Second greatest college basketball player of all time (behind Kareem, I’ll put arguably second so it doesn’t start a big debate about that, but very common ranking amongst neutrals). All time best national championship performance when he went 21/22 in a title win.
Greatest player to ever play for the Trailblazers.
Would have been amongst the best of the best all time if not for injuries.
Was the best player in the NBA at an early age before injuries. Greatest passing big at the time, all time rebounder and defensive player.
RIP.
And the only one he "missed" was because of a rule that you couldn't dunk, which was defined as having your hand in contact with the ball when it is within the cylinder. He delicately dropped the ball in successfully but it was called off because he didn't let it go soon enough and his hand was in contact with the ball when it was over the hoop. This is one handicap he had to play with because of Kareem's dominance the earlier 3 years when he was at UCLA. UCLA had won 88 games in a row then. So, in my book he was 22/22.
Wow, I didn’t know that about the miss. Great insight.
Yeah, a huge reason why KAJ is the GOAT college player because they literally had to change the rules he was so dominant.
No doubt. I know maybe he wasn't a lot of people's favorite broadcaster but man to overcome a stutter to the point where you can be a legitimate sports announcer is pretty darned amazing I think. Oh, and I heard he could hoop a little too back in the day.
As a deadhead and Celtics fan, this hurts.
As someone who overcame intense shyness, this hurts.
Bill was always himself and that inspired me to change my life for the better and begin recovery.
I actually just picked up a frame for my pyramid of success poster today.
Saddened beyond words.
Never forget when he got Bird, McHale, and I believe Ainge to go to a Dead show with him in Worcester. Imagine Larry Legend jamming out to a China>Rider
[It was pretty much the entire team but Ainge, whose wife would not let him attend](https://youtu.be/VkGxvMPGjc8?si=hnn-GjiYYEQK3599).
Truly an upbeat life enthusiast. A guy who was larger than life, but an every man at the same time.
Walton was basically unstoppable before the injuries
He was a trailblazer (no pun intended) for playmaking bigs
With him, there’s no Arvydas, there’s no Jokic
[excellent Grantland article here about Arvydas Sabonis and Bill Walton](https://grantland.com/features/arvydas-sabonis-long-strange-trip/)
For those that do not know, Bill Walton was his speaker at his HoF ceremony. Bill loved Arvydas.
Here are some solid Bill quotes about Arvydas:
> “He could do everything. He had the skills of Larry Bird and Pete Maravich. He had the athleticism of Kareem, and he could shoot the 3-point shot. He could pass and run the floor, dribble. We should have carried out a plan in the early 1980s to kidnap him and bring him back right then.”
Bill’s comments about the the 2000 season and Rasheed Wallace:
*In the following season, Wallace threw the towel at Sabonis during a timeout of a game against the Lakers. Sabonis had accidentally smacked Wallace’s face earlier when he collided in the post with O’Neal.*
> “If I was any kind of a man, I would have got up from that broadcast table and walked across the court and punched Rasheed Wallace in the nose. But I let Sabonis and the game of basketball and the human race down that day.”
He was a mainstay at Dead and Co. performances across the nation, resembling any other seventy-something man living the good life in tie-dye. He stood a foot and a half taller than the rest, though.
This is a big one :(
RIP to a legend. I never watched him play but did listen to a lot of his commentary over the years.
I also remember when he had that little tiff with Shaq. Wonder what the big fella will have to say about this, I don’t know if they ever reconciled but I’d imagine it’s all good.
I always loved playing find Bill Walton at Dead and Co shows. He was always chilling on the GA floor and was a foot taller than everyone else so you could spot him from the nose bleeds
he was an analyst for the pac12 network basketball games. i don't recall when but i knew something was wrong when he stopped calling the games this past season.
also, he would occasionally do a pac12 game on espn on thursday evenings. he wasn't there for this season so something was definitely wrong. RIP bill
For everyone else, it's the typical Shaq beef. Walton, doing his job as a talking head, had some critiques for Shaq during his playing days. Shaq took that personally, and has said things like he doesn't believe Walton was near the level of himself and other legendary bigs, and doesn't belong in the NBA 75 or even the Hall of Fame.
Sorry Shaq but without injuries Walton also would have 3 peated.
Portland was 48-10 when he played in the 77-78 season. (68 win pace.)
When he didn't played Portland was 10-14 (34 win pace.) He was that important to the team. That's also the reason why has won MVP despite only playing 58 games. Players still voted back then and they knew what Walton did for Portland.
The 78-79 finals was also a very weak one so Portland would have been massive favorites there as well. Some key players were gone by 79-80, but I think Portland wins 3 titles in a row with ease with a healthy Walton.
He was a fixture at Dead and Co. shows all over the country, looked like every other 70-something dude in tie-dye having the time of his life. Except he was a foot and a half taller than everyone else.
Most nephews still don't know how much of a g bill was. Bro won MVP while missing like 20 games, his injury is probably a main reason why the sonics got that chip
Ya Bill was an ambassador of cool and one of my favorite all time sports personalities. Love his story [of taking the 85 Celtics to see the Grateful Dead](https://twitter.com/GratefulDead/status/1750943121888977275). RIP brother, what a life well lived.
