Who was Chet Walker the Hall of Fame legend and former Chicago Bulls & Phialdelphia 76ers star?

Following a long battle with illness, Chet Walker passed away this weekend. Though he amassed countless accolades across a glittering career, perhaps he will always be best remembered for the championship that he won in 1967.

Remembering the legendary Chet Walker

The NBA and its fans received sad news this weekend with confirmation of the passing of a great of the Game. At the age of 84 years old, Naismith Hall of Fame inductee Chet Walker has passed away. Known as ‘Chet the Jet’ for his speed on court, Walker was named an NBA All-Star in seven of the 13 seasons that he spent playing in the NBA. Even more impressive is the fact that he played in the playoffs in ever single one of those seasons, culminating in a championship in 1967 with the Philadelphia 76ers.

A native of Mississippi, Walker played at Bradley University in college, where he led the Braves to NIT championships in 1957 and 1960. During that time, he was earned unanimous first-team All-American honors on two occasions before finally leaving Bradley as the school’s all-time leading scorer. At present, he still remains fifth on the team’s current list. What came next was an entry into the NBA in 1962 when the Sixers, then known as the Syracuse Nationals selected Walker in the second round, 12th overall, in the NBA Draft of that year. Just one year later, following his rookie campaign, the team relocated to Philadelphia after which Walker truly evolved into a star of the game.

As we know today, Walker would go on to form a trident in offense with Wilt Chamberlain as the focal point and Hal Greer as the other ‘wingman’, on the way to a championship in 1967, becoming the first team since 1958 to defeat the Boston Celtics in the playoffs after beating them in five Games in the Eastern Conference finals. As for the NBA finals, Walker and Co. faced the then-San Francisco Warriors, who happened to be the team that vacated Philadelphia just a decade before, as they clinched the second championship in the franchise’s History. In 1969, the Chicago Bulls would come calling and after a trade involving Jim Washington, Walker continued to shine, leading the Bulls to the postseason for the first time following dismal campaigns in the franchise’s early years of existence.

Yet, it’s got to be said that when the curtain came down on his career, it was not in ceremonious fashion. Indeed, in 1975 Walker demanded an annual salary of $200,000 which the Bulls denied at which point he demanded to be traded or released which in turn led to a legal standoff with the franchise. Ultimately, a settlement was agreed to and Walker chose to retire. At the time it appeared to be a move that benefitted one side with Walker going on to find success as a writer and movie producer, while the Bulls went from notching 47 wins in the previous season to 24 in the 1975-76 campaign. It’s worth noting that it would be decades before he was finally enshrined in the Hall of Fame despite his legacy, something he openly expressed was, in his opinion, due to his lawsuit and leadership role in the players union. Nonetheless, that day finally arrived in 72 years old he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. May Chet Walker rest in peace.