76ers InsidersLonnie Walker IV on Growing Up in Reading, Playing in Lithuania, and Being a 76er
Matt Murphy is joined by 76er Lonnie Walker IV, who discusses playing at the Sixers' home arena as a kid and describes the emotions of suiting up for the Sixers (against a former team in the Nets) after working his way back from Lithuania.
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I'm still processing it. Very surreal moment, especially you know, coming from Pennsylvania. So it's been a blessing.
You know, to say the least, reading you always give back oftentimes in your NBA off seasons. I mean, you've been on multiple teams now, but I don't know how much planning you've done. But what might this summer look like for you back in Redding now that you're part of the hometown NBA team.
Man, I've been having a whole bunch of ideas flowing, just trying to stay president as far as the season. But for the most part, you know, I have a couple camps coming up as far as being back home, a couple of drives, a couple giveaways as far as for schools and things of that nature. So we have a couple of good things planned. You know. I also plan on starting another court as far as fixing another court back home. So just little increments day to day, just trying to influence and motivate the next gen.
Over the years, your phrase has been I'm just a kid. From reading the phrase on the back of the shirts at the camp has been Redding made me? Was that your idea to have that on there?
Absolutely? I have great pride with home being from red in Pennsylvania. You know, that's what made me who I am and what shaped me up to be who I am. I'm forever grateful for that and for the kids living there. I know what it's like to live in Reading, you know, I know the harsh realities and some of the things that we go through. So to be able to help those kids out, just to sow that, you know, I'm human too. You know, if I can make it, you can make it. And just instilling that motivational and inspiration It's something that I will forever do for the rest of my life.
Your father, Lonnie Walker, the third played at Albernia, which is in Reading. I bring up your dad the box jumps story of like you would end up practice or on an off day in between schoolwork and all box jumps were part of your routine, hundreds of them and it led to you being able to dunk at a super young age. So the story goes that you first dunked in sixth grade. What was the reaction to that from yourself, from the people in the game.
You know what's so crazy about that is it was actually for like a youth sixers tournament, so it was a game previous before we played on the sixers gym for the championship game. I got my first dunk during like a seventy six ers tournament, which is kind of crazy. You know. So leading up to that moment, I've just been trying just room grazing, you know, getting just just close enough where it's kind of like remnant in and out. Had a fast break dunk going from the left side, left wing, and you know, being a left foot dunker kind of sworn off to the right. It worked in my favor. And from that point on, I just kept on trying and it just got easier and easier and easier.
Did you get another dunk at the Sixers Arena?
No, I tried and I missed it actually, which is pretty crazy. Yeah, I actually missed. I remember because my friends were talking to like, if you would have made it, I would have been so mad, you know. So for sure, a surreal moment. I think it just goes to show, you know, the amount of sacrifice. You know, my father kind of instilled and showed in me as far as you know, being the youth and what it takes to whether it's jumping or just being one of the best players. You know, you got to put in a lot of the.
Work, and he helped instill a lot of structure with the work academically as well, the stories about you having to spend a certain amount of time practicing reading and writing. I think in the autograph footage I've seen of you signing, now you sign left handed.
Yeah, but you shoot right handed?
Right handed? Yeah, that's not that normal. But you know what, Jared McCain does that really too, which I noticed. I'm lefty through and through, but I would I shoot left handed, okay, yeah, and I write left handed. But have you always done both of those things with those hands?
Yeah? For as as far as I can remember, my dad was left handed, so I think growing up are really imitating a lot of things that he'd done. During the summers. He used to only make me use my left hand as far as eating and writing, and I think it just became second nature from me, you know, And it was just a lot of things that were challenging. My father used to put me in, like uncomfortable situations as far as like growing and understanding it's not always going to be easy, and you know, using my left hand was actually something that we worked on a lot, and it kind of just in my favor.
Reading High The Red Knights twenty seventeen. It was their first state championship Class six A. How was the atmosphere for those games, because I heard it was like one of those things where the whole town comes out.
