Two-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer Bill Walton has died of cancer at the age of 71, the NBA announced Monday.
“Bill Walton was truly one of a kind,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As a Hall of Fame player, he redefined the center position. His unique all-around skills made him a dominant force at UCLA and led to an NBA regular-season and Finals MVP, two NBA championships and a spot on the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams.
“Bill then translated his infectious enthusiasm and love for the game to broadcasting, where he delivered insightful and colorful commentary which entertained generations of basketball fans. But what I will remember most about him was his zest for life. He was a regular presence at league events – always upbeat, smiling ear to ear and looking to share his wisdom and warmth. I treasured our close friendship, envied his boundless energy and admired the time he took with every person he encountered.”
I watched a lot of Bill Walton on Pac 12 basketball telecasts. As a color commentator, he could be extremely frustrating or extremely hilarious – usually in the same telecast. The play by play broadcaster, usually Bill Pasch, could either call the game or just sit there and let Bill go – again, in the same game. Pasch would occasionally try to reign Walton in – sometimes successfully, usually not. Walton could comment on the game he was calling, or spend much of the time on a completely unrelated tangent.
That was Bill Walton. He was his own guy, and he had a lot of fun. RIP.
I admired this guy when I was a youth, he really struggled with injury. An epic Deadhead and original thinker. They did a multipart series on him on “30 for 30.”
(Booming voice…)
“We’re going to have to set the height to 11.0′, son. There are no slam dunks in Heaven! Now, suit up and run lines! You’re pudgy!”
I turned the audio off every time that Bill Walton was calling a college basketball game on ESPN because he wouldn’t shut up about being the ultimate deadhead hippie or all the dope that he smoked and his hippie/greenie lifestyle. He may have been a great basketball player but he sucked as a sports commentator.
Loved watching him broadcast. In 90 seconds you could learn that Dr. James Neismith first used a square basketball, Pullman WA is the Rome of the Northwest, and everything you didn’t need to know about the mating habits of the emperor penguin. A true Renaissance man in a woke world.
RIP
Name’s familiar but I can’t place it.
I’m almost positive that Walton’s physical problem are related to having insufficient bone mass. He was amazingly light for a person of his height.
This problem won’t show up in a 30 game college schedule .. but expand to 82 games, and then tack on 20 playoff games (in 1977) Then. in 1977-78 when he should have cooled his jets a little, he goes all out to achieve one of the all time victory totals (51-10 when he had his first blowout) And once his bone structure was first compromised, the problem re-occurred again and again
He was an ATO at UCLA and slept outside on the roof. No shit. Plus smoked a lot of dope.
He was a bigger stoner than even Willie Nelson and the world’s biggest unapologetic deadhead.
i am pretty sure he refused to play for the USA national team.