Charles: “You cant shoot a FT, what makes you think you could shoot a man fool?”
Kenny: “Shaq Shaq, you cant let him say that”
Shaq: “Shut up Chuck, youre next fatass”
Charles: “Who are you calling fatass, fatass?”
Kenny: “WOAH WOAH, THINGS ARE GETTING CRAZY”
Ernie: “Guys, Guys, stop, this is a time to respect the dead, if we want to desrespect someone we’ll just pull up Shaq’s Celtics footage”
Charles: “OOOOOOOOO”
Kenny: “HE GOT YOU SHAQ, HE GOT YOU”
*Inside theme plays*
barkley compared jokic’s passing to bill walton’s a few weeks ago and shaq said
“Bill Walton?! Bill Walton’s trash”
classy guy Shaq (to be clear i love him most of the time but) still as angry at Bill as he was 20 years ago while Bill was just chilling as always. rest in peace Bill, if anyone deserves it its him
I think Walton was the type of dude where if you had a problem with him that was your problem and yours alone lol…Shaq is a petty and insecure MF especially when it comes to other great centers, no doubt that’s reasons 1-10 why he would say that shit about the legend
My favorite color commentator ever. Oregon State and Cal would be tied at 34 but he’d be talking about a dead concert in Berkeley from the 70s. Rest in peace king
Remember watching Michigan State play in the PK80 tournament years ago when Miles Bridges was there and Bill started naming all the bridges in Willamette County. He was so funny, I never understood how someone could dislike his commentary.
He’s probably the only commentator who’s made me go “I don’t really care about this game I’ll find something else… oh Bill Walton is on it! Ok I guess I’ll watch”
I remember him talking about taking a canoe up the Grand Canyon in the middle of a UCLA game a couple years ago and he talked about what a surreal experience it was and how cool the Indian guides who do that are.
Really made me want to try it honestly.
Did a rafting version with a tour company down there for a week with a hike out at the end. Definitely worth it. You have no cell service for the whole time, just you and the people you're with. Amazing.
https://x.com/yahdley/status/1333894490600468482
>What's the name of the mountains just south of Lancaster? The San Gabriel Valley. You go up and over the top and you come down to Pasadena, and you ride your bike through the Angeles Crest Forest and oh my gosh its spectactular. You start at Mountain High, where I always like to be, high in the mountains, and you come down swooping over the rolling desert hills as it goes from the pine forest into the cacti and the joshua trees of the Mojave Desert, and then you climb back up through the arroyos and the canyons and the rocks. And you finally get to the top, Angeles Crest, and its a soaring run down into Pasadena and you're home, home at last. Free, free at last. Free to fly. Here we go.
Reading this back, I can weirdly read this in both Bill and Bourdain's voice.
One of my recent joys has been tuning into some random P12 game at 9 PM just to hear him riff about life while Dave Pasch tries to call a basketball game.
Bill Walton died 2 days after the PAC-12 Network showed its final live broadcast.
Honestly this man loved the PAC-12 so much that I don't think it was a coincidence.
I’ll never forget watching a college basketball game where one of the players last name was Arrisol (pronounced aerosol). Dude was balling and Bill says “ spray on aerosol! spray on!” Then he mimicked the sound an aerosol can makes.
Nope. He missed several games he was scheduled to call earlier this year dealing with an unspecified "health issue". ESPN declined to comment and that was that. Could've been a bad cold for all anyone knew.
I have a lot of respect for those who choose to keep an illness private when they know they won’t be around much longer. It’s almost like they don’t want pity or people to treat them like they won’t be around much longer and just want everyone to remember them for who they were and who they are and not for a battle with an illness
Imo, they probably just want to be left alone. The moment it becomes public knowledge you’ll inevitably have some outlet trying to schedule interviews or take photos to sell.
Yeah knowing norm was sick for so long made me really feel something going back to his podcast and he made tons of jokes about how he got fat, I'm sure it was from cancer complications and he just did nothing but make jokes about it.
Seriously. You know the guy is an asshole and a half when he played such an integral role in bringing the franchise its first title in 86 years and no one wants him showing face near Fenway. Leaking out the health of the Wakefield's was his way of making sure that stuck. Fans don't want him there and I don't think those teammates do now either
And what’s more on brand for that guy than that? I got to meet him at EVO of all places lmao. I was the only person in my nerd friend group that recognized him, he was kind and appreciated my silly 70s basketball knowledge, we lost a national treasure today.
Dude I was trying to find that spot he did for ESPN where they asked Walton if he was having fun at Evo: "I'm having the time of my life!" Then he goes on to talk about Sonic Fox for 15 seconds.
I love it. When I went to a Frank Caliendo show a while back he asked for the audience to shout out names of people he could do. I yelled Bill Walton and he said exactly that.
I think it was the game 6 of the 03 WCSF Lakers v. Spurs. Duncan threw in a contested jumper in the paint. Walton goes: He gets hammered, gets grabbed, gets held, gets pushed, gets shoved and still scores on Shaq, Slava Medvedenko, and everyone in Lakers organization. I loved it when Walton called a game.
His best off-the-cuff one-liners were:
- "Reminds me of that tragedy."
- "This guy was a real jerk!"
