All Benton Harbor’s Chet ‘The Jet’ Walker did was win
August 31, 2012 in Professional
Jeff Thomas of the Springfield Republican has started a series profiling all of the inductees in this year’s Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He recently looked at the career of Benton Harbor native Chet Walker:
Walker’s influence on a team was remarkable. In every year he played his team made the NBA playoffs. That’s saying a lot considering Chicago missed the playoffs the year before Walker arrived and did so again the year after he retired in 1975.
Walker was on the court for nearly every game of his career, never missing more than six games in a season.
“I only missed like 21 games in 13 years,” Walker said. “I played hurt a lot, especially in Chicago. When I got there the franchise was struggling and the team was in disarray.”
Walker was also a pioneer off the court — he was one of the prominent players who sued the NBA, eventually helping open the door for players to be granted free agency.
