To say Walter Palmer takes a modest approach to discussing his basketball career would be an understatement.
Playing alongside some of the best local hoops products from the North Shore and beyond in the Cape Ann YMCA 18-Plus Summer Basketball League, the 39-year-old Palmer is the only member of the league to have been to the top of the basketball world — the NBA.
Looking at his lanky, 7-foot-1, 215-pound frame, it's easy to see how Palmer made it in professional basketball. He moved from Germany to Rockport 18 months ago with his wife (a Gloucester native) and three kids, just a few years removed from finishing his pro basketball career. He played two seasons in the NBA in the early 1990s. One season was spent playing with future Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone on the Utah Jazz (1990-91) and the other with the Dallas Mavericks (1992-93). The center/forward appeared in 48 career games and averaged 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds before playing the rest of his career in Europe until retiring in 2003. He still does some work for the European Players Association.
"That was a long time ago," joked Palmer about his hoops career, after blocking virtually every shot in sight and helping his Rockport House of Pizza team to a victory on Wednesday night in summer league play.
Palmer, who was selected 33rd overall out of Dartmouth College by the Jazz in the 1990 NBA Draft, maintains a humbleness about his basketball success. But Rockport House of Pizza teammates know that an opportunitty to play with, and pick the brain of a former professional player doesn't come around very often.
"When Walter says something, you trust it," said Rockport High School basketball coach Tim St. Laurent, who plays with Palmer on Rockport House of Pizza. "When we're talking about something in a huddle and Walter tells us what Jerry Sloan (Utah Jazz head coach) does in certain situations, you tend to listen.
"Walter is a great, great player. When you're 7-feet tall, that speaks for itself. But he is a great guy too, and extremely modest."
Palmer is originally from Maine but went to high school in Arlington, Va. However, he maintained Cape Ann roots from his grandparents, who lived in Rockport. After high school, Palmer chose Dartmouth for its excellence in academics and studied history while at the Ivy League school.
"I never planned on playing professional basketball, so I figured I would have to work after college," said Palmer.
Of course, there is always room for a 7-foot-1 player who can shoot on any college basketball team. Thus, Palmer put together a solid four-year career with the Big Green, capped off by his senior year when he averaged 16.6 points and 6.5 rebounds and shot 81 percent from the free-throw line.
Those numbers, combined with Palmer's size and potential, were enough to get him invited to workout for several NBA teams.
"I had an expectation that I would be drafted, because I had played pretty well at some pre-Draft camps," said Palmer. "I hired an agent and I expected to be drafted somewhere in the second round. But I was really pleased to be drafted as high as I was, especially to a team where I was the only pick (The Jazz didn't have a first round pick). It was fantastic to have a job playing basketball."
Palmer played center during his time at Dartmouth, but was forced to slide down to the power forward and sometimes small forward role with the Jazz, who already had 7-foot-3 center Mark Eaton and 6-foot-11 Thurl Bailey, and of course the bruising Malone down low. It was the beginning stage of an increasingly growing trend in the NBA, where big guys are counted on to provide inside and outside production.
"The experience in the NBA was very difficult," said Palmer. "But I learned a ton. It was tough to develop an inside-outside game, but it really helped when I got to Europe."
All through his playing career, Palmer kept in touch with Cape Ann by spending summers in Gloucester. Now that he is a full-time resident of the area, he couldn't be happier.
"We just love it here, we've been coming for years," said Palmer. "I really appreciate living on Cape Ann."
Palmer is also making his presence felt in the community, and not just on the basketball court. He hopes to get involved with coaching at the local level and helped St. Laurent coach the Vikings last winter.
"Walter is a great role model for the kids to be around, and a great guy to have helping out," said St. Laurent.
In the meantime, Palmer will continue to be one of the elder statesmen of the Cape Ann 18-Plus Summer League, where he acts like he is just another player.
"I'm the old guy," joked Palmer. "Every team in this league has some really good players. Players in this league don't back down from me, they don't care who I am. I had heard about this league and how good it is."
This summer, and possibly for the summers to come, the league will be a little bit better thanks to Palmer.
