Walker Proves to Be a Different Breed of Cat
A knick-knack in a row of porcelain, the Laker starting power forward has recently been known less for his ability than his eccentricities.
A.C. Green wore a bear on his head.
Horace Grant wore the gaudiest set of eyewear this side of Elton John.
Which brings us to Samaki Walker, about whom little is known other than, his face is on intimate terms with Kobe Bryant’s fist.
“It’s Los Angeles, man,” Walker said with a laugh when reminded of the publicity surrounding their bumpy midseason bus ride. “Anything goes.”
The latest Laker corner piece is a pleasant sort, acutely aware of the warmth found within the shadow of the two best players in the game.
But he also understands that, this time of year, the town and team are dying for a reason to recognize him.
Particularly beginning today in the first round of the playoffs against Portland.
Especially with Rasheed Wallace on the court, and maybe Robert Horry on the bench.
“He’s got his hands full,” Coach Phil Jackson said.
And who exactly is he?
Besides being a decent rebounder and defender prone to spells of fouling and stubbornness?
Well, Walker thought about being the bald guy.
There was an idea initiated a couple of weeks ago that everyone shave their heads, and Walker was ready.
“But at the last minute, a couple of guys reneged,” he said, and we’re obviously hoping that one of them was Mark Madsen.
Then Walker thought about being the headband guy. He recently began wearing one, and it looks quite sporting.
“I’ve got a nice little round head for it,” he said.
But this team already has a headband guy, his name is Derek Fisher, so Walker needs something else.
Actually, he has something else.
But, perhaps appropriately, it’s the one thing we can’t see.
It’s under his jersey, snaking around his left breast over his heart.
A tattoo of a black panther.
“The cheetah and the leopard get all the publicity, you never hear about the panther,” he said. “It’s a low-key, ferocious animal.”
The only way fans will ever eye this symbol is if the Trail Blazers are shirts, and the Lakers are skins, but usually it’s the Trail Blazers who are angrily tearing off their clothes.
More likely is that Walker becomes known by using the same relentless energy of those who trudged before him.
Heavy legs and all, Grant was the veteran who last year was the first to flip on that much-hyped switch, scoring 12 points in the first quarter of the first game of the amazing playoff run.
Fading skills and all, Green was the veteran who knew when to flip that switch off, playing one of his best games in the last game of the last series of the Lakers 2000 championship.
It is difficult to tell whether Walker, 26, who has never won a title at any level, can understand those moments.
His statistics, for example, are more difficult to digest than the offerings in Jackson’s midseason book club.
His increased minutes meant career highs in every important category. He had 17 rebounds in one game, five blocked shots in another, and recorded six double-doubles.
Yet the Lakers were actually better when he didn’t play, going 10-3 in games that he missed and going 48-21 when he showed up.
He thinks like a center, which makes him an occasional good replacement for Shaquille O’Neal.
But when he’s playing power forward, which is most of the time, it makes him susceptible to the roaming, agile play of the conference’s best power forwards.
“He has a big-man’s mentality, but you need to be a lot more of a shooter in this offense,” Horry said. “So we’re always kidding him to move out more, to shoot more.”
He is the only player on the Lakers’ postseason roster who did not take a three-pointer during the season, keeping his career mark at a perfect one for one.
Fine, he doesn’t have to imitate Horry. But a few more 15-footers might be nice.
“He’s going to have to play outside more,” Jackson said.
Both offensively and defensively, a sacrificial move that Walker says suits him fine.
“When I came here, I left my ego on the table,” he said. “This is not about me. ... This is about winning a championship.”
Around here the last three years, nearly everybody who has said that has meant it.
We will, then, give Walker the benefit of the doubt. But we will be watching.
Hard to believe, especially on a team with such stars, but everybody will be watching.
“It’s not about the spotlight,” Walker said. “It’s about doing what you can to win.”
He certainly has the nerve for it. Who else would stand up to Bryant in a dispute over a rebounding bet? Who else was unafraid to irritate one of the team leaders enough that Bryant would punch him?
“Kobe and I are fine, we talked it out, man to man,” he said.
His next such conversation begins today, with Wallace.
Then, if all goes well, he’ll be talking in a couple of weeks with Tim Duncan.
Then, eventually, we suspect the debate will rage with Chris Webber.
Which should bring Samaki Walker’s attentions to the black panther on his breast, a thoughtful, inspiring bit of symbolism in that it is far less whacko than a bear on his head.
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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com
