Speaker 1: I'm Tari's Mike Si and you're listening to the seventy
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Speaker 2: They'll go ring the insurance company's bell. Lonnie Walker, the
Speaker 2: fourth of the Philadelphia seventy six Ers, Sir, has that
Speaker 2: set in yet.
Speaker 1: I'm still processing it. Very surreal moment, especially you know,
Speaker 1: coming from Pennsylvania. So it's been a blessing.
Speaker 2: You know, to say the least, reading you always give
Speaker 2: back oftentimes in your NBA off seasons. I mean, you've
Speaker 2: been on multiple teams now, but I don't know how
Speaker 2: much planning you've done. But what might this summer look
Speaker 2: like for you back in Redding now that you're part
Speaker 2: of the hometown NBA team.
Speaker 1: Man, I've been having a whole bunch of ideas flowing,
Speaker 1: just trying to stay president as far as the season.
Speaker 1: But for the most part, you know, I have a
Speaker 1: couple camps coming up as far as being back home,
Speaker 1: a couple of drives, a couple giveaways as far as
Speaker 1: for schools and things of that nature. So we have
Speaker 1: a couple of good things planned. You know. I also
Speaker 1: plan on starting another court as far as fixing another
Speaker 1: court back home. So just little increments day to day,
Speaker 1: just trying to influence and motivate the next gen.
Speaker 2: Over the years, your phrase has been I'm just a kid.
Speaker 2: From reading the phrase on the back of the shirts
Speaker 2: at the camp has been Redding made me? Was that
Speaker 2: your idea to have that on there?
Speaker 1: Absolutely? I have great pride with home being from red
Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania. You know, that's what made me who I
Speaker 1: am and what shaped me up to be who I am.
Speaker 1: I'm forever grateful for that and for the kids living there.
Speaker 1: I know what it's like to live in Reading, you know,
Speaker 1: I know the harsh realities and some of the things
Speaker 1: that we go through. So to be able to help
Speaker 1: those kids out, just to sow that, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: human too. You know, if I can make it, you
Speaker 1: can make it. And just instilling that motivational and inspiration
Speaker 1: It's something that I will forever do for the rest
Speaker 1: of my life.
Speaker 2: Your father, Lonnie Walker, the third played at Albernia, which
Speaker 2: is in Reading. I bring up your dad the box
Speaker 2: jumps story of like you would end up practice or
Speaker 2: on an off day in between schoolwork and all box
Speaker 2: jumps were part of your routine, hundreds of them and
Speaker 2: it led to you being able to dunk at a
Speaker 2: super young age. So the story goes that you first
Speaker 2: dunked in sixth grade. What was the reaction to that
Speaker 2: from yourself, from the people in the game.
Speaker 1: You know what's so crazy about that is it was
Speaker 1: actually for like a youth sixers tournament, so it was
Speaker 1: a game previous before we played on the sixers gym
Speaker 1: for the championship game. I got my first dunk during
Speaker 1: like a seventy six ers tournament, which is kind of crazy.
Speaker 1: You know. So leading up to that moment, I've just
Speaker 1: been trying just room grazing, you know, getting just just
Speaker 1: close enough where it's kind of like remnant in and out.
Speaker 1: Had a fast break dunk going from the left side,
Speaker 1: left wing, and you know, being a left foot dunker
Speaker 1: kind of sworn off to the right. It worked in
Speaker 1: my favor. And from that point on, I just kept
Speaker 1: on trying and it just got easier and easier and easier.
Speaker 2: Did you get another dunk at the Sixers Arena?
Speaker 1: No, I tried and I missed it actually, which is
Speaker 1: pretty crazy. Yeah, I actually missed. I remember because my
Speaker 1: friends were talking to like, if you would have made it,
Speaker 1: I would have been so mad, you know. So for sure,
Speaker 1: a surreal moment. I think it just goes to show,
Speaker 1: you know, the amount of sacrifice. You know, my father
Speaker 1: kind of instilled and showed in me as far as
Speaker 1: you know, being the youth and what it takes to
Speaker 1: whether it's jumping or just being one of the best players.
Speaker 1: You know, you got to put in a lot of the.
Speaker 2: Work, and he helped instill a lot of structure with
Speaker 2: the work academically as well, the stories about you having
Speaker 2: to spend a certain amount of time practicing reading and writing.
Speaker 2: I think in the autograph footage I've seen of you signing,
Speaker 2: now you sign left handed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you shoot right handed?
Speaker 2: Right handed? Yeah, that's not that normal. But you know what,
Speaker 2: Jared McCain does that really too, which I noticed. I'm
Speaker 2: lefty through and through, but I would I shoot left handed, okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: and I write left handed. But have you always done
Speaker 2: both of those things with those hands?
