A question that comes up every year

[Hemingway]

Could this be the season we again see Antoine Walker play for the Celtics? Perhaps no other player in the league draws such heated debated in beantown. One one hand he is the lovable player who played with us through some of the darkest times. A die hard Celtic. On the other hand he is a lazy player who has burned bridges behind him.

Now Mr Walker finds himself in Memphis after a year of sitting the bench in Minny. Will he get a chance there? Perhaps he will be bough out or used in a trade and then released. If and when Walker becomes avalible, should Boston make a call?

Seemingly the answer would be no, but for some of us, there is always the desire to see him in green one more time. I say it really depends on how Our young guys pan out and if Miles sticks and gets playing time. If not, and if Walker comes in with a humble attitude maybe just maybe he could be servacable.

[Prophet_C]

No

He's done. We have no room for him and no time to give to him.

He can stay in our stands and cheer for us when his season is over and we are in the playoffs. That's all we need from Toine.

[Dave_From_NB]

I'm completely of the opinion that I want him no where near the C's. He's not being played because he is far past his (over-rated IMO) prime. Pierce always seemed to have authority conflict issues with Walker, which isn't something that was introduced with KG or RA. It's Pauls team, lets not re-introduce that conflict back. Horrible shot selection, poor conditioning, not a particularly good pro, so it's not like you're bringing in a PJ Brown as a complete positive role model for the kids who could fill a need for the team on the floor. Walker would be a complete distraction, unable to contribute, just no upside except for sentimental reasons for those who enjoyed him being here. Personally I hated the brand of ball played when he was here, throwing up hundreds of bad 3 point shots was not a brand of basketball I hope to ever see by the Celtics again.

[Bad-Thoma]

If 11 of our 15 players go down with injuries I'd be glad to see him back. If it comes to a debate between he and Lucky suiting up I'd have to go with Toine because even though they both need a trampoline to dunk Toine is taller. I've got some fond and not so fond memories of #8's days in Boston, I don't dislike him but he just flat-(or fat)out can't play anymore.

[ParticleMan]

*yawn*.

not this again. please, those of you with antoine walker posters over your bed, GET OVER IT. he was never that good, and he absolutely sucks now.

lock.

[Tricky Ricky]

Id love Antoine, Lowry and Antoine for Ray Allen sounds good to me. seriously though Id love Walker but dont really see a need for him right now.

[LenBiasBaller]

Walker probably considers himself the best player in the world and is a volume shooter...if he knew how to be a role player he would still have a career in this league...omg he makes my blood boil...that damn floater in the lane, he has the worse/most streaky floater in the history of the NBA...watching K-mart make him his bit** in the playoffs was sad to see.

The thing I loved about Ainge when he came to Boston is that he did exactly what I would have done coming in...and that is to get rid of Fatoine at any cost...

[DelMonte West]

Please mention Walker's name in the heading so we know what to expect before we open it. I've never seen a player's prime go downhill as fast as Walker's. Looking to him as an efficient role player is like suggesting Blount to come back to help us with our toughness, rebounding, intensity, and defense.

For the life of me I can't understand the fascination, especially given his recent body of work. He went WELL out of his way to bash Ainge every time he got the chance (even when he *wasn't* the player being interviewed), and now he's a washed-up journeyman vet. Thanks but no thanks.

[Spin Move]

I am pro aintoine being here, every year but this one, he simpley at this stage of his career has nothing to offer us, I think we were too hard on toine, it was a failure of coaching that caused toine to become what he did, if we had clifford ray at the start of toines career he could have been a really great one.

[bruno sundov]

Walker probably considers himself the best player in the world and is a volume shooter...if he knew how to be a role player he would still have a career in this league...omg he makes my blood boil...that damn floater in the lane, he has the worse/most streaky floater in the history of the NBA...watching K-mart make him his bit** in the playoffs was sad to see.

The thing I loved about Ainge when he came to Boston is that he did exactly what I would have done coming in...and that is to get rid of Fatoine at any cost...

No you had right the first time, he has the wort floater in the L. The man is 6'9" tall and his shot is so flat because he can hardly leave his feet to give the ball ac hacne to go in. He sucks.

[Prophet_C]

*yawn*.

not this again. please, those of you with antoine walker posters over your bed, GET OVER IT. he was never that good, and he absolutely sucks now.

lock.

[lojowo]

Makes me wonder, would Walker shoot more or less on this team then Cassell did last year? Whats the over under per 48 minutes and would Walker lead the time in that category. Hmmmmm

[DelMonte West]

Makes me wonder, would Walker shoot more or less on this team then Cassell did last year?

