Chet Walker

Chet Walker
Personal information
Born (1940-02-22) February 22, 1940
Bethlehem, Mississippi
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
High school Benton Harbor
(Benton Harbor, Michigan)
College Bradley (1959–1962)
NBA draft 1962 / Round: 2 / Pick: 12th overall
Selected by the Syracuse Nationals
Playing career 1962–1975
Position Small forward / Power forward
Number 25
Career history
1962–1969 Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers
1969–1975 Chicago Bulls
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points 18,831 (18.2 ppg)
Rebounds 7,314 (7.1 rpg)
Assists 2,126 (2.1 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player

Chester Walker (born February 22, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player.

Born in Bethlehem, Mississippi,[1] Walker played high school basketball for the Benton Harbor High School boys basketball team. He graduated from Bradley University in 1962 as the school's all-time leading scorer. The Bradley Braves[2] won the NIT Championship in 1957 and 1960. Walker's speed and agility on the court earned him the nickname "Chet the Jet." He probably is best remembered as a starting forward on the 1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers team, which some consider the best NBA team of all time.

Walker was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals in the 1962 NBA draft, and was named to the NBA's first All-Rookie Team in 1963. He followed the team to Philadelphia after his rookie season. A seven-time participant in the NBA All-Star Game, Walker averaged over 19 points and eight rebounds a game for the 1966–67 76ers, who won 68 games and lost just 13—the best record in NBA history at the time. That Alex Hannum-coached team, which also featured center Wilt Chamberlain, guards Hal Greer and Wali Jones, and sixth man Billy Cunningham, ended the eight-year championship run of the Boston Celtics. Walker played his final six seasons with the Chicago Bulls, and never averaged less than 19.2 points and 5.0 rebounds a game. In his 13-year career, Walker scored a total of 18,831 points. The 6–6 forward was an outstanding free-throw shooter, especially in his later years with the Bulls. He led the NBA with an accuracy rate of 85.9 percent in 1970–71, and ranked among the top-10 free-throwers five other times.

After his playing days, Walker became a moderately successful TV movie producer. He is the author of a memoir entitled Long Time Coming: A Black Athlete's Coming-Of-Age in America (1995). Walker also appeared in The White Shadow in Season 3's "If Your Number's Up, Get it Down" as a former Chicago Bulls' teammate of Coach Ken Reeves (Ken Howard)

On February 24, 2012 (two days after Walker's 72nd birthday) it was announced that Chet Walker was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame by the veterans committee. He was formally inducted into the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 7, 2012.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
† Denotes season in which Walker won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1962–63 Syracuse 78–25.5.469–.6997.21.1––12.3
1963–64 Philadelphia 76–36.5.440–.71110.31.6––17.3
1964–65 Philadelphia 79–27.7.403–.7426.71.7––13.2
1965–66 Philadelphia 80–32.5.451–.7168.02.5––15.3
1966–67† Philadelphia 81–33.2.488–.7668.12.3––19.3
1967–68 Philadelphia 82–32.0.460–.7267.41.9––17.9
1968–69 Philadelphia 82–33.6.484–.8047.81.8––18.0
1969–70 Chicago 78–34.9.477–.8507.72.5––21.5
1970–71 Chicago 81–36.1.465–.8597.32.2––22.0
1971–72 Chicago 78–33.2.505–.8476.12.3––22.0
1972–73 Chicago 79–31.1.478–.8325.02.3––19.9
1973–74 Chicago 82–32.5.486–.8755.02.40.80.019.3
1974–75 Chicago 76–32.3.487–.8605.72.20.60.119.2
Career 1,032–32.4.470–.7967.12.10.70.118.2
All-Star 7117.9.435–.8502.61.30.00.08.1

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1963 Syracuse 5–26.0.509–.7339.41.8––15.2
1964 Philadelphia 5–38.0.390–.73910.42.6––18.8
1965 Philadelphia 11–42.6.480–.7607.21.6––20.3
1966 Philadelphia 5–36.2.375–.8067.43.0––14.6
1967† Philadelphia 15–36.7.467–.8077.62.1––21.7
1968 Philadelphia 13–37.3.410–.6797.41.8––19.1
1969 Philadelphia 4–27.3.535–.6675.82.0––13.5
1970 Chicago 5–35.6.422–.8188.42.2––19.4
1971 Chicago 7–33.4.440–.7087.13.1––15.0
1972 Chicago 4–24.3.421–.8133.51.0––11.3
1973 Chicago 7–32.7.347–.8928.92.0––16.7
1974 Chicago 11–36.6.509–.8615.51.60.90.120.9
1975 Chicago 13–33.2.494–.8804.61.81.00.117.5
Career 105–35.1.449–.7877.02.01.00.118.2

See also

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Sam (5 September 2012). "Chet the Jet joins basketball greats in the Hall of Fame". NBA.COM. National Basketball Association. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  2. ↑ ESPN; Bradley, Bill (2009-10-06). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House Digital, Inc. pp. 11–. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
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