Speaker 1: Yeah? For as as far as I can remember, my
Speaker 1: dad was left handed, so I think growing up are
Speaker 1: really imitating a lot of things that he'd done. During
Speaker 1: the summers. He used to only make me use my
Speaker 1: left hand as far as eating and writing, and I
Speaker 1: think it just became second nature from me, you know,
Speaker 1: And it was just a lot of things that were challenging.
Speaker 1: My father used to put me in, like uncomfortable situations
Speaker 1: as far as like growing and understanding it's not always
Speaker 1: going to be easy, and you know, using my left
Speaker 1: hand was actually something that we worked on a lot,
Speaker 1: and it kind of just in my favor.
Speaker 2: Reading High The Red Knights twenty seventeen. It was their
Speaker 2: first state championship Class six A. How was the atmosphere
Speaker 2: for those games, because I heard it was like one
Speaker 2: of those things where the whole town comes out.
Speaker 1: It was like no other. I mean every game was
Speaker 1: sold out. I'm pretty sure that we hold the Giant
Speaker 1: Center record as far as most most crowd, as far
Speaker 1: as most people attending. That year was just nostalgic, you know,
Speaker 1: coming from Redding, we have a lot of pride. I
Speaker 1: mean we have over two thousand wins during that time.
Speaker 1: We were like first in the East Coast, like third
Speaker 1: in the United States as far as wins and stuff,
Speaker 1: and just being a public school with no state titles.
Speaker 1: So that senior year it was just like a Euphoork moment,
Speaker 1: like everyone felt the energy. We had a really good
Speaker 1: transfer in the name of Tyrone Nesby. His father also
Speaker 1: played in the NBA, and the energy was just everybody
Speaker 1: was together, from the community to the players, to the coaches,
Speaker 1: to the school, everyone that was from Reddin. I mean
Speaker 1: they and brayed it all to like the full degree.
Speaker 2: Players from Redding, Sue Jackson, Donielle Marshall, among others, and
Speaker 2: Donielle Marshall actually finished his career here with the Sixers
Speaker 2: in two thousand and eight. How much about around that
Speaker 2: time do you remember about him joining the Sixers and
Speaker 2: being from reading.
Speaker 1: A little bit? He was definitely the pride of Redding.
Speaker 1: You know. I used to kind of imitate a lot
Speaker 1: of things he did as far as you know, giving back,
Speaker 1: and you know, he fixed my favorite part, Bear Park up,
Speaker 1: and you know, I thought it was going to fix
Speaker 1: it up again. But to have someone like that, and
Speaker 1: then to see him here and there in Redding, I
Speaker 1: mean seeing NBA players like one of the greatest things
Speaker 1: in the world, you know. And I got to see
Speaker 1: how tall he was. And my brother used to play
Speaker 1: on his AU team, So definitely a surreal moment to
Speaker 1: kind of be playing, you know, where he's been playing.
Speaker 2: How many siblings do you have.
Speaker 1: I have two older brothers, okay.
Speaker 2: And you went to Sixers games growing up. You said
Speaker 2: to us recently that you remember watching Andre Gadala, Elton Brand,
Speaker 2: Drew Holliday. How many Sixers games are we talking a
Speaker 2: couple of year, No.
Speaker 1: Not a couple of years, Probably like one or two
Speaker 1: of my lifetime, but they felt like more than a
Speaker 1: thousand because I can just replay a lot of the
Speaker 1: moments and being there of that nature with my uncle,
Speaker 1: who has taken me a couple of times. So I
Speaker 1: haven't been there a lot, but the times that I've
Speaker 1: went was one of the most amazing times. Especially being
Speaker 1: an Allen Iverson fan. You know, I more so grew
Speaker 1: up to watching Drew Holliday morning Allen Iverson. As far
Speaker 1: as the Sixers and Elte Brandon Man, I can go
Speaker 1: on and on about the team.
Speaker 2: And then after high school, I mean, University of Miami
Speaker 2: led you to the twenty eighteen NBA Draft, where you
Speaker 2: were a first round pick, and in your pro career
Speaker 2: it was the Spurs, the Lakers, Boston this preseason before
Speaker 2: going to oh Brooklyn, then Boston, then Lithuania. You said,
Speaker 2: candle stays lit always. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 1: I'm just my confidence, you know, never whather and learning
Speaker 1: how to dance in a storm. You know, I think
Speaker 1: in life we always are going to have adversity. You know,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have our highs and our lows. But as
Speaker 1: far as the candle stand let, it just speaks on
Speaker 1: just being consistent, staying ready. I'm always staying hot, being prepared,
Speaker 1: for a god you know, tasks me to do. So
Speaker 1: that's pretty much the phrase, and.
