- Kenny Walker
infobox NBA Player
name = Kenny Walker
position =Small forward
height_ft = 6
height_in = 8
weight_lbs = 210
nickname = Sky
nationality = USA
birth_date = Birth date and age|1964|8|18|mf=y
birth_place =Roberta, Georgia
college = Kentucky
draft = 5th overall
draft_year = 1986
draft_team =New York Knicks
career_start = 1986
career_end = 1995
former_teams = New York Knicks (1986-1991)Washington Bullets (1993-1995)
awards = 1989NBA Slam Dunk Contest ChampionKenneth "Sky" Walker (born
August 18 1964 inRoberta, Georgia ) is a former professionalbasketball player, primarily for theNew York Knicks of theNBA . Walker playedcollege basketball at theUniversity of Kentucky .College career
After being named Mr. Basketball in the state of Georgia in
1982 , Walker chose to play collegiately at the University of Kentucky. Walker had a very successful college career, being named to an All-SEC team four times and the All-American team twice. Walker's1984 Kentucky team made it to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament before losing to theGeorgetown Hoyas .Professional career
Walker was selected with the 5th pick of the
1986 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. Walker played for five coaches in five years with the Knicks. OnFebruary 11 ,1989 , Walker won theNBA Slam Dunk Contest , competing three days after the death of his father [ "Walker skies to win slam-dunk," "Syracuse Herald-American", Feb. 12, 1989, pE-11 ] . However, his success on the court was dwindling, and knee injuries forced him to leave the NBA and join the ACB league inSpain .Walker returned to the NBA in
1993 to play two seasons with the Washington Bullets as a role player. He played a season (c.1998) in Japan before retiring from professional basketball.Life after the NBA
*He now is color-commentator for Kentucky basketball.
*As a publicity stunt, Walker once raced against a horse, and won. OnAugust 14 ,1986 , at New York'sMonticello Raceway , Walker and harness racehorse "Pugwash" ran against each other over one-sixteenth of a mile in 10.4 seconds. The "New York Times" wrote, "It is a well-established fact that a fast human can outrace a slow horse, at least if the human is unfettered and the horse is forced to pull a sulky and driver, and the distance isn't much more than a 100-yard dash." [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEEDD1E3CF935A2575BC0A960948260| "Slow Night at Track," New York Times, Aug. 16, 1986]References
External links
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/walkeke01.html Kenny Walker] - NBA statistics @ basketball-reference.com
* [http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Players/Walker_Kenny.html Kenny Walker] - UK statistics
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