It’s safe to say that Boston Celtics star Kemba Walker will be playing extra hard to defeat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night.
The guard’s former teammate, Frank Kaminsky, recently said Walker badly wants to beat James since he has never defeated the four-time MVP in his entire NBA career.
“I know he still thinks about it a little bit,” said Kaminsky, Walker’s teammate for four seasons with the Charlotte Hornets. “And he wants to beat him.”
Kaminsky added that Walker has joked about his lopsided record against James, but also said that there is likely anger behind Walker’s jokes.
“With Kemba, when he jokes about those things, you can tell he’s kind of upset about it,” Kaminsky said. “That’s just his personality.
“He will make jokes about it, but you know in the back of his mind [beating LeBron] is something he wants to do.”
Walker, 29, has a record of 0-28 against James in combined games in the regular season and playoffs throughout his career. Although that record is atrocious, Walker’s Hornets teams have been severely undermanned against James’ star-studded squads in the past.
However, the veteran guard is now on the best team he’s ever been on with the Celtics. He has significant help with rising stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the roster.
Under the University of Connecticut product’s leadership, the Celtics are currently the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Walker is putting up a team-high 22.1 points and 4.9 assists per game this season.
Meanwhile, James has led the Lakers to one of the best records in the NBA.
The four-time MVP is putting up 25.5 points, 10.9 assists and 7.7 boards per game this season.