Speaker 2: I think that relates a lot to how this year
Speaker 2: has gone for you. So you were in preseason games
Speaker 2: training camp with Boston and then you end up playing
Speaker 2: in Lithuania. I understand that the first few games were difficult.
Speaker 2: You've tweeted about this, but so it was a slow
Speaker 2: start performance wise. But what did you learn about yourself
Speaker 2: on and off or a.
Speaker 1: Boatload of things? I mean to say the least, it
Speaker 1: was really my first time as a young adult kind
Speaker 1: of being alone, being far away from everyone. It was
Speaker 1: a time of solitude, you know, just being able to
Speaker 1: look at myself in the mirror and see what I
Speaker 1: can hold myself accountable as far as being a better
Speaker 1: man on and off the court. And you know, it's
Speaker 1: the second best league. I think I wanted to double
Speaker 1: down on myself to really see what type of talent
Speaker 1: I really have and prove to the world that you know,
Speaker 1: I belong you know in the league.
Speaker 2: Described the moment of being asleep when the news came
Speaker 2: in from your agent and that what was that deadline
Speaker 2: with the clause in your contract.
Speaker 1: So the clause was until February eighteen, I mean by
Speaker 1: the eleventh twelfth, I kind of had an idea as
Speaker 1: far as understanding that I'm probably going to be spending
Speaker 1: the rest of the season in the Early League, so
Speaker 1: I didn't have no intentions of coming back to the
Speaker 1: league after like February twelfth. By like the fifteenth, sixteenth
Speaker 1: was our last game. Ended up taking a little We
Speaker 1: had like a four day stretch where we had a
Speaker 1: couple of days off until like Thursday, Friday morning or
Speaker 1: something like that. Ended up leaving Monday, and by the
Speaker 1: eighteenth I was sleeping, just taking a nap, just hanging
Speaker 1: out with the homies and everything. And I think it
Speaker 1: was about like ten ten thirty I woke up from
Speaker 1: my nap. I had thirty missed calls, whole bunch of
Speaker 1: tweets and things that our nature still confused, you know, delusional,
Speaker 1: out of out of sight, out of mind. My agent
Speaker 1: called me, He's like, Yo, the Sixers want you. They
Speaker 1: want to they want to pick up your clause and
Speaker 1: have you come back home. And honestly, when I heard
Speaker 1: him say that, I was just in disbelief. I was like, what, Like,
Speaker 1: what are you talking about? And you know, just confused,
Speaker 1: and because it was the last hour of the clause,
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't really have much time to talk
Speaker 1: to my age. He's like, y'all, I have to get
Speaker 1: back to business. Like I know, you know, you're still
Speaker 1: waking up and everything, but I have to handle this.
Speaker 1: So I really couldn't process at all. Honestly, it took
Speaker 1: me a while, and so I really got on the plane.
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, okay, this is actually a reality now,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's been a blessing, you know. I
Speaker 1: don't take that with the grain of salt, big chip
Speaker 1: on my shoulder, just continuously trying to prove to the
Speaker 1: world what I'm capable of doing.
Speaker 2: In your NBA journey, you went away to come back,
Speaker 2: now to come home. Why was it important for you
Speaker 2: coming out of high school to go away in that case,
Speaker 2: go down to Miami and get further away.
Speaker 1: Just you know, becoming my own self, becoming my own man,
Speaker 1: understanding who I am, what I'm capable of doing, and
Speaker 1: just you know, I got the opportunity to meet some
Speaker 1: really great, great people. Coach Leer Naga was one of one.
Speaker 1: Adam Fisher, who was the head coach at Temple, was
Speaker 1: someone that recruited me, and it just felt like family.
Speaker 1: You know. They treated me with a lot of care,
Speaker 1: you know, since recruited me for years. As far as
Speaker 1: the high school, you know, love and the consistency, and
Speaker 1: for sure, I didn't want to be too close to
Speaker 1: home at first, as far as being a young adult,
Speaker 1: you know, being around people, being around you know, certain
Speaker 1: crowds of things of that nature, and I wanted to
Speaker 1: just be as far as way as possible as far
Speaker 1: as growing and developing. And Miami was a private school.
Speaker 1: They wanted the top med schools, and I wanted to
Speaker 1: go to school for pre med, so it kind of
Speaker 1: worked hand in hand with you know, on on court
Speaker 1: off course stuff.
Speaker 2: What inspired wanting to be pre med my mom.