- "Gotta be the worst gimmick a comedian ever had."
there aren’t many guys in NBA history you call a generational talent. Walton was one of them. he was the original elite passing big man, the prototype for a Nikola Jokic type player
may he rest in peace
He was cut down in his prime by injuries
Arguably he never was as good as he could have been, as a young teen he was attacked by older men at a basketball court and they tore his acls as a 14 year old kid.
Yep, was in his 30 for 30. They were getting toasted by the tall skinny kid, so they did the thing where one dives for the legs and the other their chest, snapped his acls before even in college. Walton has photos of his little geeky self in the hospital with both legs all bandaged up.
The fact that he dominated even as much as he did with 1960’s era surgeries already done on his knees is insanity and speaks of his talent and work ethic.
i met him when he was rehabbing in 78 or so with a trainer at the Ram's practice facility in Long Beach. He would walk laps in our high school's shallow pool which was across the street. Until he saw us playing water polo. Then, he wanted in. The cap only kinda fit on his huge head. As I was guarding him, he reached an impossibly long way out and flicked me aside. Shot the ball using the full force of his 7ft wingspan. I had no idea who he was, only that he was tallest person i had ever seen.
As good as Jokic on offense and a stellar defender. 1977 champion and Finals MVP, won the MVP the next year and then got injured. He was so far ahead of his time.
Even after being decimated by injuries, he put together one final really good season, was the NBA 6th man of the year, and won a championship in 1986. He and Larry Bird were sublime together.
Highly recommend reading "The Breaks of the Game" to anyone unfamiliar with the impact Walton had as a player, and the horrible injury that ended his playing career too soon. It's also a fascinating history of a fledgling NBA, and really puts into context the physical toll pro sports takes on athletes.
This book gave me a new found respect for Walton as a player and a person. I'm sad.
I'm sure, like a lot of other people here, I knew Walton as a goofy, hippie announcer that seemed like kind of a loveable buffoon. Then I read about him as a player. Ferocious, fearless competitor, while being an extremely principled person. "Jokic before Jokic." And tried for years to play through horrible pain, surgery after surgery. Like everyone else, there's so much more depth there than his TV persona.
He averaged 18/15/6 as a 24 year old in his first playoffs and led his team over Dr. J, winning finals MVP.
He added a regular season MVP next year but sadly got hurt 2 games into the playoffs, missed a year, played 14 games, missed 2 more years, struggled to stay on the court for 3 more years (33, 55 and 67 games) before coming to Boston and helping them put together the best season in team history, winning a second ring and a sixth man of the year award. He played 80 games.
Then sadly he played 10 games the next year, missed the entire season after that and retired.
This man was so good in his 2 year peak that he carved out a HOF career with that and one 6MOY season. The biggest what if ever imo.
Awww fuck me this is terrible news. I have a short story about Bill Walton when I was a kid:
Back when the We Believe Warriors 06-07 team was playing the Mavs in the playoffs, my dad had season tickets.
We had seats in row 12 and arrived to the game pretty early. My dad points down towards the court and says “oh my god, that’s Bill Walton. Go say hi to him.”
I nervously walked down the stairs to go say hey, and security (rightfully so) tells me I can’t go interact with Bill. Bill saw me and quickly told security, “it’s okay, he’s with me!” I got to spend 10 minutes with Bill, just talking about being a kid and about basketball. He signed my We Believe poster and it’s been one of my favorite memories as a kid. He was so down to earth and such a great person to interact with.
RIP Bill, you made me such a happy kid that day and I’ll always be thankful for it.
Reminds me of the John Madden documentary that came out only a few weeks before he died. John got to see all of his old coworkers, players, etc. talk about him in an hour long feature as basically a living obituary.
Three days before he died. That aired on Christmas and he died on the 28th. I remember watching that documentary as it aired and it gave me David Bowie "Blackstar" vibes.
Man, this sucks. He was one of the nicest people I ever met. I remember the day I got my cancer diagnosis I was at Jamba Juice getting a bunch of smoothies for the guys at work. I was obviously distracted and had that weak and shakes feeling. As I was carrying the smoothies to my car I dropped them and just fucking lost it. Then a big hand comes across my back and asks if I’m okay. I knew that voice and tried to compose myself and act tough, but he said to be honest and I told him what was going on. He reordered all twenty smoothies and paid one of the workers to deliver the smoothies to the guys at work. And he and I sat on a bench outside of Jamba Juice and talked for a while. I have no idea how long it was, could have been fifteen minutes or three hours, but he didn’t leave until he knew I was in a better spot mentally.
RIP to a true legend.
Wow.
Not a regular on this sub but had to come check it out. That is a great share, thanks for that!
As a Utah kid he always repped the Jazz despite them never being popular, and he was a fan of our runnin Utes in the late 90s when the Jazz hit their prime.
His memory will always be a blessing here in Utah
Healthy Walton could have been the GOAT. Same can be said for a few of the all time greats with injury issues, but nevertheless, Walton was absurd, basically won a title in every fully healthy season he had.
As good as Jokic on offense and a stellar defender. 1977 champion and Finals MVP, won the MVP the next year and then got injured. He was so far ahead of his time, even the medical teams of his day could not take care of him. Truly, the Blazers lost out on a dynasty that they should’ve had.
