Hard work was instilled into the Laker guard’s DNA at an early age.
Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Lonnie Walker IV has proven to be a very nice addition to an LA squad that has been trying to discover identity this year. Averaging a career-high in both points per game and field goal percentage, he has stepped up while playing under the bright lights of Hollywood.
Nicknamed “Sky-Walker” by Lakers announcer Stu Lantz, the former Miami Hurricane has brought Crypto.com Arena to its feet with some amazing highlight plays this season. He punches home some electric dunks but he is also able to hang in the air for long periods of time and finish acrobatic layups around the rim.
To put Walker’s unique athletic ability into perspective, he recorded a 40-inch vertical at his 2018 NBA Draft Combine which was just behind former dunk contest participants Anfernee Simons and Hamidou Diallo.
The young guard joined Buckets for an episode of their “Outta Pocket” podcast and shared how his father played a vital role in helping him develop his explosiveness that is now such a big part of his skillset.
“People ask why do I jump so high?,” said Walker. “One of the main reasons is because after every single practice since third grade and up, my dad would make me do 400-500 box jumps”.
Walker has come up big for LA this season, particularly near the beginning prior to the Russell Westbrook trade. His best game came against the New Orleans Pelicans on November 2 where he scored 28 points and came out with the win.
Unfortunately, ever since the Lakers completed their blockbuster deal at the deadline and brought back a bunch of new faces, Walker has become the odd man out for now. With more rotational guards needing playing time, the young guard only saw 14 minutes of action against the Warriors and Blazers and just three minutes against the Pelicans.
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