Speaker 1: I mean, we watched a ton of scary movies and
Speaker 1: for some odd reason, I always wanted to be like
Speaker 1: the doctor who saved the day and do surgeries and
Speaker 1: things of that nature. I was always fascinated with the
Speaker 1: human body in the mind, so you know, my mother
Speaker 1: definitely instilled like that aspect of just like helping and
Speaker 1: saving the world.
Speaker 2: That Miami season, because your draft stock, you know, shot
Speaker 2: up and you were only there for one year. That's
Speaker 2: just part of your basketball journey as a pro. There's
Speaker 2: been lots of ups and downs. So as best you can,
Speaker 2: like what was the low point of of this basketball
Speaker 2: journey for you?
Speaker 1: Never really a low point. I would say there was
Speaker 1: moments of just like you know, I got to grow
Speaker 1: and develop as a as a human being. But for sure,
Speaker 1: after Brooklyn, you know, I think I did my own
Speaker 1: as far as you know, my capabilities, you know, uh
Speaker 1: showed what I could do consistently, consistently on a scoring standpoint,
Speaker 1: and to kind of just be you know, out of
Speaker 1: out of the league, knowing that you know, I still
Speaker 1: have so much left to give and so much to
Speaker 1: prove and to do. Definitely, you know, left like a
Speaker 1: harsh taste in my mouth, you know. And then going
Speaker 1: to Boston was just a beauty, beauty and disguise As
Speaker 1: far as like growing, you know, I sacrificed a lot.
Speaker 1: I put myself in a lot of uncomfortable situations doing
Speaker 1: things that I never truly do as far as routine
Speaker 1: base and then you know, going off to Lithuania, So
Speaker 1: that kind of aspect was probably not a low but
Speaker 1: a lot of lessons you know that I needed as
Speaker 1: a young adult in order to continuously stride and you know,
Speaker 1: impact my life and continuously get better. So, man, I
Speaker 1: got a lot of fire inside me because of that.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm really happy to have that fuel on
Speaker 1: the fire. And I'm just gonna keep on working hard,
Speaker 1: you know, the first one in, last one out, sacrificing
Speaker 1: a lot of my time and my effort until my
Speaker 1: goals are accomplished.
Speaker 2: The changes to your routine was that because the contract
Speaker 2: with Boston was not guaranteed, so you were in the
Speaker 2: gym more frequently.
Speaker 1: To an extent. You know, I always pride myself on
Speaker 1: the work ethic, and when I was in Boston and
Speaker 1: kind of it being like an end all be all,
Speaker 1: so to speak, you know, like if they don't pick
Speaker 1: you up, you don't know what's happening next, and things
Speaker 1: of that nature, I uped it up just a whole
Speaker 1: nother notch. You know, There's times where I was exhausted,
Speaker 1: times I was tired, and I still went to the
Speaker 1: gym at night and getting in the gym early, doing
Speaker 1: two a days, I mean, doing cold plunges in the
Speaker 1: morning before I start my day. Really just being consistency, consistent, consistent,
Speaker 1: and disciplined at the same time. But every single day,
Speaker 1: not whether or you know, not skipping a beat as
Speaker 1: far as routine, base and doing things that I some
Speaker 1: days that I don't want to do, some days that
Speaker 1: I'm really tired from doing. It really showed my mental state,
Speaker 1: you know, how much more I have to give and
Speaker 1: how much more sacrifice I have to give in order
Speaker 1: to you know, achieve and accomplish what I want.
Speaker 2: And I think anyone out there watching or listening to
Speaker 2: this will remember a high point of your NBA career
Speaker 2: Eastern Conference or Western Conference semi Finals with the Lakers
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty three, game four fifteen points in the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter, Lebron was like, we don't win that game
Speaker 2: without Lonnie Walker. When you saw them say that, what
Speaker 2: was were your emotions? I know you stayed in the
Speaker 2: locker room for a while after.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I stayed in the locker room for for a
Speaker 1: pretty long time, just you know, soaking it all in
Speaker 1: because that was a very aspect of just mental fortitude.
Speaker 1: You know, I got injured. Prior to that, I was
Speaker 1: playing really good basketball with the Lakers, got injured for
Speaker 1: about a month. Trades happened, you know, we had some
Speaker 1: people come in and after trade, you know, I was
Speaker 1: kind of back on the bench, you know, just not playing,
Speaker 1: you know, just trying to figure it out, seeing what's next.