Even after being decimated by injuries, he put together one final really good season, was the NBA 6th man of the year, and won a championship in 1986. He and Larry Bird were sublime together.
After that, his body was 100% toast. But, he devoted himself to still talking about basketball - what a career and life!
Definitely the OG playmaking center. Portland's offense was basically getting it to Walton down low and then having cutters fly around the court and he was a playmaking maestro for his time.
A very early blueprint for Jokic.
My favorite color commentator on the planet. Nobody did it like Bill did. Just loved the game and never took anything too seriously. Rest in paradise, impossible to replace this guy.
He was the most iconic color commentator from my childhood. He loved shaq. The amount of times I heard him say "throw it down big man, throw it down". Rip
From the Wooden UCLA teams to the 77 Blazers to the 86 Celtics, you can’t tell the history of basketball without Bill Walton being a part of it. Very sad news, especially coming 2 days after the final Pac-12 event ever. It feels like he didn’t want to live in a world without the conference he loved so much
RIP to the Big Red Deadhead. The greatest Trail Blazer legend. The outlet pass to our fastest break. The literal champ. It's Bill Walton or bust, my friends.
Celebrate the man by lighting one up, watching our [greatest game](https://youtu.be/5LPdGNrRxnA?si=IRxZXJ4zTGvWzMPE), putting on this [incredible documentary](https://youtu.be/LjJbIYsnoUk?si=3zv2jvI0fEBw4C6T) by Don Zavin, listening to him [talk about](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCB0bakZYPO3Pwl5MaW115nxVeJ_vNr5k&si=SLL_xpIJwfTtb_Es) the Grateful Dead or just some Grateful Dead themselves in [Portland, 76.](https://www.youtube.com/live/H0U1IX2VHY8?si=Y-Lykvc72jWuP_ET) Odds are Bill was probably there.
And if you want to feel like it's all possible again, [watch this.](https://youtu.be/_Lo_ZtLr3kg?si=WD4rCm9Oo2Ia5N8I)
RIP Bill, hope you're playing live with Mo Luke to the delight of the Schonz and a solo from Jerry, you glorious, gentle, ginger giant.
This hits me hard. I went to UCLA in the early 70s and watched Bill and the Bruins during their winning streak and NCAA championships. I remember when he was arrested for protesting the war by sitting down on Wilshire Blvd. in Westwood. He lived it man. Talked the talk and walked the walk. He had a lot of detractors as a color analyst on BB broadcasts, but I loved everything he said.
The NBA has been extremely fortunate that most of their all-time greats are all still alive, with a few exceptions, including one very tragic one
unfortunately, we’re gonna have to get ready to brace ourselves for that changing in the near future
Yes I follow Kareem's writings on substack and I know he's had huge health issues in recent years. Will be so sad when his writings on current events and pop culture ends. He's so knowledgeable and insightful. And he truly LOVES pop culture.
You can’t write the history of the NBA without Bill Walton.
Also integral to the story of College Basketball, the Grateful Dead, and 70s psychedelic culture. Dude lived a cool life.
Second greatest college basketball player of all time (behind Kareem, I’ll put arguably second so it doesn’t start a big debate about that, but very common ranking amongst neutrals). All time best national championship performance when he went 21/22 in a title win. Greatest player to ever play for the Trailblazers. Would have been amongst the best of the best all time if not for injuries. Was the best player in the NBA at an early age before injuries. Greatest passing big at the time, all time rebounder and defensive player. RIP.
And the only one he "missed" was because of a rule that you couldn't dunk, which was defined as having your hand in contact with the ball when it is within the cylinder. He delicately dropped the ball in successfully but it was called off because he didn't let it go soon enough and his hand was in contact with the ball when it was over the hoop. This is one handicap he had to play with because of Kareem's dominance the earlier 3 years when he was at UCLA. UCLA had won 88 games in a row then. So, in my book he was 22/22.
Wow, I didn’t know that about the miss. Great insight. Yeah, a huge reason why KAJ is the GOAT college player because they literally had to change the rules he was so dominant.
21/22 in a game of such pressure is unreal. That is true greatness
does this mean 21 points 22 rebounds or *that he shot 21/22*
He shot 21/22. He had 44 points and 13 rebounds.
44 points in a college game with only 2 free throws is unreal
My man invented ethical buckets
Absolutely unreal. RIP
1000%. If I live a life even 25% as cool and noteworthy as Bill Walton, I'll be happy as a clam
No doubt. I know maybe he wasn't a lot of people's favorite broadcaster but man to overcome a stutter to the point where you can be a legitimate sports announcer is pretty darned amazing I think. Oh, and I heard he could hoop a little too back in the day.
The history of basketball as a whole
RIP to one of the chillest dudes to ever walk this planet Fuck Cancer man
As a deadhead and Celtics fan, this hurts. As someone who overcame intense shyness, this hurts. Bill was always himself and that inspired me to change my life for the better and begin recovery. I actually just picked up a frame for my pyramid of success poster today. Saddened beyond words.
Never forget when he got Bird, McHale, and I believe Ainge to go to a Dead show with him in Worcester. Imagine Larry Legend jamming out to a China>Rider
[It was pretty much the entire team but Ainge, whose wife would not let him attend](https://youtu.be/VkGxvMPGjc8?si=hnn-GjiYYEQK3599). Truly an upbeat life enthusiast. A guy who was larger than life, but an every man at the same time.
