Chet Walker

Chet Walker

Walker in 1975
Personal information
Born	(1940-02-22)February 22, 1940 Bethlehem, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	June 8, 2024(2024-06-08) (aged 84) Long Beach, California, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
High school	Benton Harbor (Benton Harbor, Michigan)
College	Bradley (1959–1962)
NBA draft	1962: 2nd round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Syracuse Nationals
Playing career	1962–1975
Position	Small forward
Number	25
Career history
1962–1969	Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers
1969–1975	Chicago Bulls
Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (1967) 7× NBA All-Star (1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1963) 2× Consensus first-team All-American (1961, 1962) Second-team All-American – AP, NABC, UPI (1960) 3× First-team All-MVC (1960–1962) No. 31 retired by Bradley Braves
Career statistics
Points	18,831 (18.2 ppg)
Rebounds	7,314 (7.1 rpg)
Assists	2,126 (2.1 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player

Chester "Chet" Walker (February 22, 1940 – June 8, 2024) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and was selected in 2012 to become a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star. He played 13 seasons in the NBA, seven with the Philadelphia 76ers, and he helped lead the 76ers to an NBA championship in 1967. He played his last six seasons for the Chicago Bulls from 1969 to 1975. He played college basketball for the Bradley Braves, twice earning first-team consensus All-American honors, and was famously "hijacked" to Bradley to keep him from attending the University of Nebraska instead. He also won an Emmy award as a television producer.

Early life

Walker was born in Bethlehem, Mississippi on February 22, 1940, the youngest of John and Regina Walker's ten children. He lived and worked on the family's small cotton farm, until his mother moved with her youngest children to Benton Harbor, MIchigan after the death of Walker's sister and to escape his abusive father. Walker played high school basketball for the Benton Harbor High School boys basketball team, and earned a scholarship to Bradley University, where Walker was a two-time consensus All-America in 1961 and 1962, averaging 24.4 points per game and 12.8 rebounds over three years.

However, prior to attending Bradley in Peoria, Illinois, he and his mother had agreed Walker would attend the University of Nebraska. In one version of events, disc jockey Al Benson went to Walker's home and agreed to take Walker to the airport in Chicago to head to Nebraska, but instead Walker wound up with Bradley's head coach and athletic director who flew him to Peoria to commit to Bradley.

He is the only Bradley Braves player to be a two-time All-America player, and his number 31 was retired by the school in 1976. He graduated from Bradley in 1962 as the school's all-time leading scorer, and is still its fourth all-time scorer (as of June 2024). Bradley won the National Invitation Tournament championship in 1960. They shared the Missouri Valley Conference title in 1962, Walker's senior year. Walker's speed and agility on the court earned him the nickname "Chet the Jet."

Chet Walker of Bradley University during the 1961–62 season

NBA career

Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers (1962–1969)

Walker was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals in the 1962 NBA draft, and was named to the NBA's first All-Rookie Team in 1963. He followed the team to Philadelphia after his rookie season. Walker averaged over 19 points and eight rebounds a game for the 1966–67 76ers, who won 68 games and lost just 13—the best record in NBA history at the time. That Alex Hannum-coached team, which also featured center Wilt Chamberlain, guards Hal Greer and Wali Jones, and sixth man Billy Cunningham, ended the eight-year championship run of the Boston Celtics.

Chicago Bulls (1969–1975)

Chet Walker in the 1969–70 team photo of the Chicago Bulls

Walker played his final six seasons with the Chicago Bulls, and never averaged less than 19.2 points and 5.0 rebounds a game. In his 13-year career, Walker scored a total of 18,831 points. The 6–6 forward was an outstanding free-throw shooter, especially in his later years with the Bulls. He led the NBA with an accuracy rate of 85.9 percent in 1970–71, and ranked among the top-10 free-throw shooters five other times. On February 6, 1972, Walker scored a career-high and then-team-record 56 points during a Bulls win over the Cincinnati Royals.

Walker was a seven-time participant in the NBA All-Star Game.

Role in the player's union

Walker was the Bulls representative to the NBA Players Association in 1970, and was a plaintiff in a federal antitrust lawsuit filed against the NBA. The case settled in 1976, but Walker refused to go along with the settlement. Walker had left the Bulls in the 1975-1976 season over a salary dispute, and continued to litigate individually. In a meeting with the Bulls owner, Walker was informed that if he chose to play again, the NBA took the position that Walker was the Bulls "property", a concept that repulsed Walker. He chose never to play again.