Unless there's a hidden gene in the human body that allows someone to be capable of shooting at a higher rate. To use a Ralph Wiggum-ism: "That's unpossible!"

Sam reminded me of those handheld basketball toys that were pretty popular in the 80s when I was a kid. Once you put the basketball in the player's spring-enforced hands, you pulled them back to make him fire a rocket of a shot towards the little hoop. Replace the generic basketball player's face from the toy with Sam's ugly mug and there you have it.

[eloper]

Despite the disaster of a basketball player he is/was, I'll admit that I've always loved watching him play. The guy genuinely enjoyed playing for us...it's a shame that he never understood his limits as a player. I'd love to see him sitting on the bench, waving a towel in that Scalabrine role, because I feel he truly loved being a Celtic and I'd love to see him get a ring in even the smallest role as a Celtic, but if it means him getting on the court and jeopardizing the team's ability to win....no thanks.

[tlee324]

I really don't think he can do much for Boston now either, but to his credit he did play a role for Miami while players like Wade and O'Neal took the lead to a ring. The Walker Era in Boston ended a few years ago, and I'm glad we've turned that page.

[OBisHalJordan]

i think all this walker bashing is over the top and, frankly, a symptom of the bad qualities of being a fan. if the celtics had got the number one pick instead of five, traded pierce and started over with young' uns, it would have been a field day for that cadre of pierce haters on this board that wanted to trade him after ever bad game he played from 2002-2007. all we would hear about would be pierce's flaws. just like majority of points being brought up are either about antione's flaws or just insults (that's he fat) or just like darius miles suddenly become gold now that he's a celtic.

from everything i've ever heard walker or pierce say and everything, i've ever seen written about them they were very close friends. they played when the played together on the court they just seemed to click. i always loved when pierce would seal his man in the paint and walker would throw the perfect lob to him for the easy two. beautiful. Dave from NB, do you actually have any facts to support what you say?

antione is not an idiot his time since maimi has been very humbling i guarantee he doesn't consider himself the best player in the league, if he ever did. the fact is walker, like all players, was incomplete. like spin move said, if the team had clifford ray instead of pinto and OB walker's career might have panned out very differently. the fact remains, antione, at one point, was very good, if flawed player, who, despite his flaws, was a lot better than most of the players in the NBA. he was one of the few reasons to watch the celtics for a long time and added a lot of joy and entertainment for a lot of celtics fans. he played a big role on a title teams and deserves some respect. he doesn't really have a role on this team and he did drop off suddenly but there is not reason to hate. i'd love the team to cut scal and get him for some veteran leadership and erratic minutes.

here is some you tube antione goodness to remind the haters what once was and could have been:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMoUXZxV ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4jzhpvAUmg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj1t9W8WZwo

[Dave_From_NB]

from everything i've ever heard walker or pierce say and everything, i've ever seen written about them they were very close friends. they played when the played together on the court they just seemed to click. i always loved when pierce would seal his man in the paint and walker would throw the perfect lob to him for the easy two. beautiful. Dave from NB, do you actually have any facts to support what you say?

No, I thought it was the case there were conflicts the second time around, but I certainly could be wrong. It doesn't change my overall opinion, I would be disappointed if he is back. As a BB player, I don't think he has enough game to be a factor at this point.

[celtics543]

I'd bring him back as an assistant coach, but he's pretty much done as a player at this point. He does seem to be good at firing everyone up though, as he was the one who got in Pierces face during the 2002 conference finals.

I think Antoine gets unfairly criticized because we weren't a good team when he was here. I know he was a volume shooter, but to be fair, he really didn't have much around him other than Pierce. Antoine was a GREAT passing big man, and had the range of a guard. His shot selection wasn't very good, but I truly think that he took a lot of those shots because he thought he had to for the team to win. He was also a great rebounder and could play the "point-forward" as good as anyone.

The thing that really made me like Antoine though was that he LOVED, and I mean LOVED, being a Boston Celtic. He appreciated the history of the team and even after he left it was obvious that he wanted to be here. He loved the fans of Boston and really worked as hard as he could in every game to try and win. I'll agree he wasted a lot of the talent that he had, but in my opinion that's more to do with subpar coaching and having a terrible team around him.

[bruno sundov]

Fatoine is fairly criticized because his flaws were so exterme. Dude you are 6'9" and can pass, have a horrid jumper, maybe you should play close to the basket. That is a fair and accurate criticism of Fatoine. Dude used none of his skillers for the betterment of the team. As P2 called him, the biggest chucker ever. All criticism towards Fatoine is fair.

[GreenGrizz]

Antonie Walker got a wide body. He can shoot, dribble and pass. I am getting sick of seeing KG getting pushed around or being trapped.