Last Night Showed How Fortunate The Celtics Are To Have Kemba Walker
Last night, the Boston Celtics took on the Charlotte Hornets. However, this wasn’t any ordinary November 7th regular season game. No, it wasn’t because the Celtics were playing old friend Terry Rozier. It was because Kemba Walker was returning to where it all began. Walker played for the Bobcats/Hornets for the first seven years of his career before joining the Celtics this past off-season. If there were any doubts about whether Kemba would be cheered or booed by Charlotte fans, let this video erase them for you.
A tribute video and standing ovation for Kemba Walker in Charlotte 👏 pic.twitter.com/FhaNnE1rET
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 8, 2019
The Celtics cruised to a 108-87 win over the Hornets last night, but that wasn’t the biggest story of the night. It was all about Kemba Walker from the start of the night to the end of it. Walker finished the game with 14 points and six assists. But beyond the box score, we as Celtics fans need to realize something. We’re truly blessed to have such a remarkable human being in Kemba Walker, for many reasons.
His Leadership
We knew coming in that people had nothing but good things to say about Kemba. People around the NBA described Kemba as a leader, a guy that is genuinely happy when his teammates perform well. For example:
.@tvabby caught up with Tatum after his game-winning shot vs the Knicks pic.twitter.com/1pqI2bUAUx
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 2, 2019
Look at how happy Walker is for Tatum when he hit the game-winning shot against the Knicks! If that’s last season under a certain other point guard, that amount of happiness is nowhere to be found. Kemba is different. He realizes he has a lot of talent around him and doesn’t have to be perfect every night. He can lead in other ways such as on the defensive end of the floor. Kemba is the perfect leader for this current Celtics team.
His Involvement In The Community
I asked Kemba Walker how it was to catch up with the kids he mentored in the community before the game: #Hornets #AllFly pic.twitter.com/c01yVXTuyb
— Jack Duffy (@JackDuffyTPL) November 8, 2019
Whether it was eating dinner with the fans or doing projects around the community, Kemba Walker was involved off of the court. He truly cared about the city of Charlotte. Walker wanted to help his community in any way possible and it shows. Imagine having Kemba Walker as your mentor? Talk about a match made in heaven! The point is that Kemba wanted to do as much as he could for the city of Charlotte. The love was clearly shown through all of the applause received before last night’s game.
In Conclusion
That’s the way a fan base should treat a star that did everything the right way. Hornets fans can’t blame Kemba for going to a winning team with a chance to potentially win a title before his career ends. Will Terry Rozier get that type of reception when he returns to Boston? There’s a very realistic chance he could! But, let’s just acknowledge that Kemba is the perfect guy to have for this Celtics team and we’re glad he is with us now. When Kyrie Irving comes to town…that’ll have a much different reaction with this Boston crowd.
-Alan Nahigian (@BigAl2793)