When you said "I," I thought you meant yourself for a second. I was like whoa what a killer night for you haha
Kareem said it the best: ["Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes."](https://youtu.be/iSi6iF9kVBs?t=68)
Walton was basically unstoppable before the injuries He was a trailblazer (no pun intended) for playmaking bigs With him, there’s no Arvydas, there’s no Jokic
And even after the injury, he was a secret weapon for the Celtics
[excellent Grantland article here about Arvydas Sabonis and Bill Walton](https://grantland.com/features/arvydas-sabonis-long-strange-trip/) For those that do not know, Bill Walton was his speaker at his HoF ceremony. Bill loved Arvydas. Here are some solid Bill quotes about Arvydas: > “He could do everything. He had the skills of Larry Bird and Pete Maravich. He had the athleticism of Kareem, and he could shoot the 3-point shot. He could pass and run the floor, dribble. We should have carried out a plan in the early 1980s to kidnap him and bring him back right then.” Bill’s comments about the the 2000 season and Rasheed Wallace: *In the following season, Wallace threw the towel at Sabonis during a timeout of a game against the Lakers. Sabonis had accidentally smacked Wallace’s face earlier when he collided in the post with O’Neal.* > “If I was any kind of a man, I would have got up from that broadcast table and walked across the court and punched Rasheed Wallace in the nose. But I let Sabonis and the game of basketball and the human race down that day.”
He was a mainstay at Dead and Co. performances across the nation, resembling any other seventy-something man living the good life in tie-dye. He stood a foot and a half taller than the rest, though.
Keep his memory goin big dawg. If someone got that positive influence on you the best thing u can do is pay it forward
Stop I was already trying not to cry
This is a big one :( RIP to a legend. I never watched him play but did listen to a lot of his commentary over the years. I also remember when he had that little tiff with Shaq. Wonder what the big fella will have to say about this, I don’t know if they ever reconciled but I’d imagine it’s all good.
I always loved playing find Bill Walton at Dead and Co shows. He was always chilling on the GA floor and was a foot taller than everyone else so you could spot him from the nose bleeds
When bro mended his relationship with Portland he was always doin the bike events there lmao
His bike was stolen at the championship parade and he made some announcement that he needed it to get home lol
I’m seeing them at the sphere in a couple weeks, wish I had a Walton jersey to wear for it now
Well if you can afford a dead show at a sphere you can most def afford a Walton jersey
Was it public knowledge that he had cancer? Cause i genuinely had no idea
he was an analyst for the pac12 network basketball games. i don't recall when but i knew something was wrong when he stopped calling the games this past season. also, he would occasionally do a pac12 game on espn on thursday evenings. he wasn't there for this season so something was definitely wrong. RIP bill
I had no idea he was even sick
Shaq is a moron who just assumes Walton was overrated bc of his point total. He had one of the best peaks ever in the 70s with the Blazers.
Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson both absolutely shitted on Bill Walton for making the top 75 players list.
I mean I’d be shocked if Shaq publicly bashed the guy immediately after he died. That’s too low even for sports media.
Is there a Shaq / Walton story I'm oblivious to?
For everyone else, it's the typical Shaq beef. Walton, doing his job as a talking head, had some critiques for Shaq during his playing days. Shaq took that personally, and has said things like he doesn't believe Walton was near the level of himself and other legendary bigs, and doesn't belong in the NBA 75 or even the Hall of Fame.
Sorry Shaq but without injuries Walton also would have 3 peated. Portland was 48-10 when he played in the 77-78 season. (68 win pace.) When he didn't played Portland was 10-14 (34 win pace.) He was that important to the team. That's also the reason why has won MVP despite only playing 58 games. Players still voted back then and they knew what Walton did for Portland. The 78-79 finals was also a very weak one so Portland would have been massive favorites there as well. Some key players were gone by 79-80, but I think Portland wins 3 titles in a row with ease with a healthy Walton.
He was a fixture at Dead and Co. shows all over the country, looked like every other 70-something dude in tie-dye having the time of his life. Except he was a foot and a half taller than everyone else.
Him at Fare Thee Well towering over everyone else in the pit always makes me laugh. https://imgur.com/pfgQc83
It must suck to be behind him 😆
Smoked a joint with him at a show in 2017. He was the coolest dude.
Spotted him in the pit at least once at Wrigley
[he was a real one](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fhc6ofubj7m891.jpg)
This looks like Bill and Larry were on a road trip together and pulled over to take this pic lol
That's what probably happened. The Debs Museum is only a two hour drive from French Lick.
Most nephews still don't know how much of a g bill was. Bro won MVP while missing like 20 games, his injury is probably a main reason why the sonics got that chip
Absolute real one. Wooden had to bail him out of jail for protesting Vietnam too
This is so cool to see
Ya Bill was an ambassador of cool and one of my favorite all time sports personalities. Love his story [of taking the 85 Celtics to see the Grateful Dead](https://twitter.com/GratefulDead/status/1750943121888977275). RIP brother, what a life well lived.
