For Knicks’ Walker, Slam Dunk Victory Occurs After a Loss

When Kenny (Sky) Walker walked onto the Summit floor for Saturday afternoon’s National Basketball Assn. slam dunk competition, he had a lot of support nearby.

Patrick Ewing and Mark Jackson were seated with several other non-competing players on the bench that wasn’t being used by the dunkers. They had plenty of advice for their New York Knicks teammate, who was about to win $20,000. Ewing even put $50 on it, taking on Moses Malone, who favored a fellow Atlanta Hawk, Spud Webb.

Walker, in his first such event since high school, listened. But most of all, he felt the support of his father, Jerome.

Walker said he and his father, who died Wednesday of complications from a stroke suffered before Christmas, were very close.

“It just hit me that suddenly I was among the finalists,” said Walker, who defeated Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers in a contest based solely on offense, although Walker is the key player in the Knicks’ pressing defense.

“Then I thought that if I could get off good on the last couple of dunks, I could win it for him,” he said.

Walker, a third-year pro and former University of Kentucky All-American, did just that. As Drexler faltered, missing three of his final four attempts, Walker started to roll, finishing with 49.5, 48.9, 49.6 and 49.6 points out of a possible 50.

The 49.5 made up for the 46.9 on the previous attempt and vaulted him into the final against Drexler, who finished third in the competition last season. When Walker came down the left side cradling the ball in his right arm and whipped it into the basket one-handed with concussive force, the crowd of 15,937 erupted.

Julius Erving, who knows a thing or two about fancy slams, was duly impressed. Erving--one of five judges along with Nate Archibald, Bobby Jones, Earl Monroe and Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon--gave it a 10.

“I think the dunk has certainly evolved to new heights,” Erving said afterward. “I don’t want to say there were things done here today that I didn’t think would ever happen, but there sure were some things done that have never been done before.”

Or as Drexler, who won $10,000 for the second-place finish, said of Walker: “I have one question. Where has this guy been?”

Walker defeated a field of eight that included 1986 champion Webb but was without the injured Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins. Walker said he didn’t know right away where the prize money would go, but he figured a good choice would be his mother. She convinced him to come to Houston instead of going home to Roberta, Ga., after his father’s death.

“She’s the main reason I’m out here,” Walker said.

Ewing, meanwhile, had other financial matters to straighten out.

“Where is Moses?” he said. “I want my 50 bucks.”

The three-point shooting contest went off despite the absence of three-time defending champion Larry Bird, who is still recovering from foot surgery.

Not surprisingly, the final matched Dale Ellis of the Seattle SuperSonics, No. 2 in the league in three-point shooting percentage this season, against Craig Hodges of the Chicago Bulls, the only player to lead that category twice.

Ellis won the $20,000 by making 15 out of a possible 25 baskets, and Hodges, who played at Cal State Long Beach, earned $10,000 by making 13.

“It would have been a lot sweeter with the defending champ here, because he would have been expected to win again,” said Ellis, the only player taking part in both the three-point contest and today’s All-Star game. “But I felt good shooting the ball today, so it would have been tough for Larry to beat either one of us.”

Rimas Kurtinaitis, a member of the Soviet Olympic team and an at-large entrant in this contest, converted only seven attempts and did not make it out of the first round.

“The pressure was probably high,” Kurtinaitis said through an interpreter. “Maybe more Europeans will be invited in the future. But I don’t know if most Americans feel Europeans are in their class. I certainly didn’t prove them wrong today.”

Former Houston Rocket Calvin Murphy hit a three-point shot as the buzzer sounded to give the West old-timers a 54-53 win over the East in the Legends game.

Murphy scored 26 points, hitting 11 of 19 shots. That’s 10 more attempts than any other player took.