It was like no other. I mean every game was sold out. I'm pretty sure that we hold the Giant Center record as far as most most crowd, as far as most people attending. That year was just nostalgic, you know, coming from Redding, we have a lot of pride. I mean we have over two thousand wins during that time. We were like first in the East Coast, like third in the United States as far as wins and stuff, and just being a public school with no state titles. So that senior year it was just like a Euphoork moment, like everyone felt the energy. We had a really good transfer in the name of Tyrone Nesby. His father also played in the NBA, and the energy was just everybody was together, from the community to the players, to the coaches, to the school, everyone that was from Reddin. I mean they and brayed it all to like the full degree.
Players from Redding, Sue Jackson, Donielle Marshall, among others, and Donielle Marshall actually finished his career here with the Sixers in two thousand and eight. How much about around that time do you remember about him joining the Sixers and being from reading.
A little bit? He was definitely the pride of Redding. You know. I used to kind of imitate a lot of things he did as far as you know, giving back, and you know, he fixed my favorite part, Bear Park up, and you know, I thought it was going to fix it up again. But to have someone like that, and then to see him here and there in Redding, I mean seeing NBA players like one of the greatest things in the world, you know. And I got to see how tall he was. And my brother used to play on his AU team, So definitely a surreal moment to kind of be playing, you know, where he's been playing.
How many siblings do you have.
I have two older brothers, okay.
And you went to Sixers games growing up. You said to us recently that you remember watching Andre Gadala, Elton Brand, Drew Holliday. How many Sixers games are we talking a couple of year, No.
Not a couple of years, Probably like one or two of my lifetime, but they felt like more than a thousand because I can just replay a lot of the moments and being there of that nature with my uncle, who has taken me a couple of times. So I haven't been there a lot, but the times that I've went was one of the most amazing times. Especially being an Allen Iverson fan. You know, I more so grew up to watching Drew Holliday morning Allen Iverson. As far as the Sixers and Elte Brandon Man, I can go on and on about the team.
And then after high school, I mean, University of Miami led you to the twenty eighteen NBA Draft, where you were a first round pick, and in your pro career it was the Spurs, the Lakers, Boston this preseason before going to oh Brooklyn, then Boston, then Lithuania. You said, candle stays lit always. What does that mean to you?
I'm just my confidence, you know, never whather and learning how to dance in a storm. You know, I think in life we always are going to have adversity. You know, we're gonna have our highs and our lows. But as far as the candle stand let, it just speaks on just being consistent, staying ready. I'm always staying hot, being prepared, for a god you know, tasks me to do. So that's pretty much the phrase, and.
I think that relates a lot to how this year has gone for you. So you were in preseason games training camp with Boston and then you end up playing in Lithuania. I understand that the first few games were difficult. You've tweeted about this, but so it was a slow start performance wise. But what did you learn about yourself on and off or a.
Boatload of things? I mean to say the least, it was really my first time as a young adult kind of being alone, being far away from everyone. It was a time of solitude, you know, just being able to look at myself in the mirror and see what I can hold myself accountable as far as being a better man on and off the court. And you know, it's the second best league. I think I wanted to double down on myself to really see what type of talent I really have and prove to the world that you know, I belong you know in the league.
Described the moment of being asleep when the news came in from your agent and that what was that deadline with the clause in your contract.
