Basketball legends pay tribute to NBA champion and beloved broadcaster Bill Walton, who died aged 71.
Larger than life, only in part because of his 213cm frame, Walton was a two-time NCAA champion at UCLA, a two-time champion in the NBA, a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, and an on-court icon in every sense of the word.
"Bill Walton enjoyed life in every way. To compete against him and to work with him was a blessing in my life."Walton, who entered the Hall of Fame in 1993, was one of the game's most beloved figures. His NBA career — disrupted by chronic foot injuries — lasted only 468 games with Portland, San Diego and eventually Los Angeles Clippers and Boston. He averaged 13.3 points and 10.5 rebounds in those games, neither of those numbers exactly record-setting.
Turns out, he was excellent at that, too: Walton was an Emmy winner, eventually was named one of the top 50 sports broadcasters of all time by the American Sportscasters Association and even appeared on The New York Times' bestseller list for his memoir, Back from the Dead. The last part of that was just Walton hyperbole. He was beloved for his on-air tangents, and sometimes appeared on-air in Grateful Dead T-shirts; Walton was a huge fan of the band and referenced it often, even sometimes recording satellite radio specials celebrating what it meant to be a "Deadhead".
"The concept of team has always been the most intriguing aspect of basketball to me. If I had been interested in individual success or an individual sport, I would have taken up tennis or golf." Walton was the number one pick by Portland in the 1974 draft. He said Bill Russell was his favourite player and found Larry Bird the toughest and best he played with, so it was appropriate that his playing career ended as a member of the Celtics.
Bill Walton Dies Basketball Cancer
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