SALO (Finland) - October's the perfect moment for basketball epiphanies. At the beginning of the season, one might fall in love with a new player first getting on the biggest stage.
There's somebody who has anticipated that kind of feeling perceived by fans. Phrasing it better, he just reaffirmed in October what he already previewed in September. To be exactly precise, from September 14-20.
At the Qualification Round Tournament ahead of Season 11 of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, Leland Walker landed on the planet of overseas basketball with three performances that stood out as strong statements.
Actually, they looked like screaming shouts in a room full of silence.
29 points on 3-of-5 3FG, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists to beat Patrioti Levice;
33 points on 4-of-5 from beyond the arc against Bakken Bears Aarhus;
42 points (!), 6 rebounds, and 3 assists over CSM CSU Raiffeisen Oradea.
The result? In his very first appearances as a professional basketball player in Europe, he led Salon Vilpas to a historic qualification for the BCL Regular Season. Coming in loudly, a noisy touchdown.
"Our confidence has always been there. We were coming in as underdogs, and I’ve been an underdog all my life. I really had nothing to lose. I just came out there, playing confidently. We all played confidently," Leland Walker recalls to the BCL website about their three-game triumph in Samokov, Bulgaria.
"I just gotta appreciate my teammates for believing in me and letting me take the shots that I take. It was definitely a confidence booster for us. A lot of people didn’t think we were going to win that first game against [Patrioti] Levice. We were down by seven points with less than a couple of minutes to go."
"It was definitely a blessing for us to get that game. Once we started knocking off teams, I mean, we can compete with anybody. We just came out with the same confidence every game," he also says.
"In the last game, I was definitely in the zone. It felt good shooting threes and knocking them down. Once I’m in the zone, I’m trying until I get out of it. I just kept going until the clock was running out."
The first glimpses of Walker in the BCL landscape were as impressive as one could imagine.
In fact, he hasn't slowed down at all. In the opening game of Season 11, the 2003-born skillful guard had everybody on their feet in SUNEL Arena, almost leading the Finnish side to another upset, this time in Athens.
We will come back to it. Let's turn back the hands of time to the summer. Prior to Samokov, prior to an excellent debut in the Greek capital. Let's look back, earlier than the beginning of the journey.
The chill guy
Looking at how Leland Walker plays week in and week out, everybody can really feel how vicious and aggressive the way he competes is. Just look at how he moves on the court.
Off the wooden floor, however, things drastically change. It gets chill, loose, relaxed.
"I'm definitely a chill guy, laid-back, somebody you could talk to. I’m not gonna be over-hyper. I'm just a chill guy whose hobby is pretty much playing basketball," Walker affirms.
I love the game of basketball. Every time I step on the court, I just try to give it my all.
A chill guy definitely knows when a place can make him feel comfortable, make him feel himself. And Salo is pretty much the perfect environment when a newcomer to overseas basketball can smoothly adjust.
Quiet but ambitious, far away from chaotic and high-pressure environments, ready to deliver and surprise everybody: the perfect description for both Walker and the Finnish city one hour away from Helsinki.
"We’ve thought with my agent about what was going to be the best option for me, where I could showcase my game. That's really why I chose to come to Finland. Vilpas was my very first option. Because this is where I’m free to play how I want to," he comments about the choice behind his move.
The Wyoming alumni, moreover, was informed he could have made a statement straight away.
"I also knew the BCL Qualifiers, with three games in a week, would have been a good place where to showcase my game."
"I don’t think a lot of people thought we would win it. It was great for us to come out with the win and make history," Walker says.
Not only the perfect place to showcase his talents and skill set, but also the right team that give him freedom, confidence, and experienced tips. Jussi Savolainen's coaching staff features a globetrotting former hooper.
"Teemu [Rannikko] has been teaching me the ropes of overseas basketball, since he has played for such a long time. He is really helping me simplify my game, not doing too many things on the court," he explains.
"He’d tell me when I need to do this or that kind of adjustment: how to pass the ball correctly, get to my spots, pick out when it’s time for me to shoot the ball. The slight details that help everybody get to the highest level."
Some months ago, he could have never imagined a Finnish playmaker who once played in Italy, Slovenia, Russia, Spain, other than his own country, would have been beneficial for his growth. Now he's embracing it.
"Everybody’s dream is to make it to the NBA. But I’m here now, and I’m learning a lot: teams, places, people. I’m trying to learn everything about overseas basketball. I'm here for the journey," Walker believes.
