NBA Free Agent Kemba Walker on Mavs Experience: 'They Wanted to Go Young'

The Dallas Mavericks signed veteran point guard Kemba Walker on Nov. 28, but then waived him on Jan. 6. Despite his short stint, though, Walker enjoyed his time in Dallas, as well as playing alongside Luka Doncic.

Dalton Trigg | Mar 13, 2023

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Dallas Mavericks

DALLAS – The 2022-23 NBA season has had many twists and turns for the Dallas Mavericks, who are clinging to a .500 record at 34-34 ahead of Monday night's important matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Along the way, veteran point guard Kemba walker was a part of this year's Mavs journey. Dallas signed Walker on Nov. 28, but then waived him a little over a month later on Jan. 6 after he had been experiencing knee issues.

The 32-year-old free agent is still trying to work his way back into the league, but he's not rushing things, according to an interview he did recently with The Athletic's Jared Weiss.

“There’s really no rush for me," Walker said. "I’m really trying to eat up this time, to be real. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten so much time to work on myself, work on my body. So I’m not tripping at all. Honestly, I’d probably rather just sit it out and try to be ready for the next go-around, so we’ll see how it (goes).”

Walker also dished on his brief stint with the Mavs and how he enjoyed playing with Luka Doncic.

“They said they wanted to go young. That was it,” Walker explained. “They wanted to go young, which I respect. I was happy that I got the opportunity to get out there, be in Dallas, get the chance to play with Luka and watch him up close and personal. After playing with (Jayson Tatum), I’ve played with two of the best young players in the game right now. So that was a pretty cool experience.”

In nine games for Dallas, Walker averaged 8.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 16 minutes per game. In his one and only start with Doncic sitting out, Walker put up a season-high 32 points in a 100-99 overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 17.

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Published Mar 13, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.