The charge: writing 10 bad checks for casino markers totaling $1 million in Las Vegas.
When Walker’s high school coach Mike Curta learned of the arrest, he called his former player in disbelief and asked whether there was anything he could do.
“Everything’s under control,’’ Walker replied, as Curta recalls it.
It wasn’t true then, and it hadn’t been for some time. “Under control’’ has never really described Antoine Walker, on the court or off it.
And now he is truly feeling the press. A Globe review found that, during the last seven months, Walker has been pursued by multiple financial institutions for unpaid debts totaling more than $4 million. Court documents filed in Illinois and Florida reveal Walker was named a defendant in three recent debt-related civil cases, in addition to the ongoing check-kiting case. His former agent is also after him, citing a heap of unpaid fees.
Several National Basketball Association sources, among them friends and former teammates of Walker’s, said the 33-year-old player may well have squandered much of his $110 million-plus in career earnings. Without a team or contract as the new NBA season begins Tuesday, they’ve heard that Walker is casting about for cash to pay off his debts and is looking to catch on with a team, perhaps even overseas.
“I know Antoine has enjoyed himself,’’ said a former teammate. “He had a good time, as all professionals who are in that situation should. But there’s tough lessons you learn about the responsibilities that come with being a professional athlete that makes a lot of money. Sometimes this is one of the consequences to that.’’
