lit a candle 4h agoNever loved him as a broadcaster, talked over the game too much for my taste. But that 1977 Blazers run was something else, grew up watching it on a little black and white in Boulder.
Their story
Bill Walton (William Theodore Walton III, November 5, 1952 to May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and broadcaster, one of the most gifted centers the game has produced and one of its most colourful voices. He won two NCAA titles at UCLA under John Wooden, led the Portland…
Bill Walton (William Theodore Walton III, November 5, 1952 to May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and broadcaster, one of the most gifted centers the game has produced and one of its most colourful voices. He won two NCAA titles at UCLA under John Wooden, led the Portland Trail Blazers to their only NBA championship in 1977, was the 1978 NBA Most Valuable Player, and won a second ring with the Boston Celtics in 1986. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Walton was born and raised in La Mesa, California, a suburb of San Diego, the son of Gloria Anne (nee Hickey), a librarian, and William Theodore "Ted" Walton Jr., a music teacher and social worker. He grew up with siblings Bruce, Cathy and Andy in a home full of music, books and politics, playing baritone horn in an informal family band. He stuttered badly as a boy and later said he found "a safe place in life in basketball."
At Helix High School he grew from 6 ft 1 in to about 6 ft 11 in, played alongside his older brother Bruce, and led the school to 49 straight wins and California Interscholastic Federation titles in 1969 and 1970. His 78.3 percent shooting as a senior remains a national record. At 17 he played for the United States at the 1970 FIBA World Championship.
At UCLA (1971 to 1974) Walton became the centerpiece of John Wooden's dynasty. He was national player of the year three times, led the Bruins to back to back 30 and 0 seasons and NCAA titles in 1972 and 1973, and was part of the record 88 game winning streak. Wooden became his lifelong mentor; Walton later joked that he was Wooden's easiest recruit and his worst nightmare. He was also arrested at an anti-Vietnam War protest, and Wooden bailed him out. He declined a place on the 1972 Olympic team.
Portland made him the first overall pick in the 1974 NBA draft. After two seasons slowed by injury, he led the Trail Blazers to the 1977 championship over Philadelphia and was named Finals MVP, then won the league MVP award in 1978. Foot injuries, and a bitter dispute over the painkillers used to keep him on court, ended his time in Portland. He signed with his hometown San Diego Clippers in 1979 but missed most of the next several seasons, later calling it his greatest failure. Traded to Boston in 1985, he became the backup to Robert Parish, won NBA Sixth Man of the Year and a second title in 1986 on a team Larry Bird called the best he ever played on. Walton played only 468 of a possible 1,148 regular season games and underwent 37 orthopedic surgeries in his lifetime. He was still named to the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams.
After retiring, he overcame his stutter at 28 with help from broadcaster Marty Glickman and built a second career that he called the greatest accomplishment of his life. He worked for CBS, the Clippers, NBC, ESPN and ABC, then for the Pac-12 Network alongside Dave Pasch, where his tie dye shirts, digressions and hyperbole made him a cult favourite. He won an Emmy Award and the CoSIDA Dick Enberg Award.
Walton was the most famous Deadhead in sport. He attended more than 850 Grateful Dead concerts, travelled with the band to Egypt in 1978, and was the first inductee into the Grateful Dead Hall of Honor in 2001. He was a vegetarian, practised meditation and held left wing views throughout his life. He wrote two books, Nothing but Net (1994) and the bestselling memoir Back from the Dead (2016).
He had four sons, Adam, Nathan, Luke and Chris, with his first wife Susie, and married Lori Matsuoka in 1991. Luke Walton won two NBA titles with the Lakers and went on to coach the Lakers and the Sacramento Kings.
Walton died of colorectal cancer at his home in San Diego on May 27, 2024, aged 71. The Celtics held a moment of silence before Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals and wore tie dye shooting shirts bearing his name.
Biography adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Walton.
In their own words
“I was a very shy, reserved player and a very shy, reserved person. I found a safe place in life in basketball.”
On his childhood stutter
“I was John Wooden's easiest recruit. I became his worst nightmare.”
On his UCLA coach and lifelong mentor
“Then, when I was 28 I learned how to speak. It's become my greatest accomplishment of my life and everybody else's biggest nightmare.”
On overcoming his stutter
“I loved basketball. And I was going to go until I couldn't go anymore.”
Reflecting on his injury hit career
“I would love to play one more game. But then I would want to play another one. And another one. But I will take one.”
On retirement
“To Bill Walton, it's the things you learn after you know it all that count. John Wooden.”
Note from John Wooden that sat on Walton's desk
Photos
1Bill Walton with the Portland Trail Blazers, 1977 to 1978
by People Forever
he grew on me eventually, the Pac-12 stuff with Pasch was a hoot