The label I'd put on Antoine would be "frustrating"...
He could do so much, but then again, he'd often just frustrate the daylights out of you. On any given night he could be Karl Malone - just going strong to the rim, with outstanding low-post moves. His vision was amazing, sometimes he even looked like Magic Johnson on the floor. But then he'd stand outside and just chuck 3 after 3...
I honestly think part of his problem was Rick Pitino. I'm not sure it's good for a guy to be coached in the pros by the same guy who coached him in college. I think the two of them wore on each other.
Personally, I actually liked Antoine. But for all he did good, he brought so much ugliness to the table. Passionate. Unique skills. But ultimately, frustrating to watch.
If we were going to lay blame at a coach for the evolvement of Walker as a player why not start with ML Carr. As a whole I don't put a whole lot of stock in this "team culture" and "culture of winning stuff", but when I do Antoine Walker and ML Carr are two of the first people I think of. I think toine would have possibly had a very different career if he came into a system with a few veterans trying to be competitive instead of one of the few teams to ever admit outright tanking. You think Stevens his rookie year wouldn't have had a difference than "roll the ball out and do what you want" Carr?
ML Carr was a sacrificial lamb. And it was THE DUMBEST thing the Celtics ever did in my lifetime (of which I started watching basketball when I was around 8-10 yrs old in 1980). ML wasn't a coach nor a GM, but a PR guy. Bias dies...but the C's still at least have something to move forward with. But in 92 Larry retires. 93 Reggie dies and McHale retires. 94 is Parish's last season. 95 is the Dominique season. And it just went downhill fast from there. The Celtics bring in Antoine and they should have immediately hired a coach... But no, they let this thing run a foolish course of stupidity. Then the Pitino hiring. And I'm sure Antoine was probably spinning, and also angry. I saw KY play live a few times as I lived there (work-related) during the Walker era. All he wanted to do was win. But he came to the Celtics in a time in which they didn't care about winning... So yes, what you're saying is totally legit, and it's sad this all came out the way it did. In many ways, this whole saga ruined Antoine.
related to this, found this article analyzing some of ML Carr's moves as GM http://www.celticslife.com/2009/09/was-ml-carr-that-bad.html
Good find! I remember all that stuff very well. It was a tough time to be a C's fan. For me, becasue I'm a staunch believer in loyalty. I grew up during the Bird-McHale-Parish era as a young teenager. Red always talked about loyalty. And I can see both sides of it - the good and the bad. But that era, and the ones preceding it, were about building a core team and then keeping them until they retired. But now the NBA was changing... And I had a hard time adapting to that as a fan.
Looking at that article, ML actually did do better than he's given credit for. But I think what bothered me the most is how Larry was treated as a figurehead in this organization. Nobody was listening to him, but they sure kept parading him out there as their mascot.
The other killer - and I don't think many mention this - was the injury to Dino Radja. That guy was a STUD!! But his knee was shot, and he wasn't long for the NBA. But when the Celtics drafted him in the 2nd round of the 89 draft, had we got him over here from Yugoslavia sooner, it might have extended McHale.
But it's really sad when you stop and think about it...and I guess we can reminisce a bit and play the "What If" game: pretend everything went differently:
Bias lives
Reggie Lewis lives
Radja stays healthy
In 89 we draft Shawn Kemp instead of Michael Smith
Moving forward the team would have been:
Sherman Douglas
Reggie Lewis
Len Bias
Shawn Kemp
Dino Radja
----
Kevin Gamble
Dee Brown
Xavier McDaniel
Rick Fox
Eric Montross
Ed Pinckney
We can dream, right?...