Every NBA All-Star had gone through a rigid, tiring process before they tasted the sweet hint of success. Charlotte Hornets star point guard Kemba Walker is no exception to that and he mentioned one man who is responsible for his resurgence: Hornets assistant coach Jay Hernandez.

Known for his killer crossovers and clutch genes, Kardiac Kemba, as he's come to be known, says that his style of play right now is a progressive result of the endless hours he put in with Hernandez, per Sports Illustrated's Jake Fischer.

Walker had already blossomed into Kardiac Kemba, delivering myriad step-back, game-winning daggers throughout the Huskies’ magical postseason run. NBA schemes, though, would present countless pick-and-roll opportunities, decreasing solo isolations and requiring Walker to undergo a total makeover. The way he now slithers through trapping defenders out of high-screen actions, dancing past help en route to the tin, Walker learned from Hernandez. Those sessions marked the first time Walker whipped his killer crossover underneath 12-inch agility hurdles.

“A lot of my moves I do before the pick and roll to set my man up, a lot of those moves to get my man leaning one way, a lot of that stuff’s from Jay,” Walker says. “I do all those crazy split the ball screens, a lot of that is from Jay.”

“We have a special connection,” Walker says. “His workouts are just amazing. A lot of these workout guys, the new guys I see on social media, he’s been doing that. He can actually do the stuff he’s teaching. He’s unbelievable at this stuff. He’ll do the move, boom, boom, boom, perfect, and make the shot. He played, he knows, he understands. I got a lot of respect for that man. I gotta give him a lot of credit for a lot of my success as well.”

With Hernandez joining new Hornets coach James Borrego in the sidelines, expect Walker to be even better than the All-Star that he was last season. He will be the undisputed leader of the young Hornets still groping for team identity.