Speaker 1: And I didn't play for like about a whole month
Speaker 1: and some change. And up until that point, I didn't
Speaker 1: play in the Memphis uh you know, Memphis Grizzlies playoffs
Speaker 1: series and things of that nature. So during that time,
Speaker 1: I I was just telling myself, like, your time's gonna come,
Speaker 1: you know, stay with it. I was staying in the
Speaker 1: gym after games, I was going to the facility to
Speaker 1: shoot during time. During days off, I was going early mornings,
Speaker 1: I was going late nights consistently, you know, just putting
Speaker 1: in the work, you know, allowing my work ethic to
Speaker 1: do more of the talking than just you know, me speaking.
Speaker 1: And you know, I had the manifestation of like, sooner
Speaker 1: or later it's gonna come. You know, I know it's
Speaker 1: gonna happen. Stay with it, you know, dance in the storm.
Speaker 1: Be appreciative of what you what you have at this
Speaker 1: point in time. And you know, that game was really
Speaker 1: a testament to my mental fortitude as far as you know,
Speaker 1: getting knocked knocked off your feet and what happens after
Speaker 1: you get knocked out. Do you get back up and
Speaker 1: you continuously fired or do you just give up and
Speaker 1: going to the corner and throwing a towel. So, you know,
Speaker 1: that gave me a lot of will power as far
Speaker 1: as understanding that there's a lot of light at the
Speaker 1: end of the tunnel. You just got to stay with
Speaker 1: it even when times aren't going your way. And man,
Speaker 1: I was one of the most biggest games and very
Speaker 1: special moments in my life as far as you know,
Speaker 1: for myself mentally and for the world to see.
Speaker 2: To dance in the storm, I like that one. That's good.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: February twenty second, as we wind down of this twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five season, twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five sixers
Speaker 2: in Brooklyn was your first game as a sixer, so
Speaker 2: against twenty or former teams, and you were emotional during
Speaker 2: the national anthem.
Speaker 1: Yeah, why, I mean, honestly, I think it was it
Speaker 1: was God's way of just speaking to me, you know,
Speaker 1: so to speak, especially even after the clause and seeing
Speaker 1: my old teammates is always beautiful to see. But to
Speaker 1: be back in the league, you know, I to be
Speaker 1: back at the same time, it was hard to say
Speaker 1: that I fully expected to be back, you know, and
Speaker 1: I think I was just emotional in the sense of
Speaker 1: the amount of sacrifice that I just put into the game.
Speaker 1: You know, I really worked my tail off day in
Speaker 1: and day out, and this was a moment of just
Speaker 1: you know, self respect, you know, just being happy for
Speaker 1: what just transpired, what I just accomplished, you know, because
Speaker 1: sometimes when you go overseas, it's hard to get back,
Speaker 1: and especially hard to come back in the same season.
Speaker 1: And I think that just goes to show my willpower
Speaker 1: and things that I've you know, just been trying to
Speaker 1: grow and develop into. And to be back in this
Speaker 1: position was just you know, a statement within itself, you know.
Speaker 1: So I was filled with a lot of emotions, you know,
Speaker 1: all over the place, just being back home, being you know,
Speaker 1: I had to go so far just to get so close,
Speaker 1: and I mean it was it was a lot, you know,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of moments of just you know,
Speaker 1: I celebrated my birthday alone and celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas alone.
Speaker 1: You know, I wasn't around my mother and father and
Speaker 1: friends and and things that our nature. So this was
Speaker 1: a completely total different aspect, and I'm on the other
Speaker 1: side of the world, so you know, there was a
Speaker 1: lot of testaments, a lot of tests, and a lot
Speaker 1: of you know, self growth moments and during that time.
Speaker 1: And to be back, man, I was just you know,
Speaker 1: very wholesome moment and just you know, blessed to be
Speaker 1: back and just very excited for what the what the
Speaker 1: future beholds.
Speaker 2: What was your parents' reaction to you join the Sixers?
Speaker 1: They're excited. You know, my father, he understands my goal,
Speaker 1: so he didn't really say much. It's just like, you know,
Speaker 1: you still got along way to go. You know, don't
Speaker 1: get too high just because you're back, you know, stay
Speaker 1: locked in, stay mentally and physically prepared for what's next.
Speaker 1: And my mother was just you know, typical mother calling
Speaker 1: me crying, just excited for me to be back home
Speaker 1: so she can see me and things of that nature.
Speaker 1: So you know, it was kind of like my Yin
Speaker 1: and yang how it's always been my mother being nurturing,
Speaker 1: my father kind of always keeping me grounded, understanding that
Speaker 1: you know, this isn't this isn't the end. This is
Speaker 1: more so to begin into something that could be something special.
Speaker 2: Ronnie Walker the fourth welcome Home.
Speaker 1: Thank you,