LeBron James has claimed that the LA Lakers could not have beaten the Golden State Warriors without the previously unheralded Lonnie Walker IV on Monday.
The Lakers recorded a 104-101 win over the reigning NBA Champions in Game Four on Monday at the Crypto.com Arena. James scored 27 points with nine rebounds and six assists, while Anthony Davies finished with 23 points and Austin Reaves racked up 21 points. That win sees the Lakers lead the series 3-1 going into Game Five in San Francisco on Wednesday. The winner of the series will play either the Denver Nuggets or the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals.
While James and his team-mate Davis often grab the headlines, it was another of the Lakers stars who was key to the win. Walker IV, who started the game off the bench, scored 15 points in just 27 minutes.
Walker IV has not been a starter throughout the series, but James has explained how he told the guard to be ready to have an impact when his time came.
“It’s not even about tonight,” James told TNT after the Game four win. “I been telling him. I said, ‘Lonnie, stay ready. We gon’ need you at some point.’
“And for him to be as young as he is, for him to have that professionalism, come out, stay ready when his number was called, we don’t win this game without Lonnie Walker tonight. That’s for sure.”
Walker IV is in his first year with the Lakers, after leaving the San Antonio Spurs at the end of last season. During the regular season, he was a starter for the first 32 games, before suffering a knee injury which left him on the sidelines.
Despite dropping out of the starting line-up by Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, Walker IV has explained how he’s kept his fitness levels high to be ready for when his time was needed.
“Not anger on the sense of not being able to play, but anger on the sense that no one knows who I am yet,” Walker IV told TNT. “And understanding my value and capability on the floor.
“So it comes with a lot of diligence, a lot of discipline. But I’ve been doing this for 24 years of my life. I’ve always been in the gym and nothing’s ever gonna change. So the proof is in the pudding. The harder you work, the more sacrifices you make, the better the outcome.”
