Kemba Hudley Walker is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for
the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association. Walker was drafted ninth overall
by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 NBA draft. Walker grew up in The Bronx, New York and
graduated from Rice High School in 2008. Walker played college basketball for the Connecticut
men's basketball team. In the 2010–11 season, Walker was unanimously selected for the All-Big
East first team, Walker was the 2nd leading college basketball scorer in the United States
and lead the Huskies to the 2011 Big East championship and 2011 NCAA championship and
was named as the tournament's most outstanding player for both championships.
High school career Walker attended Rice High School in Harlem,
New York. In his junior year, Walker played against Simeon Career Academy and senior guard
Derrick Rose in Madison Square Garden in a 53–51 win. During Walker's senior year he
averaged 18.2 points per game and 5.3 assists per game, earning him a spot on the prestigious
McDonald's All-American Team. Walker played for the New York Gauchos AAU basketball program
with fellow Big East players Jordan Theodore, Darryl "Truck" Bryant, Devin Hill, and Danny
Jennings. The team went on to finish #1 in the nation. Following high school he agreed
to play for the University of Connecticut. College career
Freshman Year During his freshman year at UConn, Walker
played in every game and was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team. He helped the Huskies
achieve a number one seed in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Despite starting in only two games
he averaged 25.5 minutes per game, far more than any regular non-starter. He also helped
the Huskies go to the 2009 Final Four with a 23 point effort in the Elite Eight vs Missouri.
Sophomore Year Walker played and started all 34 games in
2009-2010 season. He contributed 14.6 points per game and led the Huskies in scoring for
the eight times in the last nine games of the season with 18 points at Virginia Tech.
Walker was named First Team USBWA All-District. Connecticut earned a 4 seed in 2010 National
Invitation Tournament, but fell short to Virginia Tech as the Huskies finished a disappointing
season going 18-16 in conference play. Junior Year
Walker rose to national prominence in his junior year, twelve games into his junior
campaign, Walker was the nation's leading scorer, averaging 26.7 points per game. In
addition, he averaged five rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Walker appeared on one of
the six regional covers Sports Illustrated. In the 2011 Big East Tournament, Walker hit
the game winning shot as time expired to beat #3 overall Pittsburgh and advance UConn to
the semi-finals. He led UConn to victory over University of Louisville in the Big East Championship
game and was named MVP for the tournament. Walker scored 130 points in five games, a
Big East Tournament record and the most points scored in any conference tournament in the
past 15 seasons. UConn became the first school to win five games in five days to earn a conference
championship. On March 14, 2011, The United States Basketball
Writers Association named Walker a first team All-American. He was picked to the Second
Team All-America by Fox Sports. He was also a finalist for College Basketball Player of
the Year honors due to his performance in the 2010-11 season. Although he finished second,
two journalists thought that Walker was the best player in college basketball that year.
Walker was named the winner of the Bob Cousy Award for the top point guard in the nation.
On April 4, 2011 Walker led the University of Connecticut with 16 points in winning the
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, and was named the NCAA Basketball Tournament
Most Outstanding Player. Walker was added to the Huskies of Honor upon the team's return
from Houston at a pep rally to celebrate the National Title. He became the first men's
basketball player to receive the honor since inaugural class was announced in December
2006. College statistics
College Awards & Honors NCAA champion
Bob Cousy Award Lute Olson Award
NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player Consensus first team All-American
Big East Tournament MVP NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team
Maui Invitational Tournament MVP All-Big East First Team
All-Big East Third Team All-Big East Rookie Team
NBA career Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats
2011–12 season
Walker announced that he would leave UConn to enter the 2011 NBA Draft on April 12. Walker
was selected 9th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. Walker signed a
Multi-Year shoe deal with Under Armour, the first rookie from the 2011 Draft Class to
do so. On December 11, 2011, he signed the rookie
scale contract with the Bobcats, and with the injury of point guard D. J. Augustin,
he became their starting point guard. On January 28, 2012, in a home game against the Washington
Wizards he achieved his first triple-double with 20 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds,
joining Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson as the only Bobcats in team history to record
one. Walker participated in the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend.
2012–13 season On January 21, 2013, Walker scored a career-high
35 points against the Houston Rockets. During the 2012-13 season, Walker was selected with
teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to the 2013 Rising Stars Challenge. Walker scored 8 points.
Kemba finished the 2012-13 season with averages of 17.7 points, 5.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds,
and 2 steals a game. He took significant strides over his rookie year.
2013–14 season On December 9, 2013, Walker tied a season
high 31 points in a 115-111 win over the Golden State Warriors. On December 18, 2013, he hit
a buzzer-beating jump shot over Jonas Valančiūnas in overtime to beat the Toronto Raptors. He
finished the night with 26 points and 5 rebounds on 10/18 shooting from the field. On February
24, 2014, it was announced that Walker had won Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
He averaged 22.5 points, 8.8 assists, and 5.5 rebounds during the week. In a home victory
against the Orlando Magic on April 4, 2014, Walker recorded his second career triple-double
with 13 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds. Walker had a stellar game four in the Eastern
Conference Playoffs first round against the Miami Heat with teammate Al Jefferson unable
to play due to a Plantar fasciitis injury. He finished the game with a playoff franchise
high 29 points along with 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. The effort came in
a loss as the Heat completed a four game sweep of the Bobcats.
2014–15 season In the newly-renamed Charlotte Hornets' opening
game against the Milwaukee Bucks on October 29, 2014, Walker led an impressive comeback
in an overtime 108-106 victory. The Hornets were 24 points down by the fourth quarter
before staging a comeback; Walker scored a three-point shot with 1.6 seconds remaining
to force overtime before hitting the game winning shot as well. He finished the game
with 26 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds. The following day, he signed a four-year,
$48 million contract extension with the Hornets. NBA career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Personal Walker is the son of Paul and Andrea Walker.
His mother is a Crucian, raised in Antigua of Antiguan parentage, and his father is Antiguan.
He has two brothers Akil and Keya and one sister Sharifa.
Walker is also a dancer. He performed three times at the Apollo Theater for the TV show
Showtime at the Apollo. On June 21, 2011, Walker released a mixtape
in collaboration with DJ Skee and Skee Sports. The mixtape features songs inspired by and
inspiring to Walker. References
External links Career statistics and player information from
NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com Official website
UConn Huskies bio