WALTHAM — Playing for coach Bob Huggins wasn’t exactly a warm and fuzzy experience, but Celtics rookie Bill Walker’s lips are sealed.
“I can’t incriminate him like that,” he said with a smile.
A torn left ACL ended the 6-foot-6, 220-pound swingman’s first season (2006-07) at Kansas State, but that didn’t save him from Huggy Bear’s wrath.
“I have a thick head,” said Walker, who tore his right ACL in high school. “I’ve been cussed at, yelled at, had to run. I’m pretty much used to it.”
He redshirted the rest of 2006-07, and came back to team with first overall pick Michael Beasley (sans Huggins, who moved on to West Virginia) last season. After averaging 16.1 points (fifth in the Big 12) and 6.3 rebounds (10th), the Washington Wizards snagged him in the second round (47th overall) of last June’s draft. They then sent him to Boston for cash.
I’m far from the first person to say this, but the 21-year-old will contribute this year. Come on, he wears a headband and has a tattoo of a crucifix that says “Sky Walker” on it. He has to be good.
He did slightly tear his meniscus during a June workout, likely keeping him from being a lottery pick. Three months later, after the third knee surgery of his basketball career, he said his legs are feeling strong. They’re going to have to be over the next few weeks.
He should be ready for Doc Rivers after surviving Huggins.
“Doc’s been more reserved right now,” Walker said, comparing the two. “I haven’t really seen him in action. But you never know.”
A couple more things you should know about Mr. Sky Walker:
-Was a high school teammate of O.J. Mayo at North College Hill in Cincinnati.
-Scored 31 points twice at Kansas State. The second time, he and Beasley combined for 75 of the Wildcats’ 86 points in a 92-86 loss to Baylor on Feb. 23.
-Last season, he was caught on camera, um, doing something he probably shouldn’t have been doing.
From Grant Wahl’s SI.com mailbag:
“My husband and I were talking about college basketball the other night and he said that recently during a game, Kansas State’s Bill Walker had to go to the bathroom but didn’t want to leave the game, so he just stuffed some towels down his pants and went. Ok, so my first thought is “EW. I do NOT want to be the assistant he gives those towels to.” And my second thought was: “My 6-year-old knows better than that — go before the game!” Am I wrong? Is this common practice among college basketball players? Is this an appropriate question for the Mailbag?
– Lauren Kaiser, Leawood, Kan.
It’s a perfectly appropriate question for the ‘Bag, who (when sick at a Final Four game several years ago) threw up into plastic cup while sitting courtside — and managed to do so without anyone noticing. Bill Walker wasn’t so lucky (a Kansas City Star photographer caught him in the act), but as long as it doesn’t become a common thing I don’t have a huge problem with it. First time I’ve seen it happen in college hoops; it’s said to happen in the NFL a lot, and a TV camera at the 2002 soccer World Cup caught U.S. midfielder DaMarcus Beasley relieving himself on the field as he warmed up on the sidelines during a game. At least (unlike Beasley) Walker kept his experience from being X-rated. Let’s just hope that sideline urination doesn’t become this year’s college hoops “trend” like jersey-popping was a couple years ago.”
-He’s a nasty dunker. Check him out on youtube here, here and here.
