KEMBA WALKER NAMED TO ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM

May 23, 2019 – The NBA announced today that Hornets All-Star guard Kemba Walker was named to the All-NBA Third Team for the 2018-19 season. He becomes the sixth player in franchise history to receive All-NBA honors, joining Larry Johnson, Glen Rice, Anthony Mason, Eddie Jones and Al Jefferson. Walker is the first player to be named to the annual All-NBA rosters since Jefferson received the honor following the 2013-14 season, and the first backcourt player since Jones in 1999-2000.

Walker joins Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder), LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), Blake Griffin (Detroit Pistons) and Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz) on the 2018-19 All-NBA Third Team.

In his eighth NBA season, Walker averaged a career-high 25.6 points to go along with 5.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 34.9 minutes per game. He set a career high with 260 three-point field goals, which ranked fourth in the NBA and also set a franchise single-season record (passing Jason Richardson’s 243 in 2007-08). Walker ranked fifth in the NBA with 28 games of 30 or more points and tied for third in the NBA with seven games of 40 or more points. Walker averaged 8.0 points per game in the fourth quarter this season, which was third most in the NBA behind James Harden and LeBron James.

The eighth-year guard’s 60-point outburst on Nov. 17 against Philadelphia marked his single-game career high, as well a franchise record for points in a game. It was the third-highest scoring game in the NBA on the season, behind a pair of 61-point outings for James Harden. Walker followed the 60-point contest with 43 points against Boston on November 19 to become just the sixth player in NBA history to score 60-plus points in one game and 40-plus points in the next game.

Walker was selected as a starter for the 2019 NBA All-Star Game, making his third consecutive All-Star appearance and becoming the first Hornets player to be named a starter since Eddie Jones in 2000. Additionally, Walker earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week Honors two times during the season for the weeks ending Oct. 21 and April 7, making him the franchise’s career leader with seven Player of the Week awards.