Charlotte Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker upset over the NBA lockout misery
Kemba Walker was one of the most promising point guards in this year’s draft. After leading his college team, the Connecticut Huskies to the NCAA title last season he was expecting to make a smooth transition into NBA this fall.
However, courtesy the NBA lockout, it was not to be.
Naturally, he is not a very happy man. The Charlotte Bobcats Rookie has seen his entry into the NBA put into jeopardy by the failure of NBA owners and players union to come to an agreement over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement
(CBA).
The point guard, who was declared as NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player, explained his lockout h**l in a recent interview given to Washington Times. Walker said that the waiting game due to the lockout has been
tough for him. The lockout means he is not able to speak with team officials, nor is he able to acclimatize to the roster. He just wants the season to start,
“Angry,” was the key word as Walker went on.
“I’m angry because I can’t do anything. I can’t talk to my team, I can’t talk to my coaching staff and start learning things from them, I can’t get involved with the team at all. It pretty much [stinks].”
Walker said he has seen other players come into NBA over the years and knows that the experience is one to savour. He also knows that going gets tougher in NBA and he will have to work hard. All he wants though is a chance to play.
“I would like to get acclimated to the NBA game. I know there’s a big difference from college to the NBA, so not getting a chance to learn, it’s pretty hard.”
Another aspect of Walker’s troubles is the fact that to date, he has not been given an NBA contract. The player left college last season, knowing that life is about to get a whole lot rosy from a financial point of view.
However, the NBA franchises do not hand out contracts to the Rookies in June, the month in which the draft is held. And on 1st July, the league went into a lockout. This means that Walker, like the rest of the Rookie
class of 2011, are still without contracts and in the meantime do not really have many other venues to raise some cash.
Some of the bigger names in the draft, like Kyrie Irving who went to the Cleveland Cavaliers, or Derrick Williams, drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves as the 2nd overall pick, have made some money through endorsements
and exhibition tours abroad. But, for most of the Rookies including Walker, these are hard and uncertain times.
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