Walker played basketball on the streets of Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. Originally a bit overweight as a teen, he worked on his game for hours, even alone, at the Lewis School playground. An older player from Cambridge, Massachusetts, Francis "Rindge" Jefferson, who had played at Kentucky State, took an interest in the 14-year-old Walker, already 6'2". Jefferson worked with the middle school star. A semi-pro team Jefferson was involved in, the Bruins, even took Walker along as a player, by the time he was 15, in statewide semipro tournaments against former college stars. Walker also played with the Bruin Juniors. He starred at Boston Trade High School, and was noticed in the schoolyards by Celtics' star Sam Jones. Jones took an interest in the 6'3" teenager, and steered the average student to his own alma mater, Laurinburg Institute, a black preparatory school in North Carolina once attended by Dizzy Gillespie. At Laurinburg, Walker improved his grades. It was when his cousin Bill Blair was being recruited by Providence College, that he told then-Coach Joe Mullaney, "You should see my cousin Jimmy".
College career
Walker attended Providence college, where he played for Coach Mullaney. In Walker's sophomore year, the Friars were the third-ranked team in the nation, but lost a 109-69 forty-point blowout to Princeton and their All AmericanBill Bradley in the Eastern Regional Finals. The following year, the Friars were set to return all five starters, including James Benedict, Bill Blair and future NBA player Mike Riordan; however, they lost starting center Dexter Westbrook due to academic issues that ultimately forced him out of Providence. At Providence, Walker's game was compared to that of the premier player of the era, Cincinnati Royals superstar Oscar Robertson. Walker averaged 23 points as a junior, and led the nation with 30 points per game as a senior. His career high of 50 points came in the 1965 Madison Square Garden Holiday Basketball Festival title game, when Providence defeated Bob Cousy's Boston College team 91-86 to win the tournament. For his efforts, Walker was named MVP of the tournament. Walker was also named MVP of the 1966 Holiday Festival when Providence defeated Saint Joseph's University and Cliff Anderson in the title game. With the two awards, Walker was the first player to be named MVP in the Holiday Festival two years in a row. He was considered to be the first college players to use the between-the-legs dribble as a cross-over move. Walker led the nation in scoring in his senior year of 1966–67, averaging 30.4 points a game. He caught and passed UCLA's Lew Alcindor in the final weeks of the season. Walker's 2,000-plus career points led Providence for four decades, until his all-time scoring record was broken in 2005 by Ryan Gomes. Walker was able to accomplish this in only three seasons; at the time, freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball. Jimmy Walker ended his college career in the quarterfinals of the 1967 NIT in the last basketball tournament held at the third Madison Square Garden, when he scored 36 points but missed a jump shot at the end of the game as Providence bowed to Marquette 81-80 in overtime. Walker later said that the missed shot was the only thing that went wrong for him in Madison Square Garden. Overall, Walker averaged 25.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in his three seasons at Providence.
NBA career
Walker was selected #1 overall pick in the 1967 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons. He was also drafted #1 overall in the first American Basketball Association Draft by the Indiana Pacers. 1967 was the first year the NBA had abandoned its territorial draft. Walker was also the final pick in the 1967 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, despite never having played college football; this makes Walker the only athlete drafted first by one pro league and last by another. Despite playing in two NBA All-Star games, Walker never reached his full potential as a pro, partly due to his weight gain. His game had been predicated on quickness. Nonetheless, he averaged 20.8 ppg in 1969–70, 21.3 in 1971–72, 19.8 in 1973–74, and averaged almost 17 per game over a nine-year career. The numbers are all the more impressive when one considers that Walker teamed with star guards such as Dave Bing in Detroit, and Nate Archibald in Kansas City-Omaha. Overall in 698 games with the Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Kansas City Kings, Walker averaged 16.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists in his NBA career.
Personal life
"I was hurt, saddened, and selfishly disappointed that we never got a chance to meet," said Jalen Rose, at his father's funeral in 2007. "You want to know something? We were supposed to meet this month, we were supposed to meet this month." The two had spoken on the phone several times before Walker's death.
Honors
The basketball award at Providence is called the Jimmy Walker Most Valuable Player Award. In 2008, Providence honored Walker's number with The Friar Legends Forever Tradition. Jalen Rose hosted the Providence Late Night Event in 2014.