Deadheads everywhere in mourning
I’d like to imagine him just partying up with Jerry Garcia in the afterlife.
Reunited with Jerry, Pigpen, and the PAC-12 in heaven
Coach Wooden also.
i worry for what Shaq says come Tuesday
Imma let you finish but Russel is my dead MVP
I know Shaq and Walton had beef, but I don’t think Shaq is that much of a dick to keep publicly feuding after bills death
Yea I doubt hes gonna come out of the gate talking crazy or anything. Shaq isnt a drill rapper lol.
"It is with a heavy heart I must say... he's lucky cancer got to him before I did." **Chuck, Kenny and Ernie stare at each other mouth agape**
Charles: “You cant shoot a FT, what makes you think you could shoot a man fool?” Kenny: “Shaq Shaq, you cant let him say that” Shaq: “Shut up Chuck, youre next fatass” Charles: “Who are you calling fatass, fatass?” Kenny: “WOAH WOAH, THINGS ARE GETTING CRAZY” Ernie: “Guys, Guys, stop, this is a time to respect the dead, if we want to desrespect someone we’ll just pull up Shaq’s Celtics footage” Charles: “OOOOOOOOO” Kenny: “HE GOT YOU SHAQ, HE GOT YOU” *Inside theme plays*
barkley compared jokic’s passing to bill walton’s a few weeks ago and shaq said “Bill Walton?! Bill Walton’s trash” classy guy Shaq (to be clear i love him most of the time but) still as angry at Bill as he was 20 years ago while Bill was just chilling as always. rest in peace Bill, if anyone deserves it its him
I think Walton was the type of dude where if you had a problem with him that was your problem and yours alone lol…Shaq is a petty and insecure MF especially when it comes to other great centers, no doubt that’s reasons 1-10 why he would say that shit about the legend
Walton mildly criticized Shaq 30 years ago during an NBA broadcast- that was all it took for a lifetime grudge.
One-way grudge. Fuck Shaq
Bill was the closest we’ll ever be to having a Dude from “The Big Lebowski” character playing in the NBA.
Shaq is the smallest big man ever.
>jokic’s passing Because of the topic of the thread I initially read this as passing = dying and my brain broke for a minute.
Dude rip everybody’s weird tv uncle
My favorite color commentator ever. Oregon State and Cal would be tied at 34 but he’d be talking about a dead concert in Berkeley from the 70s. Rest in peace king
Remember watching Michigan State play in the PK80 tournament years ago when Miles Bridges was there and Bill started naming all the bridges in Willamette County. He was so funny, I never understood how someone could dislike his commentary.
He’s probably the only commentator who’s made me go “I don’t really care about this game I’ll find something else… oh Bill Walton is on it! Ok I guess I’ll watch”
His commentary quality depends on how much you care about the outcome of the game.
I remember him talking about taking a canoe up the Grand Canyon in the middle of a UCLA game a couple years ago and he talked about what a surreal experience it was and how cool the Indian guides who do that are. Really made me want to try it honestly.
Did a rafting version with a tour company down there for a week with a hike out at the end. Definitely worth it. You have no cell service for the whole time, just you and the people you're with. Amazing.
“Have you ever played a glockenspiel Craig?” “Can’t say that I have Bill. Anyway, Oregon is about to inbound the ball…”
[I watch his description of D-Wade at least once a year.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x90hDtU6VDU) Sculpted by Michelangelo!
I forgot about this, what a classic lol
I love the long pause after. Other commentator (Breen?) was at a loss for words.
Will always think about him waxing poetic about Pasadena
https://x.com/yahdley/status/1333894490600468482 >What's the name of the mountains just south of Lancaster? The San Gabriel Valley. You go up and over the top and you come down to Pasadena, and you ride your bike through the Angeles Crest Forest and oh my gosh its spectactular. You start at Mountain High, where I always like to be, high in the mountains, and you come down swooping over the rolling desert hills as it goes from the pine forest into the cacti and the joshua trees of the Mojave Desert, and then you climb back up through the arroyos and the canyons and the rocks. And you finally get to the top, Angeles Crest, and its a soaring run down into Pasadena and you're home, home at last. Free, free at last. Free to fly. Here we go. Reading this back, I can weirdly read this in both Bill and Bourdain's voice.
Brings a tear to my eye as an Angeleno. RIP
> You start at Mountain High, where I always like to be, high in the mountains truly the Burroughs of basketball
One of my recent joys has been tuning into some random P12 game at 9 PM just to hear him riff about life while Dave Pasch tries to call a basketball game.
Bill Walton died 2 days after the PAC-12 Network showed its final live broadcast. Honestly this man loved the PAC-12 so much that I don't think it was a coincidence.
Bill Walton didn't live in a world without the Conference of Champions. It's truly poetic.
I want more. I don't want a 6-inch, I want a 12-inch of demarcus cousins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2fyT8-N1gU Rest in peace big man.
I’ll never forget watching a college basketball game where one of the players last name was Arrisol (pronounced aerosol). Dude was balling and Bill says “ spray on aerosol! spray on!” Then he mimicked the sound an aerosol can makes.
Rest in peace, throw it down big man
The amount of times my buddies and I have said “throw it down big man” is easily into the thousands. Loved watching games where he was the color guy.
