Chet Walker, N.B.A. Champion and Movie Producer, Dies at 84

Basketball|Chet Walker, N.B.A. Champion and Movie Producer, Dies at 84

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A vital member of the 1966-67 champion Philadelphia 76ers, he later produced a TV series based on the life on the point guard Isiah Thomas’s mother.

Chet Walker at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.Credit…Jessica Hill/Associated PressJune 9, 2024, 1:56 a.m. ET

Chet Walker, one of the N.B.A.’s most understated stars of its developmental decades, who was a vital member of the 1966-67 champion Philadelphia 76ers and who later became an Emmy Award-winning movie producer, has died. He was 84.

The National Basketball Players Association confirmed the death on Saturday night. No other details were provided.

Walker, who played in seven All-Star games during a 13-year professional career, was a starting forward on the 76ers’ title team, which won 68 regular-season games and broke the Boston Celtics’ championship stranglehold.

On a team often included in discussions of the N.B.A.’s greatest, Walker was the third-leading scorer, averaging 19.3 points per game and 8.1 rebounds, while fitting seamlessly with the future and fellow Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham.

Walker, a 6-foot-7 inch forward, was known for pump-faking defenders into a vulnerable position for his patented jump shots and drives along the base line, where, he calculated, it was difficult to double-team him.

A prideful but publicly modest man, Walker asked Cunningham, one of his presenters at his 2012 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, to speak of his career exploits.

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