The Charlotte Hornets lost Wednesday night, but Kemba Walker reached a franchise milestone.
The Charlotte Hornets’ fading playoff hopes probably took a final hit with a 118-105 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night. But Kemba Walker had a typically solid effort (21 points, four assists and two rebounds). With his final two points of the night, late in the fourth quarter, Walker broke a tie with Del Curry to become the leading scorer in Hornets’ franchise history (9,841 points over his almost seven seasons).
Walker has been the subject of trade rumors, and with his contract set to expire after next season that talk won’t be going away anytime soon. He recently reiterated his desire to stay with the Hornets but also to win more, having been to the playoffs just twice in his career. Walker acknowledged the direction a new GM takes the team will have a significant say in his future, which may include trading him to fully accelerate a rebuild in Charlotte.
Here’s the history-making basket for Walker, with Curry working as the game analyst for Fox Sports Southeast.
What other play could it be? Kemba becomes the Hornets franchise leader in points scored! 🔥🏀🔥 @KumhoTireUSA #kumhotirereplay #CLEatCHA #buzzcity https://t.co/qrunKSuqda
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) March 29, 2018
Hornets owner Michael Jordan was among many to acknowledge Walker’s accomplishment.
https://twitter.com/hornets/status/979172898366742528
And LeBron James, who of course was on the opposing team Wednesday night, did so as well.
"If you can be the all-time leading scorer in any franchise, that's an incredible feat."
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) March 29, 2018
LeBron James on @KembaWalker becoming the new Hornets all-time scoring leader. #BuzzCity https://t.co/xPp6ytLoV0
Walker is wrapping up another very good season, averaging 23.0 points, 5.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game over 74 games played thus far. It will be his third straight season averaging more than 20 points per contest, which has mostly gone unnoticed playing for a team that’s off the radar nationally.
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Walker emerged on the national stage as a junior at UConn in 2011, as he led the country in scoring and left a historical impression with his epic five-game Big East Tournament run. Now he has another big March moment to remember in his career.