Jimmy Walker

James Walker (April 8, 1944 – July 2, 2007) was an American professional basketball player. A 6-foot-3-inch guard, he grew up in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood and attended Laurinburg Institute, a black preparatory school in North Carolina, before earning a scholarship to Providence College. Playing under head coach Joe Mullaney, Walker drew comparisons to Cincinnati Royals star Oscar Robertson, much as Michigan's Cazzie Russell did. He averaged 23 points per game as a junior and led the nation with 30 points per game as a senior.

Walker played nine seasons in the National Basketball Association from 1967 to 1976, suiting up for the Detroit Pistons, the Houston Rockets, and the Kansas City-Omaha / Kansas City Kings. A two-time All-Star, he scored 11,655 points over the course of his career.

He was the father of former NBA player Jalen Rose, though he left Rose's mother prior to his birth and took no part in his child's upbringing. Walker died on July 2, 2007, at the age of 63, from complications related to lung cancer.