Kemba Walker Pays Playoff Celtics a Visit, Reflects on Tatum & Brown's Growth & His Basketball Future

Former Celtic Kemba Walker pays the 2022-23 Celtics a visit in Atlanta, and reflects on the team's growth, including what's next for All-Stars Jayson Tatum & Jaylen Brown

ATLANTA — For former teammate and All-Star Kemba Walker, there’s only one thing keeping Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown from guiding the Boston Celtics to a championship — one step — that secures this year’s NBA title and the beginning of a potential Celtics dynasty with The Jays, Boston’s superstar tandem, co-starring in leading roles.

Banner 18 was always the goal throughout Walker’s time in Boston. With two trips to the Eastern Conference finals in three years under their belt, the Celtics found solace in handing the keys to Walker — which made the transition from Kyrie Irving seamless after Irving agreed to sign with the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent in 2019.

Two back-to-back franchise-altering draft picks — Brown (2016) and Tatum (2017) — completed the organization’s rebuild from the Paul Pierce & Kevin Garnett trade. Two years later, Kemba took the mantle as starting point guard.

Boston replaced essentially one high-level score-first point guard with another, but Walker had much more to prove as a veteran who had never played beyond the playoffs’ first round. And, after eight years with the Charlotte Hornets, the three-time All-Star guided the Celtics to an impressive 11-1 record in their first twelve games.

However, Kemba, plagued by a left knee injury, played in only 56 games throughout his first season in Boston. After averaging 20.4 points, 4.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game throughout 2019-20, Walker played fewer games the following season (43) when he received a stem-cell injection procedure in his left knee at the start of the 2020-21 campaign. It diminished production before ultimately derailing his career.

Kemba had a productive regular season. His scoring numbers saw a minimal decline, he was still Kemba until the grueling, congested post-COVID shutdown season reached its playoffs, and Walker — who was on a minutes restriction towards the end of the regular season — couldn’t play anymore.

He averaged 12.7 points while shooting at a 31.7% clip, including 7-of-28 from 3 with 4.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in three games of Boston’s opening-round playoff series against Irving, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and the Brooklyn Nets before he was ruled out for the rest of the way. The Nets eliminated the Celtics in five games of their best-of-7 series (4-1).

Then, Kemba was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder along with 2021’s No. 16 pick and a 2025 second-round pick for Al Horford and Moses Brown.

Fast forward to June 2022, Walker’s watching his former Celtics teammates in the NBA Finals — the franchise’s first appearance since 2010. Now, after watching them grow through their maturation process over the past four years, including losing 4-2 to the Warriors in 2022’s Finals while keeping in touch with Celtics point guard Marcus Smart, Kemba believes this year’s Celtics are ready to take the next step.

He joined the Eastern Conference champion Celtics during their first-round, best-of-7 series against the Atlanta Hawks.

“It’s been fun, you know. A lot of these guys are still my friends. So, I just come and support,” Walker said. “It’s just fun to see these guys. The maturity of these guys is on another level from when I was there to now. Their games have grown. Their mindsets have grown — just the way they get everyone involved while still being aggressive. It’s been fun to watch.”

While a championship, now more than ever, is still the motive for the Celtics, who Vegas has as +180 favorites to win the 2023 NBA Finals, Walker, who played two seasons with Tatum and Brown, believes how The Jays lead their team will ultimately dictate the team’s success and thinks the dynamic of Jayson and Jaylen’s relationship is vital.

“I think what’s next is for those guys is to be on the same page at all times,” Walker tells me. “They got to become closer and closer as the days, the weeks, and the months, and the years go by. Everybody wants to see Jayson and Jaylen…