There’s perhaps no other player that embodies the Los Angeles Lakers’ rollercoaster ride during the 2022-23 season more than Lonnie Walker IV.
Walker went from being a starter who played well to getting benched after the trade deadline. However, Walker had his time in the spotlight after erupting in the fourth quarter of Game 4 against the Golden State Warriors, a game that he called the greatest feeling.
Following the Lakers’ exit from the 2023 playoffs, Walker outlined how his conversation with Rob Pelinka and Darvin Ham went.
“Just understanding how the season went overall, the ups and downs and being able to weather the storm and staying ready and even off-court things and whatnot and just finding balance of it all. I think overall we just talked about how great it was. I think this was a very defining moment as far as in my career. Becoming like a man and understanding the business side of things and understanding the best is yet to come. I think that’s the best thing is just understanding my capabilities and really locking in even more this summer and trying to get to my goals.”
The athletic guard deserves a ton of credit for fighting through so much adversity and he attributed his perseverance to a simple lesson and mantra.
“That my story ain’t finished,” Walker said. “It’s funny that I was saying it because I was playing so well I had end goals. I was already thinking of like the possibilities of getting a new contract and whatnot and this, that and a third. So when I stopped playing, it was kind of like man just keep your head down, be professional and play as hard as you can. And to my parents, to my mom, to my brother, like you can ask them a thousand times I always said it only takes one game. And I kept repeating it, it only takes one game.
“I think I kind of manifested that to not being able to play and then playing in a huge game and impacting multiple games. I just had to keep fighting. I know that the story ain’t over, that even if I didn’t play the rest of this year that there was going to be another opportunity elsewhere, if not here again. And I just gotta use the opportunity. Every day is a new opportunity to be something special and I just take that with great confidence and importance.”
Heading into free agency, Walker should be an interesting name for teams after seeing what he could in high-leverage games. A reunion with Los Angeles isn’t out of the question, though it’ll be interesting to see how the two sides negotiate in the summer.
Lonnie Walker IV details what he’s looking for in free agency
As far as what Walker wants in free agency, he focused on what he could do on the court versus a dollar amount.
“Just being able to impact winning. If a team sees something in me, whether it’s here or elsewhere just being able to play Lonnie Walker basketball and do what I can do to the best of my capabilities. But I mean we’ll see how that goes.”
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