The Celtics have officially inked former Charlotte Hornets point guard and University of Connecticut alum Kemba Walker to a 4 year, $141 million dollar contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
In the wake of losing Kyrie Irving and center Al Horford through this year’s free agency period, Boston had a major hole to fill at the point guard position. Drafting two guards in Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters cushions the depth chart, but seeking the full-time starter was a challenge.
Walker is an eight-year veteran of Michael Jordan’s franchise in the state that holds some of college basketball’s most glorified programs. Last year Walker averaged nearly 26 points a contest and 6 assists, carrying the team on his back for the majority of his career.
The switch to Boston allows Walker to have teammates that understand how to map out the road to the championship (Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum), compared to the Hornets run of barely clinging/missing the playoffs each of his last eight seasons.
Playing in the Northeast will bring memories back, as Walker made a historic run with the University of Connecticut with former head coach and New England native Jim Calhoun. You may remember his legendary step back jumper against Pittsburgh in the 2010 Madison Square Garden game, but logging 111 career games and averaging 16 points, he gave the program everything he had during his time in Storrs.