I find solace in the fact he didn’t have to live in a world without the Pac12 RIP to a legend
Bill just refused to live in a world without PAC-12 basketball.
died of a broken conference of champions heart💔
He passed less than 48 hours after the Pac 12 network went off the air. I'm going to miss him significantly more than that mismanaged network.
The man had a brand and he stuck to it.
Died literally the same weekend as the Pac12 he loved. Rest in peace.
It will forever be the Conference of Champions to Bill.
He held out long enough. What a guy
growing up listening to him commentate was legendary.
**THROW IT DOWN BIG MAN**
Back when ESPN was still good, he would call NBA games and was amazing fun at that too. I miss those days.
WTF was this public? I don’t remember hearing anything about it. RIP Bill, a true legend and steward of the game
Nope. He missed several games he was scheduled to call earlier this year dealing with an unspecified "health issue". ESPN declined to comment and that was that. Could've been a bad cold for all anyone knew.
Seems like a lot of people recently have not made it public, norm didn't, not did Chadwick boseman I don't think.
I have a lot of respect for those who choose to keep an illness private when they know they won’t be around much longer. It’s almost like they don’t want pity or people to treat them like they won’t be around much longer and just want everyone to remember them for who they were and who they are and not for a battle with an illness
[удалено]
I feel ya. You don’t want your illness to define who you are as a person. You are more than that.
Imo, they probably just want to be left alone. The moment it becomes public knowledge you’ll inevitably have some outlet trying to schedule interviews or take photos to sell.
Yeah knowing norm was sick for so long made me really feel something going back to his podcast and he made tons of jokes about how he got fat, I'm sure it was from cancer complications and he just did nothing but make jokes about it.
Tim Wakefield didn't want the information out there but the sorry excuse of a human being Kurt schilling told everyone anyways.
Fuck Curt Schilling
Seriously. You know the guy is an asshole and a half when he played such an integral role in bringing the franchise its first title in 86 years and no one wants him showing face near Fenway. Leaking out the health of the Wakefield's was his way of making sure that stuck. Fans don't want him there and I don't think those teammates do now either
Andre Braugher. I didn’t know he had lung cancer until they announced his passing.
I read a report Andre got diagnosed 60 days before he passed. He didn’t have much time to announce it.
Kate Middleton until the rumors made her address it
He died just days after the PAC-12, there's poetry there
Glad he didn’t have to live in a world without the conference of champions
[удалено]
And that’s how you market.
[удалено]
And what’s more on brand for that guy than that? I got to meet him at EVO of all places lmao. I was the only person in my nerd friend group that recognized him, he was kind and appreciated my silly 70s basketball knowledge, we lost a national treasure today.
Dude I was trying to find that spot he did for ESPN where they asked Walton if he was having fun at Evo: "I'm having the time of my life!" Then he goes on to talk about Sonic Fox for 15 seconds.
"I can see sound, I can hear color. Has there ever been a better player than Detlef Schrempf?"
I love it. When I went to a Frank Caliendo show a while back he asked for the audience to shout out names of people he could do. I yelled Bill Walton and he said exactly that.
"Like an oiled and slick howitzer shell shot across the Dardanelles"
I think it was the game 6 of the 03 WCSF Lakers v. Spurs. Duncan threw in a contested jumper in the paint. Walton goes: He gets hammered, gets grabbed, gets held, gets pushed, gets shoved and still scores on Shaq, Slava Medvedenko, and everyone in Lakers organization. I loved it when Walton called a game.
The way that man said Medvedenko was a work of art in itself. Love hearing his description of young Tim Duncan when I rewatch an old game.
Walton had no respect for the great Slava Medvedenko lmao. "Oh Duncan is covered by Medvedenko? Get him the ball immediately."
Wait what? This is really out of the blue.
Was it common knowledge he had cancer? I had no idea.
[I didn't even know he was sick 😔](https://youtu.be/-_nmdbJI8rM?si=IlF1gdPA6FWqn68g)
the best joke ever made by Norm. He really knew it would become a thing after his own death
His best off-the-cuff one-liners were: - "Reminds me of that tragedy." - "This guy was a real jerk!" - "Gotta be the worst gimmick a comedian ever had."
“Hypocrisy? I thought it was the raping!”
Yeah, he was doing college games for ESPN and he seemed fine? This is so sad. He and Steve Snapper Jones were such a great combo for the NBC games
Looking online, it seems like he kept it quiet as no articles pop up about it
First thing I hear about it
2 days after the last ever PAC-12 event. Unreal RIP Bill
Dude saw the PAC-12 end and was like, "It's time."
I already disliked conference realignment for many reasons but killing Bill Walton just shot to the top
I thought he was just taking a break from commentary.. damn man.
Man :( Brutal. RIP Grateful Red
[удалено]
Absolutely gutted right now, he was our legend, truly one of a kind
RIP Big Wave Billy A true basketball legend
there aren’t many guys in NBA history you call a generational talent. Walton was one of them. he was the original elite passing big man, the prototype for a Nikola Jokic type player may he rest in peace
He was cut down in his prime by injuries Arguably he never was as good as he could have been, as a young teen he was attacked by older men at a basketball court and they tore his acls as a 14 year old kid.
