What does a former NBA center do when he loses his ability to walk? Does he live in sadness? Does he give up on life?
Not if that man is Neal Walk.
The former Phoenix Suns player spoke to a crowd of about 100 people Thursday night at the A.E. England Building across the street from the Arizona State University Downtown campus.
Walk entered the room and immediately had the scattered crowd move up front and towards the middle so he wouldn’t have to project his voice so much. He wore a black Suns cap and tinted glasses.
After the crowd had gathered around him he corrected the lady who introduced him. She said he underwent several surgeries to remove a tumor from his spinal cord, confining him to a wheelchair.
“I’m not confined to a wheelchair,” Walk said. “I use it as a tool.”
He currently stays busy working with the Suns in their archive services department.
Throughout his speech Walk spoke of the importance of keeping positive in life, no matter how bad it may seem.
Walk also spoke to the crowd about his time in the NBA. He is remembered by many for being the player the Suns received in the 1969 draft after losing a coin toss to the Bucks for the number 1 pick. The Bucks took basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walk went to the Suns where he played until 1974.
All of this happened even after his college coach at the University of Florida told him he wasn’t good enough to play in the NBA.
“I wanted to play with the best and I learned what I could,” Walk said.
In the 1972-1973 season, his best year as a Sun, Walk averaged 20.2 points per game and led the team in rebounding pulling down 12.4 boards per game. He became only the second Suns player to collect over 1,000 rebounds in a season. Walk and Paul Silas are still the only two Suns players to achieve that mark. For more on the 1972-1973 season, check out the Suns website.
ASU freshman Stephen Beeson, 18, said Walk’s energy stood out to him the most.
Walk cracked many jokes throughout the evening and when he noticed a girl exiting early through the back doors he yelled, “You’re not allowed to leave young lady!” Then smiled and waved goodbye to her as the room filled with laughter.
18-year-old freshman Chris Verdugo is a Suns fan who knew about Walk before the lecture. When asked what stood out about Walk’s speech, Verdugo said, “He’s happy about life. He’s really easygoing and funny.”
From the speech, you can tell humor is essential to Walk’s life. When a student asked him about the difficulties that come with having to get around in a wheelchair, he started off his response jokingly by saying, “I’m lazy man, I don’t give a damn about walking.” He said being positive and embracing your situation is the best way to go about life.
One of Walk’s last pieces of advice for the audience was one that translates well to sports and life: “Pay attention, play hard and have fun.”
I’m Jose Zavala, and I’m here to tell the untold stories of ASU sports teams, clubs and athletes. Did you know ASU has a bowling club? Did you know we have both a fencing and curling club? While I’ve played and been a fan of baseball, basketball and football, I’ve always been drawn to stories about athletes and teams that receive little media coverage, yet still put in a tremendous amount of work in the pursuit of greatness. Get in the huddle. Reach me at jlzavala@asu.edu.