So the clause was until February eighteen, I mean by the eleventh twelfth, I kind of had an idea as far as understanding that I'm probably going to be spending the rest of the season in the Early League, so I didn't have no intentions of coming back to the league after like February twelfth. By like the fifteenth, sixteenth was our last game. Ended up taking a little We had like a four day stretch where we had a couple of days off until like Thursday, Friday morning or something like that. Ended up leaving Monday, and by the eighteenth I was sleeping, just taking a nap, just hanging out with the homies and everything. And I think it was about like ten ten thirty I woke up from my nap. I had thirty missed calls, whole bunch of tweets and things that our nature still confused, you know, delusional, out of out of sight, out of mind. My agent called me, He's like, Yo, the Sixers want you. They want to they want to pick up your clause and have you come back home. And honestly, when I heard him say that, I was just in disbelief. I was like, what, Like, what are you talking about? And you know, just confused, and because it was the last hour of the clause, you know, I didn't really have much time to talk to my age. He's like, y'all, I have to get back to business. Like I know, you know, you're still waking up and everything, but I have to handle this. So I really couldn't process at all. Honestly, it took me a while, and so I really got on the plane. I'm like, oh, okay, this is actually a reality now, you know. So it's been a blessing, you know. I don't take that with the grain of salt, big chip on my shoulder, just continuously trying to prove to the world what I'm capable of doing.
In your NBA journey, you went away to come back, now to come home. Why was it important for you coming out of high school to go away in that case, go down to Miami and get further away.
Just you know, becoming my own self, becoming my own man, understanding who I am, what I'm capable of doing, and just you know, I got the opportunity to meet some really great, great people. Coach Leer Naga was one of one. Adam Fisher, who was the head coach at Temple, was someone that recruited me, and it just felt like family. You know. They treated me with a lot of care, you know, since recruited me for years. As far as the high school, you know, love and the consistency, and for sure, I didn't want to be too close to home at first, as far as being a young adult, you know, being around people, being around you know, certain crowds of things of that nature, and I wanted to just be as far as way as possible as far as growing and developing. And Miami was a private school. They wanted the top med schools, and I wanted to go to school for pre med, so it kind of worked hand in hand with you know, on on court off course stuff.
What inspired wanting to be pre med my mom.
I mean, we watched a ton of scary movies and for some odd reason, I always wanted to be like the doctor who saved the day and do surgeries and things of that nature. I was always fascinated with the human body in the mind, so you know, my mother definitely instilled like that aspect of just like helping and saving the world.
That Miami season, because your draft stock, you know, shot up and you were only there for one year. That's just part of your basketball journey as a pro. There's been lots of ups and downs. So as best you can, like what was the low point of of this basketball journey for you?
Never really a low point. I would say there was moments of just like you know, I got to grow and develop as a as a human being. But for sure, after Brooklyn, you know, I think I did my own as far as you know, my capabilities, you know, uh showed what I could do consistently, consistently on a scoring standpoint, and to kind of just be you know, out of out of the league, knowing that you know, I still have so much left to give and so much to prove and to do. Definitely, you know, left like a harsh taste in my mouth, you know. And then going to Boston was just a beauty, beauty and disguise As far as like growing, you know, I sacrificed a lot. I put myself in a lot of uncomfortable situations doing things that I never truly do as far as routine base and then you know, going off to Lithuania, So that kind of aspect was probably not a low but a lot of lessons you know that I needed as a young adult in order to continuously stride and you know, impact my life and continuously get better. So, man, I got a lot of fire inside me because of that. You know, I'm really happy to have that fuel on the fire. And I'm just gonna keep on working hard, you know, the first one in, last one out, sacrificing a lot of my time and my effort until my goals are accomplished.
The changes to your routine was that because the contract with Boston was not guaranteed, so you were in the gym more frequently.
To an extent. You know, I always pride myself on the work ethic, and when I was in Boston and kind of it being like an end all be all, so to speak, you know, like if they don't pick you up, you don't know what's happening next, and things of that nature, I uped it up just a whole nother notch. You know, There's times where I was exhausted, times I was tired, and I still went to the gym at night and getting in the gym early, doing two a days, I mean, doing cold plunges in the morning before I start my day. Really just being consistency, consistent, consistent, and disciplined at the same time. But every single day, not whether or you know, not skipping a beat as far as routine, base and doing things that I some days that I don't want to do, some days that I'm really tired from doing. It really showed my mental state, you know, how much more I have to give and how much more sacrifice I have to give in order to you know, achieve and accomplish what I want.
