With the Boston Celtics slated to make their season debut on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, there is certainly a lot of buzz surrounding this early season matchup between these two contending sides. Former Celtics star Antoine Walker is all in on the hype, as he has been all summer long. One thing, in particular, the 43-year-old appears to be very excited about is the fact that new Boston recruit Kemba Walker (no relation, by the way) will be donning Antoine's prized No. 8 jersey number.
“I know a number of people have worn number eight since I left,” Antoine said during a phone call Tuesday afternoon, via Jay King of The Athletic. “But to see it on a guy like Kemba Walker, who actually has the last name I’ve got, he kind of made people remember me in Boston. And I think that’s the great thing about it. People that may have forgotten about me now remember me again. And now they can bring back out those old No. 8 jerseys.”
Antoine did have a pretty memorable career for Boston, playing in no less than eight seasons for the C's. The three-time All-Star boasts career averages of 20.6 points (on 41.3 percent shooting), 8.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.6 blocks, while also connecting on 1.7 three-pointers per game.
The retired former three-time All-Star also went on to share how he felt when Kemba reached out to him to ask for permission to wear Boston's No. 8 shirt.
“I felt honored,” said Antoine, who believes Kemba will post huge numbers for the Celtics. “For him to reach out to me made me feel very special as a player. Because number one, he watched me and respected what I did. He understands the tradition, he understands my career in Boston. That was the main thing. I know he was an East Coast guy, so I feel very humbled. And I think it’s going to the right person.”
Kemba Walker will look to establish himself as Boston's new cornerstone superstar this season. What better way to kick things off than with a victory against one of their bitter rivals in the Sixers?
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