In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green interviews former Michigan basketball star and media personality Jalen Rose about his lifelong struggle with not having met his biological father, NBA Hall‑of‑Famer Jimmy Walker, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1967 draft. Rose recounts the emotional fallout of growing up hearing his father’s legend while feeling excluded, the bullying he endured when peers mocked his lineage, and the symbolic choices he made (e.g., wearing jersey #42 in high school as a counter‑statement to his father’s #24). He describes receiving a letter from Walker during the Fab Five’s 1992 national championship run, keeping it unopened for seven years, and finally opening it after his NBA career began. The conversation details Rose’s attempts to contact Walker, the mixed information he received from Walker’s sister, the brief phone conversation, and the plan to meet before Walker’s death. Rose attended Walker’s sparsely attended funeral, describing it as a chilling, almost empty ceremony, and reflects on how NBA legends like Kareem Abdul‑Jabbar, Clyde Frazier, and Jerry West treated him like family despite the lack of blood ties. The interview closes with both men emphasizing the importance of speaking about father‑absence issues, encouraging listeners to seek help, and to repair relationships when possible.
Chapters
Jimmy Walker.
Mm.
Number 1 pick.
Yep.
Your biological father. You never met him. The number 1 pick in 1967. What impact did that have on you growing up as a kid? Growing up as a kid that played basketball, to know my father is the number 1 pick, but I never had the chance to know him yet. I'm essentially walking in these footsteps. Like, it's just in me. Like, what impact?
Because that's like—
having dad issues is one thing. Not meeting your father is a totally different thing. We know the traumas that come with that. But to actually walk in that light and say, no, I'm a basketball player. I'm from Detroit. Basketball is a big thing. I'm chasing this dream. Oh, and by the way, my father was a number one pick. And I don't even have a chance to talk to him, meet him. What impact did that have on you?
A lot of pain, a lot of hurt, a lot of anger, a lot of disappointment because a lot of times you start to think, he don't wanna meet me. You see what I'm saying?
Mm-hmm.
And then it's when I'm at St. Cecilia and people are referencing him and showing him love, but I'm standing next to my mother who just brought me there and we're poor and they talking about him, I resented that. You see what I'm saying?
Mm-hmm, absolutely.
And it became where I never talked about him. When I was very young, I used to carry his basketball card and I used to take it to the park and be like, "Yo, this is my dad," or whatever. And then as I started to get like in middle school, and you know, kids say mean things. And so having his name, the first thing a kid would do when they try to joke on me was act like J.J. from Good Times was my father.
Wow.
You know what I'm saying? To try to disrespect me. You see what I'm saying? Like, you don't know your father, he Jimmy Walker. Nah, nah, it's J.J. from Good Times. So that used to be fist fight right off.
Absolutely.
You know what I'm saying? And as I started to get older, I was like, he was my inspiration to follow in his footsteps, but he was also my motivation that he was gonna learn my name one day. And when I got to high school and he wore 24 when he played with the Pistons, I purposely picked number 42.
Wow.
Because I'm like, I'm gonna be the opposite of how he was with me.
Wow.
And so that was my number in high school outta spite, literally. And so once I got to college, and I'm not mad at Mitch Albom now, but as I look back at it, I'm disappointed. And he literally gave me a letter as he was writing the Fab Five book the night before we played the national championship game. And I had never met my father. He gave me this letter 'cause he had just talked to him for his book. And so I remember just sitting there staring at this letter. Ain't no excuse, by the way, we got waxed. And you know, I ain't got no problems talking about bad games or whatever, but I just remember like thinking about this years later and understanding that this has such a profound impact on me.
Mm-hmm.
That I kept that letter for like 7 years with me and never even opened it.
Wow.
Like Linus in the blanket on Charlie Brown. Like I just kept it with me, just always in my bag, always with me, always with me. And then after we made the finals when I was in the league and after I got paid and I won most improved, I was like, now I'm ready. And I remember being at Dale Davis crib. They was in the front playing poker and I went in the back in his bathroom And I opened the letter and I read it and it was a number on there and I called him. I'm like, I'm about to call him right now. And the first number, he wasn't there. They gave me a second number. Second number wasn't there. I ended up talking to like his sister and she was giving me some game about him. Some good game, some bad game. Good game, he's a great man. He would love to meet you. It's all, you know, he whatever. Then there was some dubious things like he had 13 kids by 11 women and da da da da. So it was all types of like just And so I finally got him on the phone. First thing I told him is I loved him. I thanked him for the genes. I thanked him for the inspiration. And I told him, I ain't got no hard feelings. I made it. And however the journey took us, this is how God meant it to be. And so I want to meet you. I want to celebrate you. I want us to be able to start a relationship. And the crazy thing about this, Day Day, a couple of years go by, I'm playing in the league, I'm working in the media, I'm talking to him on the phone in like 2007. And I'm like, I'm coming to see you this summer. He died before the playoffs ended and I got a chance to see him. I believe he died, like I was working the finals as you know, and I was gonna go see him like in July. And I believe he died before I got a chance to actually go see him. But I did go to his funeral with Dave Bing. And for all you youngsters out there that's having a lot of babies and choosing not to be in their lives, let me tell you something. His funeral was the coldest thing you ever want to see.
Hmm.
It was like, I'm not making this up. It was like in a cafeteria And it was like 30 people there. It was so chilling. I was like, yo, whoa. I was like, I'm just drop to my knees and just like ask for forgiveness for any of my sins because I, whatever this is, I don't want this.
This ain't it.
You know what I'm saying? Like you can have an infant have a funeral and it could be hundreds of people there. You see what I'm saying?
Mm-hmm.
And so that experience did teach me a lot. But being a part of the NBA family and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar coming up to me, talking to me about, "Hey, I went to your grandmother's house. She cook real good. I used to hang out with your dad," or whatever. And Clyde Frazier telling me stories and Jerry West telling me stories and stuff like that. I appreciated how they still treated me, those OGs, Like I was in the family then, even though I wasn't. Because I was blood.
That's deep, man. That's deep. Wow. You know, I've had my little fair share of dad issues. And when you going through it, nobody talks to anyone. And so until you start talking to someone, you realize, yo, it's so many more people going through this same thing. But when you going through it by yourself, it feel like you the only person got that issue.
Correct.
And I applaud you for your approach to have, to be man enough to call him and say, man, I ain't mad at you, I love you. Like, and I appreciate you. That's so powerful. What I will say to people out there is if you having those issues, talk to somebody. —you'll be very shocked on the guy that you talk to next to you got the same issues.
Yep. And also—
Same exact issues.
But also, here's the other thing I want to say. You don't realize how much anxiety and pain and hurt that you have from that. So if you can fix it, do it. That's the other thing. Like, there's certain relationships that, for whatever reason, that just you can't repair. But if you can fix it, Do it.
What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward.
