Jabari Walker makes most of his chance as Sixers navigate injuries: ‘We’re trying to thrive with who we have’
Walker said he has learned to “trick [his] mind” into ensuring he does not put unnecessary pressure on himself whenever he does receive an opportunity.
Jabari Walker was on the 76ers’ practice court Monday with rookie center Johni Broome, who screened and rolled while Walker awaited the ball to shoot a corner three-pointer.
After one repetition, Walker shifted to other skills, then eventually went back to that corner. The unorthodox drill sequencing was designed to simulate the typical space between Walker’s opportunities to shoot in a game — and that he must be ready to fire.
“We’re putting so much importance on one shot,” Walker said. “ … There’s been an [emphasis] on, ‘OK, you’re not going to get that many of them.’”
The off-day session was Walker’s response to getting squeezed out of the Sixers’ rotation for the first time this season Sunday in a double-overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The approach paid off when the reserve forward drilled his first two three-pointers in less than one minute of game action in the second quarter Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards. That ignited Walker’s first double-double as a Sixer, with 10 points and a season-high 12 rebounds in his team’s dominant 121-102 victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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“When I was in the corner,” Walker said, “it was like, ‘OK, this is the one. Just make sure everything is solid [and] follow through.’ And then got that one, and then the next one. … That just builds confidence.”
Now in his fourth season, Walker has been in the NBA long enough to understand that rosters and rotations fluctuate. After receiving zero minutes Sunday — when Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe finally shared the floor for the first time — Walker was an unsurprising ninth-man choice for Tuesday’s game. Embiid (knee injury recovery) and sixth man Quentin Grimes (calf) were ruled out after playing against the Hawks, while starting wing Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) and versatile forward Trendon Watford (thigh) also remain sidelined.
Still, Walker said he has learned to “trick [his] mind” into ensuring he does not put unnecessary pressure on himself whenever he does receive an opportunity. He is averaging 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.4 minutes in 19 games.
“You’ve just got to make yourself think you don’t care as much as you do,” said Walker, who is on a two-way contract that limits him to 50 NBA games this season.
Walker also alluded to this mentality following a nine-point, nine-rebound effort in a Nov. 19 loss to the Toronto Raptors. Detaching his emotions, he said, helped him snatch extra rebounds, set harder screens, and shoot more confidently in that game. Walker also now knows that coach Nick Nurse will keep well-performing role players on the floor. Against the Wizards, Walker went from sitting on the bench the entire first quarter to playing the full second frame.
And, if the worst-case scenario unfolds, Walker leans into being a good teammate.
“My attitude’s been right,” he said. “I’ve been supportive through it all, and I think that is a positive thing you can do even if you’re not having a good game.”
It also helps that Nurse has been encouraging Walker to launch those three-pointers, dating back to the preseason. Despite making only four of his 17 long-range attempts entering Tuesday, Walker’s shooting data tracked by technology inside the Sixers’ practice facility had been “really good,” the coach said.
But the stakes naturally increase during game action, requiring Walker to quickly process that he is open as a catch-and-shoot pass heads his way. Nurse stopped Tuesday’s shootaround to reiterate when and where he wants Walker to fire, the player said. And during the game, Maxey pointed at Walker to indicate “that’s the one” whenever he appropriately let the ball fly.
“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Walker said.
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When asked after Tuesday’s win about Walker’s impact, George described him as a “bully.” Jared McCain, meanwhile, called Walker “tenacious” and “relentless.”
Both were referencing Walker’s knack for rebounding. To successfully crash the glass, the 6-foot-7 Walker first highlighted his physicality and positioning before the shot goes up. Once he has pinpointed where he believes the ball is going to ricochet off the rim, he relies on his reflexes to, in Nurse’s words, “snap” the ball down from its highest point.
Walker credits his father, Samaki Walker, who spent 10 seasons as an NBA role player, with teaching him this skill. When Jabari grabbed a one-handed rebound — and screamed as he pinned the ball to his side — during that Nov. 19 Toronto game, it signaled “that’s the me I know I can show,” he said.
“That’s what I know I’m capable of,” Walker said that night. “I just haven’t done that to the level that I’m happy with. So when I got that rebound, it was a moment to myself, like, ‘OK, there we go.’”
Walker’s playing time — and production — have been a bit unpredictable since then. It is unclear how long his teammates who missed Tuesday’s lopsided win will remain out, and how that could affect any upcoming minutes.
Yet Walker put together his best performance as a Sixer on Tuesday. And it stemmed from how he attacked his off-day work after falling out of the rotation.
“We’re not just trying to survive and be, like, ‘OK, let’s wait for these guys,’” Walker said. “We’re trying to thrive with who we have right now.”