Kemba Walker talks free agency, reiterates that Charlotte is his first priority

Charlotte Hornets point guard and pending free agent Kemba Walker spoke with the media during his basketball camp today. He largely reiterated many of the same things he said in his interview with The Athletic, but there were a few more interesting nuggets to be heard.

First, Walker apparently keeps getting asked about whether or not he wants to stay in Charlotte no matter how many times he says yes. Top notch reporting people.

Walker did say that despite his desire to say in Charlotte, he does plan to meet with other teams. That’s not out of the ordinary for players, even if they intend to re-sign. One, it gives them additional leverage. Two, Walker has never fully experienced free agency before. Why not take a couple free dinners and listen to teams tell you how great you are?

But the most interesting and perhaps the most exciting part of the interview was this:

Walker was named to the All-NBA Third Team a couple weeks ago, which made him eligible for a 5-year $221 million ‘super-max’ contract from the Hornets. Considering he has all the leverage to ask for the full super-max, the fact that he’s willing to take less to help the team says a ton about his character.

It’s looking more and more likely that Walker will remain in Charlotte for the long term, but we won’t know for sure for another month or so. Until then, fingers crossed.