Kemba Walker has been with Charlotte through the worst of the worst – a laughingstock phase when the team set the NBA record for worst winning percentage for a season, the term “Bobcatting” becoming a euphemism for lousy play, and some joking that team owner Michael Jordan was still the best player in the franchise even as he moved into his 50s. Walker mostly ignored the corny cracks, focusing instead on the role he could play in the turnaround and how he could apply pressure on the organization to get better players to help win games. Walker is beginning to benefit from that approach in his fifth season and is now the leader of the Eastern Conference's most low-profile contender, a team that only needs to win two of its final eight games to post the best record since Charlotte was awarded an expansion franchise in 2004.