The NBA today announced that Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker has been selected by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as a reserve from the Eastern Conference in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game. It marks the second-consecutive NBA All-Star selection for Walker, who replaces the injured Kristaps Porzingis on Team LeBron.
Currently in his seventh season, the 27-year-old Walker is averaging 22.6 points, 5.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. He ranks ninth in the Eastern Conference in scoring and sixth among guards, trailing only Boston’s Kyrie Irving among point guards. Walker, who is shooting .846 from the free-throw line, ranks fourth in the Eastern Conference in free throws (248), third in three-point field goals (141) and ninth in field goals (383).
Originally selected by Charlotte with the ninth overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, the Connecticut product has tallied 20 points or more in 32 of his 51 games played this season, extending his franchise record to 219 career 20-point games. He reached 9,000 career points earlier this season, becoming just the second player in Hornets history to do so and only the third player from the 2011 NBA Draft class to reach the milestone, along with Irving and Golden State’s Klay Thompson.
With his current totals of 1,155 points, 297 assists, 174 rebounds and 58 steals, Walker is one of only four players in the NBA to have totaled over 1,000 points, 275 assists, 150 rebounds and 50 steals already this season, along with Houston’s James Harden, Cleveland’s LeBron James and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook. He has recorded a career-high three games with 40 points or more, most recently scoring 41 on February 2 against Indiana, and is one of only eight players in the NBA to have at least three such games this season.
Walker became Charlotte’s all-time leader in three-point field goals on February 4, surpassing the previous high of 929 by Dell Curry, and set a franchise record with nine three-point field goals in a game on January 31 at Atlanta. Along with being first in 20-point games and three-point field goals, he ranks second in franchise history in points (9,292), field goals (3,228), free throws (1,903) and assists (2,677). He ranks third in career games played (494).
Walker is only the seventh player to represent Charlotte in the NBA All-Star Game and just the fourth to do so in multiple games. The other previous All-Stars were Larry Johnson (1993 and 1995), Alonzo Mourning (1994 and 1995), Glen Rice (1996, 1997 and 1998), Eddie Jones (2000), Baron Davis (2002) and Gerald Wallace (2010).
