Antoine Walker: "Living and playing in Miami is an experience, man. You’ve got the best nightlife, the weather, and everything going on. It’s 85 degrees in January. When I was there, LIV was just starting to pop off. It was hard not to get caught up. Opponents would come into town, party all night, and be hungover for the game. We used that to our advantage and blew teams out by 20 points the next day. But for us, it was still a challenge. You had to be disciplined. I partied and played basketball like I never had in my life. I had to tell myself to chill sometimes, but how do you stay indoors when it’s sunny and perfect every day? Miami tests your focus, but once you commit, you realize it’s a great place to grow as a player.”

Source: YouTube

More on this storyline

Antoine Walker: "I’m not going to lie, man. I’ll keep it real—I cried like a baby. I couldn’t believe I got traded, bro. It was because I felt like we were just starting to become one of the best teams. We lost the Eastern Conference Finals, yeah, but we ended up losing to New Jersey when they went to the Finals back-to-back. I felt like we were right there, like we were ready to turn the corner. It hurt. Personally, by myself, I cried, like, ‘Damn, I don’t want to go anywhere else.’ We had built so much there. We were starting to get to that next level, and then, to get traded—it was tough." "But the best thing about my trade, which a lot of people don’t understand, is that I got a chance to go play with three great players, man. I got to play with Michael Finley, Steve Nash, and Dirk. Yes, sir! And then Antawn Jamison was our Sixth Man. Damn, I had a whip down there! You know what I’m saying? I went to a situation where I knew I was going to win, and I didn’t have to do it all." -via YouTube / January 17, 2025

Antoine Walker: "So we won in Dallas, which wasn’t good, but okay. We were in Dallas, and Pat Riley rented out one of the ballrooms. Guys had their families there, so we started partying—DJ, food, everybody was kicking it. And then we told Riley, ‘We want to go home. We want to go to Miami.’ Riley was like, ‘Everybody get your stuff, pack your bags, leave your family here—they can get home later. We’re leaving.’" "We flew back at 6:00 in the morning, right after partying. A lot of people don’t know that. And when we got to Miami, we went to King of Diamonds—it was called Diamonds back then. The next night, we spent about $150,000 in singles. Damn! But it was all of us though. Do you know what that looks like, bro? Yeah, we were there on stage with the dancers." -via YouTube / January 17, 2025

Antoine Walker: For me personally, after the parade, I went on my 30-day hiatus, bro. I went 30 days, 30 nights. I acted a fool. I grabbed my boy Joe from college, and I was like, ‘Yo, we’re hitting it.’ Damn. So, I started in Chicago, had a championship party there, and just took off. I hit all the hot cities, bro. I went on tour after that." "Yeah, and I was supposed to meet the team. Here’s how crazy it was: when you win, you get invited to the ESPYs. We were supposed to go as the champion team. Bro, I got alcohol poisoning. I killed myself. I couldn’t even make it. I was in L.A., stuck in bed during the ESPYs. I couldn’t even make it with the guys, man. I missed the ESPYs that year." -via YouTube / January 17, 2025

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Antoine Walker on playing in Miami: Opponents would come to down, party all night and be hungover for the game