Kemba Walker is about to embark on a new journey. For the first time in his prolific NBA career, the All-Star guard will not suit up for the Charlotte Hornets. Instead, following a move this past offseason, Walker is headed to Boston, where he’ll be given the keys to a Celtics team that has high hopes after last year’s somewhat shambolic campaign.
While Boston isn’t viewed as the title contender that they were at this point last year, they’re still expected to be a very good team in the top-heavy Eastern Conference. For Walker, who has never really been in that situation for a myriad of reasons during his tenure in Charlotte, this is a new and exciting feeling.
Walker sat down recently with Shams Charania of The Athletic to discuss his move. While he made it clear that leaving the only city in which he’s called home during his pro career was “difficult,” Walker is ready for this new challenge, one which comes with somewhat unfamiliar territory.
“I haven’t wrapped my mind around contending at this high level,” Walker told The Athletic. “It doesn’t even sound right. I’ve been with the Hornets for eight years, and maybe one time we had some expectations. Maybe just one season; seven-, six-seed or something.
“This year, there will be expectations — and I’m excited. I don’t know how to feel, I’ve never had this feeling.”
Charlotte made the postseason twice during Walker’s tenure, getting knocked out in the first round in 2014 and 2016. While this Celtics squad is not perfect, it still has more than enough talent to finish in the top-half of the Eastern Conference and get Walker a little deeper into the playoffs for the first time in his career. This quote isn’t nearly as much a slight against the Hornets as it is an endorsement of what he faces in Boston, and if Walker’s lucky, his hopes of living up to these newfound expectations will come to fruition soon.
