By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-03-21 13:37:01
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
费城76人队的朗尼·沃克四世在2025年3月9日星期日的NBA篮球比赛中在费城进行比赛。(美联社照片/Matt Slocum)
上个月的某一天，朗尼·沃克四世(Lonnie Walker IV)醒来后发现自己在火星上打篮球。
好吧，不一定是火星。
但在沃克看来，立陶宛和NBA的距离，就像太阳系第四颗岩石行星一样遥远。
“我把自己置于一个非常不舒服的境地，”沃克说道，他曾是马刺队的首轮选秀。“只是为了让自己在场上和场下都成为一个更好的人。”
当然，除了自我实现之外，沃克前往立陶宛考纳斯的一支俱乐部球队打球，还有其他原因。
那是一份工作。
周五，沃克作为费城76人队的一员回到了霜冻银行中心。自从他在2021-22赛季末离开圣安东尼奥后，很多事情都发生了变化。
在马刺队放弃沃克后，这位反复无常的6尺4寸后卫与勒布朗·詹姆斯(LeBron James)和洛杉矶湖人队一起度过了一个赛季，又与重建中的布鲁克林篮网队度过了一个赛季。
这两个机会都没有留下他。
去年秋天在波士顿的训练营中被裁掉后，沃克曾短暂考虑过加入凯尔特人队在缅因州的G联赛球队的邀请。
最终，他选择了来自地球另一端的报价。
为立陶宛联赛的Zalagiris Kaunas效力，其利弊显而易见。它比G联赛的薪水更高，但会让他离NBA更远。
“老实说，这是我青年时期最重要的部分之一，”26岁的沃克在费城告诉记者。“离家这么远，你有很多独处的时间，很多时候只是在镜子里审视自己，并让自己承担责任。”
与此同时，那些在圣安东尼奥认识沃克的人，在他环游世界时从未失去对他的关注。
费城76人队的朗尼·沃克四世在2025年3月9日星期日的NBA篮球比赛中在费城进行比赛。(美联社照片/Matt Slocum)
沃克在2018年以第18顺位被选中，是马刺队自蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)以来选中的最高顺位球员。
在后来的几年里，这个头衔被其他几个人超越。当时，这意味着沃克在圣安东尼奥的出现，伴随着过度的炒作。
他成为了镇上的常客，在H-E-B超市或他最喜欢的炸玉米饼店里立刻就能认出来。
当时马刺队正处于争冠和重建之间的尴尬境地，沃克的职业生涯始终未能真正起飞。
他在第三个赛季场均得到11.2分，在第四个赛季创下职业生涯最高的12.1分，之后马刺队拒绝与他续签新合同。
于是，开始了沃克通往立陶宛的游牧之旅。
“有很多球员不会去立陶宛，没有任何承诺，也没有任何实际的回报，”马刺队代理教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)说，他在沃克被选中时就在球队工作。“他只是想打篮球，并证明他有足够的能力重返这个联盟。而他所做的，正是如此。”
凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)和德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)是马刺队中仅有的两名还留在队中，并且和沃克一起效力过的球员。约翰逊说他仍然经常和沃克互发短信。
“他曾是这里大家庭的一员，”约翰逊说。
沃克去立陶宛的期望是打完一个完整的赛季。当NBA再次意外地打来电话时，这条消息最初进入了语音信箱。
当他的经纪人打电话通知他76人队的报价时，沃克正在睡觉。
“我错过了大约30个电话，”他说。
几天后，沃克正准备回家——真的是回家了。沃克是宾夕法尼亚州雷丁人，在距离富国银行中心80分钟车程的地方长大，76人队在那里进行主场比赛。
如果沃克说他从小就梦想为Zalagiris Kaunas效力，那他就是在撒谎。但他确实从小就梦想着成为下一个朱·霍勒迪(Jrue Holiday)或安德烈·伊戈达拉(Andre Iguodala)。
“这太不真实了，”沃克说。
当然，如果没有更多的坎坷，沃克的凯旋回归就不会完整。
在周五之前，沃克已经代表费城出场10次，场均得到8.1分——包括对阵犹他时得到25分，对阵波士顿时得到17分。
在3月12日输给多伦多的比赛中，沃克在第一个轮换上场20秒后的一次可怕的摔倒，导致他脑震荡。他错过了76人队的接下来四场比赛，但被列为周五与马刺队比赛可能出战的球员。
无论如何，马刺队的成员都期待着见到他们这位四处漂泊的前队友。
“我为朗尼感到非常自豪，”凯尔登·约翰逊说。“每个人的道路都不同。看到他回到这里，仍然保持着高水平的比赛，这表明他有能力在任何地方打篮球。”
然而，在火星和费城之间，毫无疑问沃克更喜欢哪个篮球之家。
“这绝对是我职业生涯中一个完整的轮回，”沃克说。“我真的很荣幸能来到这里。”
Philadelphia 76ers’ Lonnie Walker IV, center, goes up for a shot between Utah Jazz’s Kyle Filipowski, left, and Brice Sensabaugh during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Lonnie Walker IV, de los 76ers de Filadelfia, a la derecha, sube para un tiro contra Svi Mykhailiuk, del Jazz de Utah, durante la segunda mitad de un partido de baloncesto de la NBA, el domingo 9 de marzo de 2025, en Filadelfia. (AP Foto/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers’ Lonnie Walker IV, right, goes up for a shot against Utah Jazz’s Kyle Filipowski during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) shoots against Philadelphia 76ers guard Lonnie Walker IV (16) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Philadelphia 76ers guard Lonnie Walker IV (16) drives against Atlanta Hawks guard Terance Mann (14) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Philadelphia 76ers’ Lonnie Walker IV plays during an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
点击查看原文：Well-traveled Lonnie Walker returns with Philadelphia 76ers
Well-traveled Lonnie Walker returns with Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers’ Lonnie Walker IV plays during an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Lonnie Walker IV woke up one day last month to find himself playing basketball on Mars.