Post playing career

After his playing days, Walker became a moderately successful TV movie producer. He is the author of a memoir entitled Long Time Coming: A Black Athlete's Coming-of-Age in America (1995). He was executive producer of the 1979 television miniseries, Freedom Road, that starred Muhammad Ali and Kris Kristofferson. He co-produced the 1989 television series A Mother's Courage starring Alfre Woodard, based on the life of Mary Thomas, mother of NBA hall of famer Isiah Thomas, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program. Walker also appeared in The White Shadow in season 3's "If Your Number's Up, Get it Down" as a former Chicago Bulls teammate of Coach Ken Reeves (Ken Howard).

On February 24, 2012 (two days after his 72nd birthday), it was announced that Walker was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame by the veterans committee. He was formally inducted into the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, on September 7, 2012.

Death

Walker died in Long Beach, California, on June 8, 2024, at the age of 84. The NBA stated Walker's death is a result of a long-term illness.

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high
†	Won an NBA championship	*	Led the league

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1962–63	Syracuse	78	–	25.5	.469	–	.699	7.2	1.1	–	–	12.3
1963–64	Philadelphia	76	–	36.5	.440	–	.711	10.3	1.6	–	–	17.3
1964–65	Philadelphia	79	–	27.7	.403	–	.742	6.7	1.7	–	–	13.2
1965–66	Philadelphia	80	–	32.5	.451	–	.716	8.0	2.5	–	–	15.3
1966–67†	Philadelphia	81	–	33.2	.488	–	.766	8.1	2.3	–	–	19.3
1967–68	Philadelphia	82	–	32.0	.460	–	.726	7.4	1.9	–	–	17.9
1968–69	Philadelphia	82	–	33.6	.484	–	.804	7.8	1.8	–	–	18.0
1969–70	Chicago	78	–	34.9	.477	–	.850	7.7	2.5	–	–	21.5
1970–71	Chicago	81	–	36.1	.465	–	.859*	7.3	2.2	–	–	22.0
1971–72	Chicago	78	–	33.2	.505	–	.847	6.1	2.3	–	–	22.0
1972–73	Chicago	79	–	31.1	.478	–	.832	5.0	2.3	–	–	19.9
1973–74	Chicago	82	–	32.5	.486	–	.875	5.0	2.4	0.8	0.0	19.3
1974–75	Chicago	76	–	32.3	.487	–	.860	5.7	2.2	0.6	0.1	19.2
Career		1,032	–	32.4	.470	–	.796	7.1	2.1	0.7	0.1	18.2
All-Star		7	1	17.9	.435	–	.850	2.6	1.3	0.0	0.0	8.1
Source:

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1963	Syracuse	5	–	26.0	.509	–	.733	9.4	1.8	–	–	15.2
1964	Philadelphia	5	–	38.0	.390	–	.739	10.4	2.6	–	–	18.8
1965	Philadelphia	11	–	42.6	.480	–	.760	7.2	1.6	–	–	20.3
1966	Philadelphia	5	–	36.2	.375	–	.806	7.4	3.0	–	–	14.6
1967†	Philadelphia	15	–	36.7	.467	–	.807	7.6	2.1	–	–	21.7
1968	Philadelphia	13	–	37.3	.410	–	.679	7.4	1.8	–	–	19.1
1969	Philadelphia	4	–	27.3	.535	–	.667	5.8	2.0	–	–	13.5
1970	Chicago	5	–	35.6	.422	–	.818	8.4	2.2	–	–	19.4
1971	Chicago	7	–	33.4	.440	–	.708	7.1	3.1	–	–	15.0
1972	Chicago	4	–	24.3	.421	–	.813	3.5	1.0	–	–	11.3
1973	Chicago	7	–	32.7	.347	–	.892	8.9	2.0	–	–	16.7
1974	Chicago	11	–	36.6	.509	–	.861	5.5	1.6	0.9	0.1	20.9
1975	Chicago	13	–	33.2	.494	–	.880	4.6	1.8	1.0	0.1	17.5
Career		105	–	35.1	.449	–	.787	7.0	2.0	1.0	0.1	18.2
Source:

See also

• List of NBA career free throw scoring leaders

External links

• Official NBA bio