Rookie practices patience
Popovich applauds Walker’s learning process while playing in Austin
Lonnie Walker IV didn’t grow up dreaming of raining down jumpers in front of sparse crowds at the HEB Center in Cedar Park.
In his childhood playground fantasies, when the imaginary clock in his head ticked toward zero, the Hail Marys he launched were not to beat the likes of the Sioux Falls SkyForce or the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Walker — like every wannabe pro before him — pined to be an NBA player, not a G-League one.
It is only lately Walker has begun to accept he might have to be the latter for a while before he can become the former.
“When you think of going up to the G-League, some people see it as a bad thing,” said Walker, the tantalizing 20-year-old guard the Spurs tabbed with the 18th pick in the June draft. “But it’s really a good thing, trying to improve your skills and continue to get better.”
Walker admits his rookie season isn’t going exactly how he planned.
He has appeared in only seven NBA games, and has logged only two minutes since Feb. 26.
Tuesday in Dallas, Walker sat diligently on the bench for 48 minutes, soaking in the Spurs’
sixth straight victory, a 112-105 win over the Mavericks.
The University of Miami product has spent the bulk of his rookie campaign with the Spurs’ G-League in Austin, where he has made 25 appearances, averaging 16.3 points and occasionally showing flashes of why the team remain so high on him. He has also shown flashes of how far he still has to go to.
“I’m just learning to be consistent, and putting emphasis on my defensive side,” Walker said. “I’m still continuing to learn more than enough and I’m more than happy with that.”
What Walker has learned the most as a rookie, as he shuttles up and down Interstate-35, is patience.
The Spurs view the G-League as an important step in getting rookies ready to compete in the NBA. Few first-year players see much of the AT&T Center floor without first putting in extensive time in Austin.
Walker need only look at the Spurs’ starting lineup for examples of G-League success stories. The team’s starting point guard (Derrick White) and shooting guard (Bryn Forbes) both spent ample time in the G-League before assuming those roles this season.
Reserve forward Davis Bertans, a key member of the Spurs’ bench rotation, is another G-League alum, as is Dejounte Murray, who would have been the team’s starting point guard if not for a preseason knee injury.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich envisions a similar career arc for Walker.
“I don’t think he probably liked it in the beginning, because everybody who comes out of college and is drafted things they’re going to go in there and blaze it up,” Popovich said. “He’s intelligent enough to realize that getting his fundamentals down, expanding his game a little bit, becoming a little more solid and understanding a role will help him next season.”
More and more, it’s looking like “wait until next year” is the mantra when it comes to Walker making waves at the NBA level.
Through no fault of his own, Walker arrived in San Antonio as ballyhooed as any rookie since perhaps Kawhi Leonard in 2011. He came via the Spurs’ highest original draft pick since Tim Duncan went No. 1 overall in 1997.
With big hair, an outsized personality and jawdropping athleticism seldom seen in San Antonio, Walker captured fans’ imagination even before he stepped on the floor.
On Jan. 3, Walker made his long-awaited NBA debut after missing the start of the season recovering from a torn meniscus in his right knee. He played five minutes of the fourth quarter in a blowout victory over Toronto.
The AT&T Center began chanting his name the moment he checked in.
More than two months later, Walker remains a tad sheepish about the moment.
“I definitely heard it,” Walker said. “But I’m still a rookie. I’m still working my way. I’ve got to block all that out, earn Pop’s trust and gain minutes day-by-day the best I can.”
Walker has made only spot NBA appearances since. His best came in a Jan. 26 win at New Orleans, when Walker logged 15 minutes, scored seven points, grabbed five rebounds and a steal.
Any chance Walker had of earning a regular rotation spot as a rookie probably ended the night of Oct. 5.
At the end of an otherwise meaningless preseason game against Detroit, Walker limped off after something gave in his knee.
It was the second time Walker had torn meniscus in his right knee, having suffered the same injury the summer before his lone collegiate season at Miami.
Surgery and the ensuing rehabilitation kept Walker off anybody’s basketball court until late December.
Walker missed the majority of his first NBA training camp and preseason, and wasn’t available to practice until after Christmas. It doomed his bid of cracking the Spurs’ rotation.
“It might have happened a little quicker for him maybe, and he might even be part of what we’re doing now, but that injury really held him back,” Popovich said. “He lost a lot of time.”
As it stands, fellow Spurs rookies Chimezie Metu, the team’s secondround pick, and Drew Eubanks, who went undrafted, have logged more NBA time this season than Walker.
That doesn’t mean Walker’s rookie season has been a total wash.
Just ask White, who says he would not be prepared for his new role as the Spurs’ point guard if not for time served in the G-League.
“It doesn’t do you any good to sit if you’re not going to get (NBA) minutes,” White said. “It’s a big jump from college to the G-League. It’s a bigger jump to the NBA. Getting those reps and that experience in the G-League, it’s a big step.”
On Jan. 5, two nights after making his NBA debut against the Raptors, Walker was back in Austin for a G-League game.
He scored 34 points, his professional high, making 12 of 22 shots in a loss to the Memphis Hustle.
“It just shows that I can play,” Walker said. “I have the talent, the ability to score and play defense at a high level. I’ve just got to keep it consistent.”
Walker might have to wait until next season to prove that on an NBA court. And, at last, that is OK with him.