Lonnie Walker IV reveals how training camp with the Celtics shaped him

After Lonnie Walker IV was waived by the Celtics in October, he had a decision to make: join the Maine Celtics in hopes of ultimately getting called up to Boston or go overseas and play in the EuroLeague.

It was a difficult choice that he weighed heavily.

“I was definitely highly thinking about going back to Maine, as far as with the Boston Celtics and, hopefully getting the opportunity back to come back and play with the main team,” Walker IV told reporters before Thursday’s game between the Celtics and 76ers.

But after some consideration, he felt compelled to join the Zalgiris club in Lithuania. The team offered him an NBA buyout clause, meaning that he could rejoin the NBA until Feb. 18. That flexibility, a good conversation with organizational leadership, and the understanding that the EuroLeague was enormously competitive, compelled him to take a leap of faith and head overseas.

“There’s nothing better to show your talents in the second-best league in the world,” he said. “It was a moment of just betting on myself.”

In Zalgiris, Walker IV averaged 13.6 points across 19 games, shooting 45.2% from two and 33.1% from three. As Feb. 18 approached, it appeared increasingly unlikely that a return to the NBA was coming this season. So, he kept his focused on the Lithuanian club, and opted to block out the noise regarding prospective NBA offers.

“I kind of just told my agent, ‘Don’t tell me anything if it’s not certain,’” he said. “I really was just trying to stay present, play for Zalgiris.”

But in the final hours ahead of his buyout deadline, his agent informed him that the Philadelphia 76ers were making an offer.

“I didn’t really expect to come here at the last minute of my contract, but by the grace of God, I got back here,” he said. “Now I’m just trying to use the opportunity to the best of my capability.”

Walker IV struggled in his first couple of games with the 76ers, making just 3 of his first 17 shot attempts. Ahead of Thursday’s game between the Celtics and the 76ers, Philadelphia’s head coach Nick Nurse said that his athleticism and shotmaking ability compelled the team to give him a chance.

“From what we’ve seen, we really like him,” Nurse said. “He hasn’t played great, by the numbers or his own admission. But I kind of see him coming out of that a little bit. I think he’ll find his feet here a little bit and have some good games.”

Before Thursday’s game, Walker made clear that his confidence hadn’t wavered despite a couple of tough early shooting performances.

“I got to understand that I’m human, too. I’m not going to immediately adapt to things,” Walker IV said pregame. “I know my potential, I know what I can bring to the table. It’s all about just finding consistency every single day, just trying to be better than what I was yesterday, and taking advantage of this opportunity, as of right now.”

Sure enough, Walker IV had his best game of the season just a few hours later against the Celtics, scoring a season-high 17 points on 6-13 shooting and tallying 3 assists in 28 minutes.

How Lonnie Walker IV benefited from his month with the Celtics

By now, Walker IV’s tenure with the Celtics is five months in the rearview. He celebrated both his birthday and Christmas alone in Lithuania and lived for nearly half a year in a country that was completely foreign to him.

Before he moved to Kaunas, Walker IV spent a month with the Celtics for training camp, an experience that, upon reflection, he said helped him become more professional. Walker IV shared that in Boston, he worked harder than ever before.

“I just worked my tail off,” he said. “I think I took it to a whole other level, as far as my mental capabilities to understanding what I can do. I put myself in a lot of uncomfortable situations. They’ll tell you — I was first one there, usually the last one out. I was doing cold water plunges, just a lot of things that I don’t normally do… two-a-days, coming back at night, getting shots up, I really just worked my tail off as much as I could. And it definitely showed how much more I have left to give to the game.”

Part of it was the unexpected situation Lonnie Walker IV found himself in; after six years in the NBA, three in which he averaged double-figures, his back was against the wall as he searched for an NBA contract.

But, the other aspect of his increased motivation was the competitive environment he suddenly found himself immersed in.

“When you’re a part of a championship organization and how they approach the game, it gives you a little more motivation, inspiration,” Walker IV said. “You want to be the best, and you want to see how everyone is proceeding to be the best, and why they’re such a great team.”

The 26-year-old said that seeing Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum rigorous work ethic from the beginning of training camp compelled him to improve his own habits.

“I’m gonna shoot too, because I see that they’re doing it night in and night out,” he said, reflecting on his mindset at Celtics training camp. “Seeing Payton Pritchard do his thing, and Derrick White and all these great folks, it definitely made me want to go a lot harder, because I want to be in that position that they are in. It definitely instilled something as far as like — let my work ethic be the hardest working man on the team as much as I can.”