Kemba Walker was hired to the Charlotte Hornets coaching staff on Wednesday, just a day after he announced his retirement from the NBA. The four-time All-Star point guard will serve as player enhancement coach on new head coach Charles Lee’s staff.
The Hornets also named Lamar Skeeter, Josh Longstaff, Chris Jent, Blaine Mueller, Ryan Frazier, Matt Hill and Jermaine Bucknor as Lee’s assistant coaches, with Skeeter as head assistant to Lee. Skeeter, 42, spent the last 10 seasons with the Utah Jazz where he worked his way up to top assistant. Walker was formerly selected No. 9 overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Hornets.
He played 8 seasons with the team before being signing a four-year, $141 million contract in July 2019 with Charlotte after being part of a sign-and-trade deal with the Boston Celtics. After 2 seasons with Boston, Walker’s stay was filled with trials and tribulations as he was tossed around the NBA, he was traded/released twice and later ended his professional career with the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks.
Walker, 34, last played overseas in Monaco in the 2023-24 season and ends his NBA career with averages of 19.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 33.1 minutes per game in 750 games, with 697 starts. Walker was a 4x All-Star from 2017-20 and was on the All-NBA third team once in the 2018-19 campaign.
