The news today of the death of Bill Walton from cancer at the age of 71 came as a stunner to me. Part of the reason for that, no doubt, is due to the fact that he was a year younger than I, and part of it is because, well, Bill Walton was just such an indomitable figure on the court and an almost larger than life figure off of it.
I am not going to try to summarize Walton in prose. Instead, just some bullet points to summarize his career:
- Played on two California State High School Championship teams out of Le Mesa, CA
- Played on two NCAA championship teams at UCLA
- Played for two NBA Championship teams, Portland and Boston
- Three time NCAA Player of the Year
- Two times NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player
- NBA MVP (Portland)
- NBA Sixth Man of the Year (Boston)
- NBA Finals MVP
- Key player for UCLA during their 88 game winning streak that covered three seasons, still an NCAA men's basketball record.
- In 1973 NCAA title game against Memphis State, Walton shot 21-for-22, scored 44 points and had 13 rebounds
- Member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
- Named one of the NBA's Top 50 players of all time in 1997
- Attended over 1,000 Grateful Dead concerts
- Underwent 39 surgeries over the course of his basketball career
The second to last bullet point suggests what a free spirited guy he was, and the last bullet point is to suggest that for all of Walton's accomplishments, they could have been even greater had he not had such an injury riddled career. Twice in his pro career he missed two full seasons.
Walton was always an outspoken person. He was a peace activist during his college years at UCLA, and was once arrested for taking part in an anti-war demonstration. He remained outspoken against what he considered to be injustices in society for the rest of his life.
After playing, Walton turned to broadcasting, and his, uh, loquaciousness set him apart from most ex-jocks who go behind a microphone. I can remember hearing him doing color on some college hoops game and thinking, maybe if you had to listen to him over to course of an entire season, you'd get tired of him, but for one game, nothing was more entertaining to listen to than the stream-of-consciousness style of Bill Walton.
His OBITUARY IN THE NEW YORK TIMES tells the story that Walton was a stutterer as a young man. He worked hard to overcome it, and went on to a career not only in broadcasting but as motivational speaker. He would tell his audiences that overcoming his stutter was "my greatest accomplishment and your worst nightmare." Once during his working career, my brother Jim attended a conference where Walton was the featured speaker, and he loved it. The Times obituary also tells a terrific story about Walton returning to Portland in 2009 to receive some award from the State of Oregon. I won't try to summarize it here, but click on the link to the obit and had it. It's a great story.
The passing of some celebrities can make you feel sad, some more so than others. To me, the passing of Bill Walton is one of those.
RIP Bill Walton.
Coach Wooden and his star player
Walton and Kareem battle it out in the NBA
The Coach and his two greatest players
The Lions in Winter
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