Biography
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Walters played high school basketball at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, California, but graduated from Independence High School in San Jose, California. Walters played at Northwestern University before transferring to the University of Kansas, where he helped lead the Jayhawks to the Final Four in 1993. During his time at Kansas he was coached by Roy Williams. The 6'4" (1.93 m) shooting guard was selected by the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets with the 16th pick in the 1993 NBA Draft. Walters played in the league from 1993 until 2000. He was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in his third season and he also played briefly with the Miami Heat. After leaving the NBA, Walters played for León and Gran Canaria in Spain. In addition to his playing career, Walters had a minor role in the 1994 film Blue Chips. Walters is biracial; his father is white and his mother is Japanese.
In an interview with Rick Quan, Rex Walters responded to the question of feeling that he was a pioneer for Asian-Americans. He responded - "I consider myself Japanese-American. I just don't look it. People are always surprised. Now we got a guy like Jeremy Lin breaking barriers, I'd like to think I played a small part in that". He later added, "People ask me who I am? What I am? I am a Japanese-American, I take great pride in that."
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