MVP matchup
If Samokov was the trailer, Athens was the premiere of a movie first shown in a prestigious theatre.
Visiting AEK BC, the reigning Finalists and the only team to participate in every BCL season since the competition started back in 2016-17, everybody expected Vilpas to suffer a blowout.
Instead, once again, both the Finnish team collectively and Leland Walker individually stole the show.
"Overall, I think we’re definitely in good shape. The game against AEK just shows that we can compete with anybody. We always come in with a chip on our shoulder," he says about their most recent losing effort.
"We're not really worried about the name on the jersey. We always give our best and then learn how we can get ourselves better. I definitely need to be more experienced, probably run the clock out, and take the last shot. That game-ending was a big experience for me. I’ll learn from it."
The Finnish side's leader finished by flirting with a huge double-double at 28 points and 7 assists, but couldn't propel his team to victory due to how he handled plays down to the wire.
Up 93-90 with twenty seconds to play, Vilpas didn't foul Frank Bartley IV, who pulled up from deep to tie.
Then, instead of running the clock out and taking the potential game-winning shot at the buzzer, Walker tried to attack driving right. AEK double-teamed him, and the step-back pull-up didn't reach the rim.
At that moment, the hosts grabbed the defensive rebound, Thomas Heurtel started running in transition, and only had to softly deliver the decisive layup to get the job done.
Returning to the court after a timeout, Walker had the three to win it from the inbound, but missed it. A thrilling debut he won't forget, especially considering the praise he received from the MVP of Season X.
They are a very well-coached team, and they played really hard. They gave us a lot of problems. Obviously, [Leland] Walker was a really tough matchup, and he’s a special young player.
"[Hearing his words] feels good, because he’s a vet and he has played at the highest level. He knows how everything is going to be," Walker comments after receiving such compliments from Bartley.
"When you see the MVP of the BCL saying that I got it and I’m on my way, I definitely get a boost of confidence. He understood I got it. I must keep going to get to the highest level," Vilpas' guard also follows.
Dunking his way into BCL
While the black-and-yellow icon noticed how dangerous the 2003-born guard can be by facing him on the court, Walker's numbers are not only increasing stats-wise, but on social media as well.
"I’ve been getting a lot of followers from other players over the past month. But the one always reaching out to me, giving me tips about overseas basketball, is Jayden Taylor. He’s now in Poland and played in Finland [with KTP Kotka Basket] last year. He’s telling me to stay down, keeping me sane. He helps me a lot," he says.
"Nijel Pack, who’s from where I’m from, is with [Windrose Giants] Antwerp now, and I know we’re gonna end up playing them. But it really doesn’t matter to me who I play. I just want to go out there and get it done."
Leland's debut in the BCL Regular Season deserved to be seen and admired for the amount of confidence and clutch plays provided throughout the encounter in Athens.
But for an impressive dunking highlight too.
Who better than the dunker himself to break down such a play?
"During the game, they were hard hedging on me the whole time, so I was just debating when to split the defense. I chose to do it and saw the wide-open lane, but I threw the ball out a little too far, catching it up."
"Right after, I went up for the dunk because just before, I attempted a layup and got blocked [by Dimitris Katsivelis] off the glass. I knew he was trying to jump again, so I had to get up to avoid another blocked shot. Growing up, I used to dunk a lot."
"I’m kind of used to dunking on people."
"Landing down, I looked in the camera, and then at everybody else. They kind of started looking away from me, so I started smiling just a little bit," Vilpas' showstopping scorer mentions.
Dunks, three-pointers - he finished his three-game spectacle in Samokov with a 54.5% from the arc, converting 12-of-22 beyond the three-point line - aggressive drives off the pick-and-roll.
He can pretty much do it all.
Walker, however, believes there are specific aspects of his wide offensive arsenal that are being effective.
"Scoring-wise, probably, I’ve been the most impactful from the mid-range, getting past my defender and pulling up from there. I’ve actually been hitting threes, shooting good numbers from there," he says.
"One thing I’m trying to improve is how to get my teammates involved, instead of just worrying about me, relying on myself to score to get more space," he finally mentions, aiming to be less solo-oriented.
Once again, improvements he's keen on making, adjustments he's going through. It's only the beginning of his journey, but Leland Walker is here to embrace it.
The underdog's route continues on Finnish soil.