank Kaminsky, or rookie Miles Bridges have only flashed how great they can be or they have not matured yet into being consistent players on the professional hardwood. 

If the Hornets are counting on Jeremy Lamb, their second leading scorer on the season at 13.7 currently to be that second banana to Walker, that just will not cut it. 

To bring this point into context, other than Walker only two other Hornets scored in double figures in their win versus the Celtics on Monday night with Lamb scoring 18 and backup big man Willy Hernangomez scoring 14 off the bench. The next closest man to scoring 10 points was Batum with nine and Williams, Zeller, Bridges and Walker’s understudy in veteran Tony Parker each scoring seven.

“I’d love to see him play with a couple of good players so the pressures off him to have to play this well,” Hall of Famer Kevin McHale said on “The Players Only” edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by Kia on Tuesday about the Hornets getting a better supporting cast around Walker. “I look at their team, their 8-8. There finding a way to win games. He’s playing at an unbelievable level and Charlotte got a big decision to make while signing him this summer. It’ll be hard to let that young man go if you’re in Charlotte.” 

What Kemba Walker has shown in the last two games is not only his improved shooting that he has worked on over the last few off-seasons and during the season, but his willingness to take big shots. His has mastered the art of the step back three-point shot, which is the result of what he said to Ready him putting in the time late into the night to perfect his shot and it has shown. 

He has also shown that he wants to make his mark where he is, with not just how he has improved his game on the court but the impact he has had in the community. 

This man after the greatest scoring night of his career and the best individual night in Hornets history was sad because his team lost on Saturday night and in his next performance two nights later, Walker did everything in his power in the fourth quarter to lead his team to victory with the game-clinching triple.  

Walker through his hard work and dedication has put himself in position to get paid big time this summer. Will it be the Hornets that pay Walker? Will owner Michael Jordan and general manager Mitch Kupchak trade him at the February 2019 trade deadline? Or, will they re-sign him to that super max contract, pending he makes any of the three All-NBA teams and get some help for him? 

Two things are for sure after what Walker has done in his last two games. He will be in the All-Star game that ironically enough will be in Charlotte this February 2019 and he put himself in the same conversation as back-to-back Finals MVP Kevin Durant of the Warriors, the previously mentioned Irving and 2014 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who are all unrestricted free agency this summer. 

In the eyes Co-host of ESPN’s “First Take” Stephen A. Smith, Walker is a superstar in the league and should be talked about a lot more as the headliner of the 2019 NBA Free Agent Class this summer saying on Tuesday’s edition right to all that were watching, “Ladies and gentlemen, Kemba Walker for the Charlotte Hornets has arrived. This brother is special. Special.”

“We’ve seen some of his skills before. We’ve seen some explosions but he dropped 60 against the Philadelphia 76ers and Jimmy Butler, and those boys the game before, and after that he dropped 43 on Kyrie.” 

“He’s fast. He’s quick. He’s got a nasty handle. He’s got a pull-up jay. He can dance on you in one style. He can hit the three. This dude ain’t even six-feet tall. This kid is something special and owe by the way, while we’ve been sitting around here talking about max dollars, and $200 million contracts, Kemba Walker is in the last year of a deal paying him $12 million. $12 million.” 

“Now, there is no question that Michael Jordan, Mitch Kupchak and those boys are going to take care of him. They are going to pay this man and they got to pay this man. But if by some chance he decided he wanted to leave I suggest Michael Jordan gets on the phone with him or call him into the office because he is MJ, and make sure he wants to commit to you.” 

“Because trading him ain’t gonna work because he’s only making $12 million. So, you got to talk about a sign-and-trade, and even that ain’t going to get you possibly the equitable compensation you would deserve.” 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 11/19/18 8 p.m. game San Antonio Spurs versus New Orleans Pelicans on FOX Sports New Orleans with Joel Meyers, David Wesley, and Jennifer Hale; 11/20/18 1:30 a.m. edition of “Players Only,” “Gametime,” presented by Kia with Chris Webber, Isiah Thomas, and Kevin McHale; 11/20/18 6 p.m. edition of NBATV’s “The Starters,” with Tas Melas, J.E. Skeets, Leigh Ellis, and Trey Kerby; 11/20/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Jorge Sedano, Amin Elhassan, Paul Pierce, and Richard Jefferson; www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6479/kemba-walker; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Hornets.