And I think anyone out there watching or listening to this will remember a high point of your NBA career Eastern Conference or Western Conference semi Finals with the Lakers in twenty twenty three, game four fifteen points in the fourth quarter, Lebron was like, we don't win that game without Lonnie Walker. When you saw them say that, what was were your emotions? I know you stayed in the locker room for a while after.
Yeah, I stayed in the locker room for for a pretty long time, just you know, soaking it all in because that was a very aspect of just mental fortitude. You know, I got injured. Prior to that, I was playing really good basketball with the Lakers, got injured for about a month. Trades happened, you know, we had some people come in and after trade, you know, I was kind of back on the bench, you know, just not playing, you know, just trying to figure it out, seeing what's next. And I didn't play for like about a whole month and some change. And up until that point, I didn't play in the Memphis uh you know, Memphis Grizzlies playoffs series and things of that nature. So during that time, I I was just telling myself, like, your time's gonna come, you know, stay with it. I was staying in the gym after games, I was going to the facility to shoot during time. During days off, I was going early mornings, I was going late nights consistently, you know, just putting in the work, you know, allowing my work ethic to do more of the talking than just you know, me speaking. And you know, I had the manifestation of like, sooner or later it's gonna come. You know, I know it's gonna happen. Stay with it, you know, dance in the storm. Be appreciative of what you what you have at this point in time. And you know, that game was really a testament to my mental fortitude as far as you know, getting knocked knocked off your feet and what happens after you get knocked out. Do you get back up and you continuously fired or do you just give up and going to the corner and throwing a towel. So, you know, that gave me a lot of will power as far as understanding that there's a lot of light at the end of the tunnel. You just got to stay with it even when times aren't going your way. And man, I was one of the most biggest games and very special moments in my life as far as you know, for myself mentally and for the world to see.
To dance in the storm, I like that one. That's good.
Yeah.
February twenty second, as we wind down of this twenty twenty five season, twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five sixers in Brooklyn was your first game as a sixer, so against twenty or former teams, and you were emotional during the national anthem.
Yeah, why, I mean, honestly, I think it was it was God's way of just speaking to me, you know, so to speak, especially even after the clause and seeing my old teammates is always beautiful to see. But to be back in the league, you know, I to be back at the same time, it was hard to say that I fully expected to be back, you know, and I think I was just emotional in the sense of the amount of sacrifice that I just put into the game. You know, I really worked my tail off day in and day out, and this was a moment of just you know, self respect, you know, just being happy for what just transpired, what I just accomplished, you know, because sometimes when you go overseas, it's hard to get back, and especially hard to come back in the same season. And I think that just goes to show my willpower and things that I've you know, just been trying to grow and develop into. And to be back in this position was just you know, a statement within itself, you know. So I was filled with a lot of emotions, you know, all over the place, just being back home, being you know, I had to go so far just to get so close, and I mean it was it was a lot, you know, there was a lot of moments of just you know, I celebrated my birthday alone and celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas alone. You know, I wasn't around my mother and father and friends and and things that our nature. So this was a completely total different aspect, and I'm on the other side of the world, so you know, there was a lot of testaments, a lot of tests, and a lot of you know, self growth moments and during that time. And to be back, man, I was just you know, very wholesome moment and just you know, blessed to be back and just very excited for what the what the future beholds.
What was your parents' reaction to you join the Sixers?
They're excited. You know, my father, he understands my goal, so he didn't really say much. It's just like, you know, you still got along way to go. You know, don't get too high just because you're back, you know, stay locked in, stay mentally and physically prepared for what's next. And my mother was just you know, typical mother calling me crying, just excited for me to be back home so she can see me and things of that nature. So you know, it was kind of like my Yin and yang how it's always been my mother being nurturing, my father kind of always keeping me grounded, understanding that you know, this isn't this isn't the end. This is more so to begin into something that could be something special.
Ronnie Walker the fourth welcome Home.
Thank you,
