Kemba Walker has now conquered two of New York’s most famous sports landmarks.
Just one day after declaring for the NBA draft, the former Rice High School standout smiled, raised his hands and threw a strike to Yankees catcher Russell Martin before last night’s game with Baltimore.
Walker and the rest of his NCAA champion Connecticut Huskies basketball team met with past World Series champions, such as Derek Jeter, earlier in the day.
“That was pretty amazing,” Walker said. “He’s one of the more famous guys in baseball so for us to get a chance to shake his hand and him acknowledging us winning the championship is pretty amazing.”
Walker also was asked to sign a ball by manager Joe Girardi and appreciated how much attention the Yankees paid to their run.
“They all like sports and we had an amazing run and everybody likes that regardless if they play football, baseball or whatever,” Walker said. “It was an amazing run. So for those guys to come up and acknowledge us and tell us how good a run we had, it’s cool. It’s cool to hear from those guys.”
Also cool for Walker will be hearing his name called at the NBA draft. The latest mock draft has Walker being a late lottery pick, though the possibility always exists of becoming a Knick or Net.
“I haven’t thought about it, but it would definitely be special,” Walker said. “To have MSG as my home would be amazing. If that happened, I’d be thrilled.”
