The person is Jessie Alcheh.
The return of Kemba Walker to his hometown of Charlotte was supposed to be one of the feel-good NBA stories of the year.
The megawatt smile of his that never seems to dim was supposed to light up Madison Square Garden like he did as a youth at Rice High School. When he was a star at the University of Connecticut, he took over the Big East tournament and led it to a national title.
The dream return of the highly productive native son has become a nightmare for all involved, resulting in the unimaginable: Walker out of the New York Knicks playing rotation altogether.
"It's a tough decision to make, but you always have to do what you think is best for the team," Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters following the team's practice on Monday.
The Knicks opened the season with wins in five of their first six games, but have gone on to be a sub-.500 team this season.
The Knicks have a lot of reasons for their in-season struggles, but the play of Walker has stood out for the wrong reasons.
Walker's defense has been considered his biggest weakness as a player.
What do the Knicks do with their prized addition?
Multiple league sources believe the Knicks will look to trade Walker, whose value on the trade market is at an all-time low.
As the Knicks get closer to the Feb. 10 trade deadline, league sources believe Walker's value could change as teams try to add a veteran who can still make shots.
A source close to the Knicks said New York may have a trade partner in the Houston Rockets who are interested in trading John Wall.
Wall has had his share of injuries that have made it difficult for him to play at the level that made him an All-Star.
Wall hasn't played in an NBA game in over a year.
Wall and the Houston Rockets are talking about a return to the active roster, despite the fact that Wall was not playing in Houston.
The Knicks are trying to move Kemba Walker's contract, and John Wall could be a potential trade target.
The trade market for Wall is non-existent, but his return to play may open the eyes of potential trade partners who are interested in acquiring the five-time All-Star who has two years and $91.7 million remaining on his contract.
The key to a deal with New York will be the compensation agreed upon beyond those two marquee players.
The Eastern Conference executive said that it was difficult because they were talking about two players who were never going to get back to where they were. You have to be good with that and not just add them.
Walker's future may depend on how the Knicks respond to this rotation shake-up.
Making the decision a little easier is the play of Alec Burks, who moved into the starting lineup after he scored 23 points in 39 minutes to help the Knicks knock off the red-hot Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
He joins a Knicks guard rotation that also includes Evan Fournier, who is taller than Walker, and other taller players.
The roster isn't ideal for Walker's attributes, but he still views him as a starter. It would be difficult to play three small guards together. I have great respect for who Kemba is as a person and all he's accomplished in this league, and I gave it consideration.
There are a number of issues that have flared up since the Knicks' fast start, but few stand out more than New York's defense with Walker in the mix.
The teams coached by Thibodeau have been among the best defensively.
This season?
Not much.
The Knicks are 17th in the league in defensive rating. New York made the playoffs for the first time in four years last season.
This is where it gets interesting.
The Knicks have the best defensive rating in the league this season when Walker is not on the floor, a data point that only reinforces the decision to take him out of the rotation altogether.
Walker has had defensive deficiencies documented throughout his career. His defensive rating has reached a career-worst 116.3 this year, and his struggles at that end of the floor have reached new depths.
The Knicks signed Walker to a two-year, $17.9 million contract to provide the team with added scoring punch to complement rising All-Star Julius Randle as well as one of the league's top defenses.
The New York Knicks needed more scoring to build off of last season's first-round elimination by the Atlanta Hawks.
In New York, Walker has struggled more than he did in Boston last season, when he appeared in a career-low 43 games.
He has started 18 games this season and has averaged just 11.7 points, 2.6 rebound and 3.1 assists, all of which are career lows. The Knicks had high expectations for Walker, but he has only scored 20 or more points in two games.
His defense has been problematic, which is why he was demoted in the first place.
Walker opponents are shooting 50.8 percent, which is better than their combined average. The trend of opponents shooting better than 50 percent from the field against Walker is concerning.
The starting five for New York is Walker, Fournier, R.J. Barrett, Randle and Mitchell Robinson. It is the most used five-man lineup in the NBA this season, having played together for a league-high 281 minutes and a minus-15.7 net rating.
The weakest link was Walker, as the Knicks were being scored on by the lowest of the five starting five.
It's a somewhat different story on the offensive side. Walker is making a career-best 41.3 percent of his three-pointers this season, despite his scoring average dropping to a career low.
It wasn't enough to keep him on the floor in New York, so he was turned into a story that doesn't appear to have a happy ending.