Well, not Mars specifically.
But in Walker’s mind, Lithuania felt about as close to the NBA as the fourth rock from the sun.
“I put myself in a very uncomfortable situation,” said Walker, a former first-round draft pick of the Spurs. “Just to become a better man on and off the court.”
There was, of course, a reason beyond mere self-actualization that brought Walker to play for the club team in the middle-sized town of Kaunas, Lithuania.
It was a job.
Walker was back in the Frost Bank Center on Friday as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. Much has changed since he left San Antonio at the end of the 2021-22 season.
After the Spurs let Walker walk, the mercurial 6-foot-4 guard spent one season alongside LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the rebuilding Brooklyn Nets.
Neither opportunity stuck.
Cut from training camp in Boston last fall, Walker briefly considered an invitation to join the Celtics’ G League squad in Maine.
He ultimately opted for an offer on the other side of the world.
The tradeoff in playing for Zalagiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian league was clear. It paid better than the G League, but it would take him further away from the NBA.
“It was honestly one of the more important parts of my young adult life,” the 26-year-old Walker told reporters in Philadelphia. “Being so far from home, you have a lot of time of solitude, a lot of time of just looking at yourself in the mirror and holding yourself accountable.”
Meanwhile, those who knew Walker in San Antonio never lost track of him as he hopscotched the globe.
Philadelphia 76ers’ Lonnie Walker IV plays during an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Selected 18th overall in 2018, Walker arrived with the designation as the Spurs’ highest drafted player since Tim Duncan.
It is a label several others would surpass in the years since. At the time, it meant Walker alighted in San Antonio amid an outsized dose of hoopla.
He became a fixture around town, instantly recognizable at H-E-B or his favorite taco shops.
Playing for a Spurs team at the time caught in the uncomfortable purgatory between contending and rebuilding, Walker’s career never quite achieved liftoff.
He averaged 11.2 points in his third season and a career-best 12.1 in his fourth, after which the Spurs declined to re-sign him to a new contract.
Thus began the nomad’s journey that led Walker to Lithuania.
“There’s a lot of guys that wouldn’t go to Lithuania, with no promises and nothing really to show for it,” said Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson, who was on staff when Walker was drafted. “He just wanted to play basketball and prove that he was good enough to get back in this league. That’s exactly what he has done.”
Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell are the only members of the Spurs roster still around from Walker’s time with the team. Johnson said he continues to exchange regular texts with Walker.
“He was part of the family here,” Johnson said.
Walker went to Lithuania with the expectation of sticking out a full season. When the NBA came unexpectedly calling again, the message initially went to voicemail.
Walker was asleep when his agent called to inform him of the 76ers’ offer.
“I missed like 30 calls,” he said.
A few days later, Walker was headed home – literally. A native of Reading, Penn., Walker grew up an 80-minute drive from the Wells Fargo Center, where the Sixers play their home games.
Walker would be lying if he said he grew up dreaming playing for Zalagiris Kaunas. He did, however, grow up fantasizing of becoming the next Jrue Holiday or Andre Iguodala.
“It’s surreal,” Walker said.
Of course, Walker’s triumphant return wouldn’t be complete without more speed bumps.
Heading into Friday, Walker had appeared in 10 games with Philadelphia and was averaging 8.1 points – including a 25-point effort against Utah and 17 against Boston.
A frightening fall 20 seconds into his first shift of a March 12 loss at Toronto left Walker with a concussion. He missed the Sixers’ next four games, but was listed as probable for Friday’s meeting with the Spurs.
One way or another, members of the Spurs were looking forward to seeing their well-traveled former teammate.
“I’m extremely proud of Lonnie,” Keldon Johnson said. “Everyone’s path is different. To see him come back here and still playing at a high level, it shows you he’s capable of playing basketball anywhere.”
Between Mars or Philadelphia, however, there is no question which basketball home Walker prefers.
“This is for sure a full-circle moment in my career,” Walker said. “I’m just truly blessed to be here.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News