FanHouse BillWalker

Besides being known as the reigning World Champions (apologies, Pop), this incarnation of the Boston Celtics is recognized as being a team that likes to talk a lot of trash to their opponents. Kevin Garnett is the biggest culprit, although he arguably spends just as much time screaming things to no one in particular. So we'll set the most recent example of his antics aside and let him slide for now.

The problem isn't so much with the team's stars that can, you know, actually back up what they're saying with their performance on the court. It's that the lesser known players on the team (I'm looking at you, Kendrick Perkins) can't resist joining in the fun, and that's what has players on opposing teams and the Celtics' own head coach upset.

After Boston's win over the Knicks, Quentin Richardson was less than thrilled with what he was hearing from some of the Celtics, and seemed like he wanted to step outside with a few of them to further discuss what they had to say.

"I'll just be real curious to see what a lot of those guys would say if we weren't in a basketball arena where there ain't no referees and the NBA officials are going to stop certain things," he said. "I mean, it wouldn't be the same story. They are the world champions and rah-rah-rah. But I mean, the tough talk, I don't buy."

Doc Rivers would also like to see less trash talk from his team. Not so much from Garnett, because that's who he is, and who he's been his entire career. But definitely from a role player like Perkins.

A little while back, I showed you the video of Celtics' rookie Bill Walker mixing it up with Tracy McGrady, and made my thoughts on his multiple preseason altercations with stars in the league crystal clear: I did not approve. To recap briefly, it's simply unnecessary for a rookie to start first quarter fights with the opposing team or taunt the best player in the NBA after a simple slam dunk.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that Walker's over-the-top behavior was inappropriate, and some others wrote about it with a similar sentiment (albeit with a more PG-13 headline). This is where the beauty of ESPN merging local content with their own on the site's player profile pages comes into play.

Via Basketbawful, here's a screen grab of what Bill Walker's profile page on the Worldwide Leader's site used to look like. Which, unfortunately for the Disney-owned corporation, splashes the previously mentioned PG-13 headline right under his bio information in bold letters for all to see. It's since been corrected, but for a quick trip back in time to this hilarious error, the picture is after the jump.

We're barely three games into the pre-season, and I'm already tired of hearing the name Bill Walker. It's not that I don't appreciate the youngster's talents, because I do: he's clearly got some skills or he wouldn't be on the court for the World Champs, even in these exhibitions. What needs to stop though is the unnecessary taunting of legitimate NBA All-Stars after making plays that might have been spectacular at Kansas State, but are simply average at the NBA level.

Walker gave LeBron James an unnecessary shove after a mediocre dunk the other day, then took exception to getting knocked down by Tracy McGrady after he had delivered a hard foul to T-Mac on the other end first. Video, via BDL.


Apparently things stayed heated throughout the game, with Yao getting into it with Walker later and Paul Pierce and Ron Artest getting down as well.

Dude, it's pre-season, and you're a rookie. Stop starting brawls in the first quarter and show a little respect, my man. Unless of course, being an unlikeable front-runner with an imaginary chip on your shoulder is a pre-requisite for making the team. In which case, I completely understand ... especially when that team is the Celtics.

Bill Walker has had a few dunks worthy of notice this preseason, including this jam last night against Cleveland.



The offensive rebound and dunk were fantastic. The guttural plea for attention was cool, I'm with it. Kevin Garnett's with it. But shoving The Chosen One, making sure LeBron knows you got him? Calm down, youngster. The dunk wasn't that good, and you've got a long way to go before you can even think of sniffing the strap of King James. Respect your elders, man.

Via Green Bandwagon. Walker's previous preseason jam below the fold.

The first 30 picks of the 2008 NBA Draft are in the ledger, with first-round type players including DeAndre Jordan, Mario Chalmers, Bill Walker and Chris Douglas-Roberts still on the board. There were not as many trades as we expected based on a crazy, crazy week, but one team made its presence known ... for the third straight year.

Two years ago, Portland turned the #4 pick, Theo Ratliff and Sebastian Telfair into Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Last year, the Blazers netted Greg Oden, Channing Frye, Rudy Fernandez and the surgical removal of the wart known as Zach Randolph. This year? Portland ended the first round with Jerryd Bayless and Darrell Arthur -- a guy previously slated to go top-4 and a lottery guy who fell to #27. Simply ridiculous. [UPDATE: Apparently, Arthur and a Portland second-rounder are going to Houston for Nicolas Batum, whom Portland can safely stash in France.]

