Former NBA all-star Antoine Walker is playing golf this weekend in northern
Nevada before a scheduled court date Monday in Las Vegas in a case involving
an $822,500 gambling debt.
Walker, who last played for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2008, teed off
Friday in a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe a day after posting
$135,000 cash bail following his arrest at Harrah's Tahoe.
Walker, 32, of Chicago made no mention of his arrest at the start of play in
the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship. His lawyer, Jonathan Powell
in Las Vegas, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Phil Weidinger, a tournament spokesman, said neither Walker nor tournament
officials would comment about the arrest.
Walker competed in a pro-am Thursday, playing in the first round of the
54-hole tourney with actors Dennis Haysbert and Bruce McGill.
Douglas County sheriff's Sgt. Jim Halsey said a Harrah's Tahoe employee who
had seen a television news report about an arrest warrant issued Wednesday for
Walker recognized the 6-foot-9 power forward Thursday in a casino bar and
summoned deputies.
Walker may not have to appear in court in person, a clerk for Las Vegas
Justice of the Peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson said. The judge could allow his
lawyer to stand in for him to receive a preliminary hearing date.
Walker is accused in a criminal complaint filed earlier this month of three
felony counts of writing bad checks. Each charge carries a possible one- to
four-year prison term.
Clark County prosecutors allege Walker failed to make good on 10 checks
totaling $1 million written last July through January at Caesars Palace,
Planet Hollywood and the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
In Nevada, unpaid casino markers, or loans to gamblers, are treated as bad
checks and can be turned over to the district attorney for prosecution.
Walker repaid $178,000 before charges were filed, said prosecutor Bernie
Zadrowski, chief of the Clark County district attorney's office bad check
unit. Walker also now faces $82,550 in prosecution fees imposed by the
district attorney.
Walker was a three-time all-star with the Boston Celtics and won a
championship with the Miami Heat in 2006. The Memphis Grizzlies bought out his
contract in December, making him a free agent.
He has had off-court troubles in recent years, including a drunk driving
arrest in January in Miami.
Walker and a relative were bound and robbed at gunpoint in 2007 by several
robbers in his suburban Chicago residence. He also was the victim of an armed
robbery in 2000.