After announcing his retirement as a player earlier this week, Kemba Walker is going right back to his NBA roots.
The Charlotte Hornets announced on Wednesday that the former All-Star guard Walker is returning to their franchise as an assistant coach. Walker will officially be serving as a player enhancement coach, the Hornets say.
That is a very poetic return for the 34-year-old Walker, who is perhaps the greatest player in Hornets franchise history. He was drafted by Charlotte in 2011 when they were still known as the Bobcats and went on to spend eight memorable seasons with them. Walker made three All-Star teams plus an All-NBA team with the Hornets and also earned two NBA Sportsmanship Awards there. On top of that, Walker led Charlotte to their two most recent playoff appearances to date and is the franchise’s all-time leader in multiple categories (including points with 12,009).
Walker, who had left the Hornets as a free agent in 2019, announced in an emotional statement on Tuesday that he was retiring from basketball. Now Cardiac Kemba is back in Charlotte a half-decade later, and we can safely say that nature is healing.
