"Trying to win a championship.": Nickeil Alexander-Walker plays down free agency, talks expanded role and Ant giving him a nickname (EXCLUSIVE)

Before Nickeil Alexander-Walker could promote his role for prolonging the Minnesota Timberwolves’ playoff run for at least one game with his timely shots and defensive stops, his young star teammate unpromptly spoke on his behalf.

From across the locker room, Anthony Edwards yelled out a compliment that left reporters and teammates both laughing and shaking their heads.

“Nickeil Alexander-Walker got gorilla nuts!” Edwards proclaimed following the Wolves’ Game 4 win over the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs.

Nearly two years later, Alexander-Walker has shown that he deserves that nickname and more. He was once considered a trade-in after the Wolves made a three-team deal to acquire Mike Conley from the Utah Jazz and sent D’Angelo Russell to the Los Angeles Lakers leading into the 2023 trade deadline. Since then, Alexander-Walker has become a dependable rotation player who has produced consistent secondary scoring, defensive hustle and strong plus-minus numbers. So much that he could become a coveted free-agent prospect this summer.

Alexander-Walker spoke to Sportskeeda about Edwards’ nickname, his pending free agency and his evolving relationship with Wolves coach Chris Finch. Alexander-Walker how he overcame being a young NBA journeyman amid stops in New Orleans (2019-22), Utah (2022-23) and Minnesota (2023-present) and with the Canadian national team.

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.

How have you built off the strong season that you had last year?

Alexander-Walker: “I think I became more confident in myself and comfortable in my own shoes. I stopped comparing myself to other guys in my role or to gain more value to add to the team. I started to trust the work that I put in and understanding that I’m prepared for this moment. I have a group of people around me that believe in me. That’s for me to continue to trust that. There’s no pressure. It’s all added pressure. I have the blessing to be an NBA player and the blessing to be a rotational NBA player. I didn’t want to look back at my career and look at how much time I missed worrying about expectations from other people.”

What did your work entail?

Alexander-Walker: “Countless shots and countless workouts, lifting, waking up at 5:30 am every morning and driving 30 minutes to lift and driving another 30 minutes to work out. And then doing it again in the afternoon. I’m sacrificing time with my newborn and my wife. It was stuff like that.”

What were the triggers that helps you to become more confident and not overthink?

Alexander-Walker: “At some point in time, you get to a point in time where you just say, ‘F--- it,’ as candid as can be. For a lack of a better term, you get to the point where you’ve had enough with things that don’t serve a purpose in your life. At that moment, you have two options really. Succumb to that or decide to grow from it. For me, I decided to grow and become a better person.”

What were the ‘F—it’ moments?

Alexander-Walker: “After we lost to France in the quarterfinals [of the 2024 Paris Olympics]. That was my first ‘F—it moment.’ That summer was my first Olympics. I had envisioned myself in a role greater than what it was and helping my country potentially medal in the Olympics for the first time in a very, very long time. It didn’t play out that way. Actually, it was the quite opposite. I played three minutes in the last game [in the quarterfinals against France]. That lit a fire inside me to say that no matter what I stress about, worry about or try to be great about, it doesn’t matter because I didn’t have the chance to. I’m stressing and trying to be perfect and not make mistakes. And I didn’t even get the chance to do so. All of this time that I spend worrying about that, let me just enjoy the times that I have out there. I didn’t even get the chance to do so. That was my first Olympics. I look back at the experiences. One, there was a learning curve. Two, it was something I had to really grow from.”

Given the path you were on with the NBA with going through different teams, trades and roles, what were the ‘F—it moments there?’

Alexander-Walker: “With the NBA, there was a point in Utah where I was playing my rookie contract and they asked me that summer to play in summer league. With all due respect to the Utah organization, I think without any NBA experience whatsoever, I completely destroyed summer league before. So it was a slap in the face. That was a ‘F—it’ moment where I have to show the world the respect that I feel like I want to deserve, not that I inherently deserve or be arrogant at all. But I know what I’m worth.”

Where does all of this go into the efficiency and consistency that you’ve had this season?

Alexander-Walker: “Trusting it. Huge credit to James White [player development coach] and Nate Mitchell [Canada’s assistant coach]. I’ve had a lot of talks with them. It’s a process. There’s going to be ups. There’s going to be downs. So just talking about the frustrations, letting it out and stepping away from the cliff helps you stay with it. It’s not going to be perfect all the time. But it’s about riding the wave. That’s the main thing that I’ve learned. I’ve been through some tsunamis, but it’s been worth it.”

What feedback resonated with you?

Alexander-Walker: “Perspective. It’s such a long journey. Someone put it this way: ‘God gives you the destination without the journey or the journey without the destination.’ It kind of resonated because there are so many times that I know what I can be. I know my destination. Amid the journey, you don’t see it. So you’re like, ‘I’m not crazy. Where is it?’ Everyone has been at that point in time where things are not going your way no matter how hard you work. You have to continue to go. You have to continue to push. You can’t look at the result because the result is going to vary. It’s not dependent on your work. This isn’t something that we can’t control. I can’t control every night making shots. I can control my work and output toward that to make myself more efficient. But once I shoot it, it’s out of my hands literally and figuratively.”

How has the partnership with Finch evolved given he was an assistant in New Orleans when you were a rookie there?

Alexander-Walker: “It’s been good. I had to grow as a man. I learned from myself and past mistakes where I could be better. I learned in the areas that I need to improve in and how it’s going to propel me by accepting the coaching. During my rookie year, I was very eager. So there was a lot of back-and-forth between us. Now I’m understanding a at moment in my career where it was damn near over that he gave me a chance. He gave me a chance when I wasn’t really getting much opportunity. So for that, I’m grateful to know that I’m here because of that opportunity that I was given and so forth.”

You’re expected to have plenty of interest this summer as a free agent. How are you handling all of that?

Alexander-Walker: “Truthfully, the preparation is to let the time comes when it comes and not get ahead of yourself. It’s something for me to learn now. The season’s not done. I’m still trying to win a championship. This organization has given me so much. So I want to continue to pour into the opportunity that I have and see what I can do with it.”

What did you think when ANT said last season that you got ‘gorilla nuts?’

Alexander-Walker: “It’s funny because some of my friends still call me that. So it’s kind of stuck. It’s a cool nickname to have. I’m embracing all moments and not backing down.”

How have you seen the team manage so much fluidity this season by adapting to a new roster and trying to make it work?

Alexander-Walker: “We’re trusting everybody. We’re believing in everybody. We want everybody to be the best they can be. We have a great group of guys that are happy with each other’s success. I’m happy for Naz [Reid]. I’m happy for Jaden [McDaniels]. I know what those guys do on a daily basis to work. I see them behind the scenes. I’m happy to see them succeed. With ANT, I know the type of person he is around the locker room cheering for us when we do well. Even if he doesn’t lead the team in scoring that night or whatever the case may be, things like that are good. With Mike, I’ve been with Mike for so long and learning from Mike. I see him as an older brother. To me, the relationships have grown. They’re more than just co-workers.”

Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.