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Walker Camping Out with Jordan
June 7, 2022

The club's co-captain has jumped into a daily regimen that includes weight training and conditioning, as well as pickup games with some guy named Michael Jordan.

Tim Grover
The Celtics could ask for no better situation for Walker, who is now under the watchful eye of trainer Tim Grover, a so-called sports enhancement specialist who has worked personally with Jordan since 1989.

Grover recently opened a facility here that, with Jordan's help, has lured the area's top players.

"Antoine's decided to make the commitment and he's been very good about it,'' said Grover, taking in a session at the NBA's pre-draft camp. "Once he starts really seeing results, it will absolutely draw him in even more.

"I'm sure the first thing that got people like Antoine here is that we have the best organized pickup basketball games they can find anywhere. And because it's a complete facility, they can do their weight training and conditioning and play their ball in one spot.

"I took Antoine on a tour of the place and he signed up right away and he hasn't missed a day in the two and a half weeks he's been with us.''

This isn't the first time Walker engaged in a physical conditioning program in his hometown, but other efforts have fallen off. However, working with the trainer who helped Jordan so much and getting to play against Michael is expected to keep Walker in the fold.

"We have everyone sign a contract. Antoine signed one,'' Grover said. "It puts down in writing what we expect of him and what he can accomplish. There's no money involved in the contract; it just states what the player has to commit to. And there's no escape clause. We take this very seriously and we expect the athletes to do the same.

"To do this right, you have to make the commitment to it. It has to be part of your normal routine, like going to practice and going to games,'' Grover said. "It has to get to the point where if you don't work out, you feel like you're missing something in your day.''

Grover already had knowledge of Walker's game and physical needs and has put him on a program designed to maximize his skills and energy.

"Antoine's coming up on his sixth year and he's played a lot of minutes,'' Grover said. "I told him he already has a lot of mileage on his body and that if he wants to keep producing and producing well he needs to start making changes in his dietary habits and his training. He's not overweight necessarily. He just needs to relocate a few things and get a little stronger.

"He's starting to listen. He's starting to feel what he can really do. I'd say Antoine's been performing at about 75 to 80 percent of his capacity. When he gets his body to its full potential and adds that 20 to 25 percent, it's going to make him just a phenomenal player.''

Former Celtics coach Rick Pitino was on Walker to decide what type of player he wanted to be - Karl Malone or Scottie Pippen - and then fit his body to that style of game. But Grover said a choice isn't necessary.

"You can do a combination,'' he said. "Antoine has some special abilities on the floor and the program he does has to play to that. He can take people down low and score on them, and he can go out to the perimeter and take guys off the dribble. There's no reason he can't do both well with one body.''

The fact Walker is spending time on weight training every day is a major move, a practice about which Jordan became religious. Walker has always been willing to play basketball all day during his offseason, but now he's getting a good mix. And that mix will continue - by rule.

"We don't allow guys to play in the games unless they've worked out first,'' said Grover. "And they definitely don't want to miss playing in these games.''

Celtics notes

Club COO Rich Pond had no comment yesterday on testimony in a case against an Atlanta strip club owner that made reference to Walter McCarty.

Thomas "Ziggy'' Sicignano, a manager of the Gold Club, said owner Steve Kaplan went with strippers to the New York Knicks postseason training camp in Charleston, S.C., in 1997. There, he testified at the trial in Atlanta, the girls had sex with McCarty, then a rookie with the Knicks, John Wallace and Dontae' Jones, a former Celtic.

"I can't really comment on it because I don't have full knowledge of the situation,'' Pond said. "It's not something we're looking into right now.''