After a stint in Lithuania, former fan-favorite Lonnie Walker IV is back in town to face the Spurs
Lonnie Walker IV woke up one day last month to find himself playing basketball on Mars . Well, not Mars specifically. But in Walker’s mind, Lithuania felt about as close to the NBA as the fourth rock from the sun.
“I put myself in a very uncomfortable situation,” said Walker, a former first-round draft pick of the Spurs. “Just to become a better man on and off the court.” There was, of course, a reason beyond mere self-actualization that brought Walker to play for the club team in the middle-sized town of Kaunas, Lithuania. It was a job. Walker was back in the Frost Bank Center on Friday as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. Much has changed since he left San Antonio at the end of the 2021-22 season. READ MORE: Flavor of Mamu: Mamukelashvili's career night the stuff of Spurs legend After the Spurs let Walker walk, the mercurial 6-foot-4 guard spent one season alongside LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the rebuilding Brooklyn Nets. Neither opportunity stuck. Cut from training camp in Boston last fall, Walker briefly considered an invitation to join the Celtics’ G League squad in Maine. He ultimately opted for an offer on the other side of the world. The tradeoff in playing for Zalagiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian league was clear. It paid better than the G League, but it would take him further away from the NBA. “It was honestly one of the more important parts of my young adult life,” the 26-year-old Walker told reporters in Philadelphia. “Being so far from home, you have a lot of time of solitude, a lot of time of just looking at yourself in the mirror and holding yourself accountable.” Meanwhile, those who knew Walker in San Antonio never lost track of him as he hopscotched the globe. Selected 18th overall in 2018, Walker arrived with the designation as the Spurs’ highest drafted player since Tim Duncan. It is a label several others would surpass in the years since. At the time, it meant Walker alighted in San Antonio amid an outsized dose of hoopla. He became a fixture around town, instantly recognizable at H-E-B or his favorite taco shops. Playing for a Spurs team at the time caught in the uncomfortable purgatory between contending and rebuilding, Walker’s career never quite achieved liftoff. READ MORE: Next few weeks crucial for Spurs' Blake Wesley He averaged 11.2 points in his third season and a career-best 12.1 in his fourth, after which the Spurs declined to re-sign him to a new contract. Thus began the nomad’s journey that led Walker to Lithuania. “There’s a lot of guys that wouldn’t go to Lithuania, with no promises and nothing really to show for it,” said Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson, who was on staff when Walker was drafted. “He just wanted to play basketball and prove that he was good enough to get back in this league. That’s exactly what he has done.” Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell are the only members of the Spurs roster still around from Walker’s time with the team. Johnson said he continues to exchange regular texts with Walker. “He was part of the family here,” Johnson said. Walker went to Lithuania with the expectation of sticking out a full season. When the NBA came unexpectedly calling again, the message initially went to voicemail. Walker was asleep when his agent called to inform him of the 76ers’ offer. “I missed like 30 calls,” he said. A few days later, Walker was headed home – literally. A native of Reading, Penn., Walker grew up an 80-minute drive from the Wells Fargo Center, where the Sixers play their home games. Walker would be lying if he said he grew up dreaming playing for Zalagiris Kaunas. He did, however, grow up fantasizing of becoming the next Jrue Holiday or Andre Iguodala. “It’s surreal,” Walker said. Of course, Walker’s triumphant return wouldn’t be complete without more speed bumps. Heading into Friday, Walker had appeared in 10 games with Philadelphia and was averaging 8.1 points – including a 25-point effort against Utah and 17 against Boston. A frightening fall 20 seconds into his first shift of a March 12 loss at Toronto left Walker with a concussion. He missed the Sixers’ next four games, but was listed as probable for Friday’s meeting with the Spurs. One way or another, members of the Spurs were looking forward to seeing their well-traveled former teammate. “I’m extremely proud of Lonnie,” Keldon Johnson said. “Everyone’s path is different. To see him come back here and still playing at a high level, it shows you he’s capable of playing basketball anywhere.” Between Mars or Philadelphia, however, there is no question which basketball home Walker prefers. “This is for sure a full-circle moment in my career,” Walker said. “I’m just truly blessed to be here.”
NBA Zalagiris Kaunas Philadelphia 76Ers Mamu: Mamukelashvili Celtics' G League Los Angeles Lakers Brooklyn Nets Lonnie Walker IV Mitch Johnson Keldon Johnson Lebron James Tim Duncan Blake Wesley He Devin Vassell Jrue Holiday Andre Iguodala Lonnie Lithuania Mars Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia Kaunas Boston Frost Bank Center San Antonio Maine Utah Toronto Reading Penn. H-E-B
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