Kevin Pritchard runs this thing, people. I joked a few days ago that Paul Allen could buy a European club and field a second team with all the talent he has the rights to. It's really not out of the realm of possibilities now, though.

Other first round highlights, after the jump.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

I'm sure the Celtics staff spent the entirety of this weekend watching tape of Jason Thompson and Sonny Weems. I'm absolutely sure of it.

Picks: #30, #60.

Needs: What's a champ need? Well, if P.J. Brown and Scot Pollard are shrugging back toward retirement, a suitable big taller than 6'9 (sorry Leon Powe, Glen Davis) might be in order. Assuming James Posey and/or Eddie House get rich, another guard could be useful.

Best case scenario: Chris Douglas-Roberts would be Heaven-sent at #30. Ryan Anderson would be a potential Omega to the bench bruiserism of Powe and Baby.

FanHouse's NBA Frankenstein, in which we describe how draft prospects were created. Introducing: George W. Bush's political appointee to the Office of Tecumseh's Curse, Bill Walker.



Liner notes: Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs; Vince Carter's 1999 New Year's resolutions; an extra-large jalapeno and linguica from that spot in Williamsburg, you know which one I'm talking about!; an unpublished collection of blue jokes written by the stoner half-brother of Mary Lou Retton; Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain in tinny earbuds.

Photos by Getty Images. Assemblage by Ziller.

With all the name going around about who was staying in the NBA Draft and who was going back to school ... there were a few names that may not be as household that are keeping their names in the draft.

Some may have made a mistake. Just as Josh McRoberts, JamesOn Curry, Von Wafer and Alex Acker made mistakes in the past few seasons ... some could be doing the same now.

Guys like UCLA's Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Mbah a Moute probably won't be drafted (and if he is, it will be very late in the second round). If he had stayed in school, he could have become the rare guy to go to four Final Fours in his career. Despite losing some big-time talent, the Bruins still have a good shot at getting back.

Or there is USC's Davon Jefferson who probably won't be drafted either. Jefferson left school as a freshman and almost immediately signed with an agent. He made this move without even discussing it with the Trojans' coaching staff. When they have "testing the water" discussions in the future, they might want to have him talk to the class.

How about IUPUI's George Hill? Ya know, good ol' George? No? Yeah, he didn't have a household name or, really, no hype around him to warrant heading into the draft. He may not have the skill, either. He probably will be drafted, but not until the second half of the second round.

Mississippi State's Jamont Gordon really never had a second thought about coming back to school. I mean, he may go late in the second round. Not bad for a guy that no one knows what position he'll play.

In unsurprising news, Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo and Alabama's Ronald Steele have taken their names out of the NBA draft and will return to school.

Today is the deadline for underclassmen who still have their eligibility to pull their names out of the draft. UAB's Robert Vaden already has, Joe Alexander, Mario Chalmers and Bill Walker are staying in the draft. Reports also have UNC's Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green returning to school.

Neither Pargo or Steele were looked at as first round locks ... but were entering into their final collegiate seasons and had nothing to lose by testing the waters. Pargo was projected to be a second round pick had he stayed and got a long of feedback on his game during this process.

Gonzaga should be a top 10-15 team next season.

Steele is a bit more interesting. He is a redshirt senior who missed all of last season with a knee injury and really wanted to just get his name out there. He even worked out for the Charlotte Bobcats this morning before filing the paperwork that took his name out of the draft.

Now Alabama is waiting on work from Richard Hendrix, a junior forward, and his intentions. He, like Steele, has not signed with an agent and has until 5 p.m. ET today to pull his name out of the draft.

Despite suffering a tough knee injury yesterday that may have pushed him out of the first round of the NBA Draft, Kansas State's Bill Walker is deciding to stay in the draft.

Kansas State Wildcats redshirt freshman Bill Walker will remain in the NBA draft despite injuring his right knee at a workout over the weekend, his advisor, Chris Rivers said Monday afternoon.

Rivers, the director of basketball at Reebok, said that an MRI taken Monday didn't reveal a tear of the MCL or the ACL, which was feared when Walker heard a pop prior to working out for 21 teams at the Golden State Warriors' practice facility in Oakland.

This is huge news for Kansas State, which will lose both Walker and Michael Beasley to the NBA and most likely end the latest Golden Era in Manhattan.

With this news, it shows that Walker not only believes that he is a first round pick, but that his knee is also healthy. Many feel that the Detroit Pistons (who pick 29th) may have guaranteed Walker they'd take him there (it is a need they have) and may have pushed Walker's decision to stay.