OKLAHOMA CITY — Kemba Walker has gone from a sweet comeback story after his demotion to a New Year’s Eve mystery.
One hour before the Knicks were to face the Thunder on Friday, Walker was ruled out with left-knee soreness. This wasn’t load management but a mishap that happened during pregame warm-ups, with no timetable for his return or a grasp on what may be new with his arthritic left knee.
Walker was not on the bench in street clothes as the Knicks were beaten 95-80 by the rebuilding Thunder to end 2021 on a low note. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said he’ll be tested further.
“It was last minute,’’ Thibodeau said. “He was warming up, and something didn’t feel right. So, I haven’t talked to the trainers yet. It was a last-minute scratch.’’
Walker played both ends of a back-to-back in Minnesota and Detroit this week — something he did not do last season with Boston.
Asked if this was serious, Thibodeau said, “I don’t know, because he started his warm-up, and then he stopped. And then [trainer] Anthony [Goenaga] was looking at him and just felt, let’s get him examined, and then we’ll go from there.’’
The mishap ruined Walker’s return to OKC where the fans never got to know him. And the fans still didn’t get to see Walker as Miles McBride started.
Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti traded for Walker in June, obtaining him from Boston ostensibly to get rid of his own bad contract in Al Horford and pick up an extra first-round draft pick in the deal. That’s how desperate Brad Stevens was to remove Walker and his arthritic left knee from the Celtics when he took over as team president.
The deal went down on June 18, and speculation immediately arose that the rebuilding Thunder would peddle Walker’s two-year, $74 million contract by the season opener.
According to an NBA executive, Walker spent about a week in OKC after the trade with physicals, meeting staff, working out with a Thunder trainer and posing for promos in a light blue Thunder jersey. In fact, a Google search shows different editions of Walker’s Thunder jerseys can be bought online.
Thanks to diligent work by his agent, Jeff Schwartz, once free agency began, Walker got back home to New York. According to a source, Walker’s reps at Excel Management helped broker an arrangement in keeping in contact with both the Knicks and Thunder.
The Knicks had a league-high cap space available and no obvious point guard to spend it on once free agents Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry and Spencer Dinwiddie were spoken for. (The Knicks were not interested in Lonzo Ball.)
By giving up $20 million in a buyout package, Walker was able to recoup a lot of it by signing a two-year, $18 million deal with his hometown team to fulfill a Bronx dream.