YouTube Gold: Jimmy Walker

As basketball fans became more aware of Jalen Rose during the Fab Five era at Michigan, they began to learn of his personal history.

His dad, as it turned out, was former NBA star Jimmy Walker, and sadly, Rose never got to meet him. He said they were scheduled to meet in 2007, but Walker died before that happened.

He had a tremendous career at Providence, finishing with a three-year scoring average of 25.2.

He was the #1 draft pick in 1967, being taken by the Detroit Pistons. Walker bulked up a bit as pro and lost some quickness, but he was still very good as you’ll see here.

What jumps out at us is that he was a really good passer and ball handler, arguably ahead of his time.

Walker played for the Houston Rockets and pre-Sacramento Kansas City-Omaha Kings/Kansas City Kings. He didn't have a Hall of Fame career or anything, but you could see a lot of talent, particularly as a passer.

Actually, there are a lot of similarities between his game and his son’s, which is interesting since they never met.