He changed his name from Bill to Henry to show more maturity. His game appears to have matured plenty since his last NBA action in 2011-12, too.
Henry Walker, formerly Bill Walker and father of Milan Skye Walker (seriously, how awesome is that?), is making the most of his latest NBA opportunity. Signed to a 10-day contract by the Miami Heat last week, Walker has impressed over two games, even playing the unlikely hero on Wednesday.
With the Heat down eight with 42 seconds to play, they had just a 0.2 percent chance of winning the game, according to Impredictable. Walker hit back-to-back threes in the final 22 seconds of the game, helping the Heat pull even with the Orlando Magic. The Heat would win it in overtime.
"This is right up there," Walker said of his clutch shots, as relayed by Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. "I can't even describe it. It's something you dream about."
Those dreams are something that seemed far more likely a reality back in 2008, when Walker was considered a potential lottery pick out of Kansas State. He suffered a knee injury – the third of his career – in a workout and subsequently slid to 47th overall.
Walker played four seasons split between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, averaging 5.8 points in 15.4 minutes, but found himself on the outs of the league in 2012. Following trips to play in Venezuela and the Philippines, Walker returned stateside to play in the D-League this season, where he was averaging 15.1 points before his call up.
Still only 27 years old, there's time for Walker to reboot his NBA career, like current teammate Hassan Whiteside has done with a similar situation in Miami this year. Scoring 21 points over his first two games and nailing clutch triples is a good start.