After being signed at the very last minute, it’s been a whirlwind couple of days from Pennsylvania native Lonnie Walker IV.
Now that the Sixers have officially announced the signing of Lonnie Walker IV, he was able to talk to reporters for the first time since returning to the states after practice Friday.
After six seasons in the NBA, Walker spent the first half of this season playing for BC Zalgiris in Lithuania, where he averaged 13.6 points per game on 38.7% shooting in 22 minutes per game.
Walker, whose clause to escape his EuroLeague contract was set to expire just two hours before he signed with Philadelphia, had his mind made up that he would be finishing the season in Europe. He had to be notified by his friends and family that he was returning to the NBA.
“It’s funny, honestly, everyone found out before me,” he said. “I was actually sleeping. I got the phone call from my agent. I had about 30 missed calls. I guess it was all over Twitter already.”
Walker was in vacation in Paris when he got the call, and only had his vacation clothes on him. Regardless, he got on a flight to come back to America.
“That’s all I have right now,” he said. “I’m only gonna be wearing Sixers’ sweatpants and stuff.”
When the signing happened, Marc Stein reported that he had been on the Sixers’ radar for most of the season. Nick Nurse admitted that recent injuries to Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry pushed the team over the top in their pursuit of him.
Walker, a native of Reading, Pennsylvania, admitted it was always a goal to play for the team he grew up rooting for.
“I’ve came to plenty of games watching Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguoadala, Elton Brand, the list goes on and on,” he said, “truly a full circle moment to be so close, [I] had to go so far to get so close.”
While it is special for him to play for his hometown team, he isn’t trying to focus on that. He knows how important this second opportunity in the league is and is trying to take full advantage of it.
He called his time with Lithuania one of the most important parts of his young adult life.
“I put myself in a very uncomfortable situation just to become a better man on and off the court,” Walker said. He went on to explain that he hopes to be able to impact the game when he’s not scoring the ball. Even if it’s just being a good teammate on the bench, he hopes to be a positive influence.
With just 27 games left in the season, Walker has a lot of acclimating to do fast. The time it will take him to get up to speed and find his place should be a good distraction from playing so close to home.
“I’m happy to be home, but I’m more so just locked in to the rest of the season,” he said. “I’m here to play for the 76ers. Home ain’t going nowhere.”