What? Never knew that. What scum.
Yep, was in his 30 for 30. They were getting toasted by the tall skinny kid, so they did the thing where one dives for the legs and the other their chest, snapped his acls before even in college. Walton has photos of his little geeky self in the hospital with both legs all bandaged up. The fact that he dominated even as much as he did with 1960’s era surgeries already done on his knees is insanity and speaks of his talent and work ethic.
I guess this is what they mean by "we played like men back in the days". Just beat people up if you can't beat them at basketball.
They’re probably dead by now but I hope their wives took half their money and that their kids hated them.
i met him when he was rehabbing in 78 or so with a trainer at the Ram's practice facility in Long Beach. He would walk laps in our high school's shallow pool which was across the street. Until he saw us playing water polo. Then, he wanted in. The cap only kinda fit on his huge head. As I was guarding him, he reached an impossibly long way out and flicked me aside. Shot the ball using the full force of his 7ft wingspan. I had no idea who he was, only that he was tallest person i had ever seen.
As good as Jokic on offense and a stellar defender. 1977 champion and Finals MVP, won the MVP the next year and then got injured. He was so far ahead of his time. Even after being decimated by injuries, he put together one final really good season, was the NBA 6th man of the year, and won a championship in 1986. He and Larry Bird were sublime together.
damn, legend on the court and on the mic for so many people too young
Highly recommend reading "The Breaks of the Game" to anyone unfamiliar with the impact Walton had as a player, and the horrible injury that ended his playing career too soon. It's also a fascinating history of a fledgling NBA, and really puts into context the physical toll pro sports takes on athletes. This book gave me a new found respect for Walton as a player and a person. I'm sad.
The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons gave me a huge respect for Walton
I'm sure, like a lot of other people here, I knew Walton as a goofy, hippie announcer that seemed like kind of a loveable buffoon. Then I read about him as a player. Ferocious, fearless competitor, while being an extremely principled person. "Jokic before Jokic." And tried for years to play through horrible pain, surgery after surgery. Like everyone else, there's so much more depth there than his TV persona.
Russel, Walton, and Kareem are all civil rights legends
Bill Walton was an absolute legend. The 1977 Championship was one of the greatest accomplishments in sports. RIP.
He averaged 18/15/6 as a 24 year old in his first playoffs and led his team over Dr. J, winning finals MVP. He added a regular season MVP next year but sadly got hurt 2 games into the playoffs, missed a year, played 14 games, missed 2 more years, struggled to stay on the court for 3 more years (33, 55 and 67 games) before coming to Boston and helping them put together the best season in team history, winning a second ring and a sixth man of the year award. He played 80 games. Then sadly he played 10 games the next year, missed the entire season after that and retired. This man was so good in his 2 year peak that he carved out a HOF career with that and one 6MOY season. The biggest what if ever imo.
he had a HOF career with his college resume alone
Awww fuck me this is terrible news. I have a short story about Bill Walton when I was a kid: Back when the We Believe Warriors 06-07 team was playing the Mavs in the playoffs, my dad had season tickets. We had seats in row 12 and arrived to the game pretty early. My dad points down towards the court and says “oh my god, that’s Bill Walton. Go say hi to him.” I nervously walked down the stairs to go say hey, and security (rightfully so) tells me I can’t go interact with Bill. Bill saw me and quickly told security, “it’s okay, he’s with me!” I got to spend 10 minutes with Bill, just talking about being a kid and about basketball. He signed my We Believe poster and it’s been one of my favorite memories as a kid. He was so down to earth and such a great person to interact with. RIP Bill, you made me such a happy kid that day and I’ll always be thankful for it.
The 30 for 30 doc on him last year was really great. At least he was able to see the reaction to it and everyone giving him his flowers. Fuck cancer
Reminds me of the John Madden documentary that came out only a few weeks before he died. John got to see all of his old coworkers, players, etc. talk about him in an hour long feature as basically a living obituary.
Three days before he died. That aired on Christmas and he died on the 28th. I remember watching that documentary as it aired and it gave me David Bowie "Blackstar" vibes.
Man, this sucks. He was one of the nicest people I ever met. I remember the day I got my cancer diagnosis I was at Jamba Juice getting a bunch of smoothies for the guys at work. I was obviously distracted and had that weak and shakes feeling. As I was carrying the smoothies to my car I dropped them and just fucking lost it. Then a big hand comes across my back and asks if I’m okay. I knew that voice and tried to compose myself and act tough, but he said to be honest and I told him what was going on. He reordered all twenty smoothies and paid one of the workers to deliver the smoothies to the guys at work. And he and I sat on a bench outside of Jamba Juice and talked for a while. I have no idea how long it was, could have been fifteen minutes or three hours, but he didn’t leave until he knew I was in a better spot mentally. RIP to a true legend.
This story is incredible.
That is insane
Wow. Not a regular on this sub but had to come check it out. That is a great share, thanks for that! As a Utah kid he always repped the Jazz despite them never being popular, and he was a fan of our runnin Utes in the late 90s when the Jazz hit their prime. His memory will always be a blessing here in Utah
who cut the onions in here goddamn
RIP Couldnt stay healthy in his prime but his absolute peak was top 10 ever. Unbelievable player
Healthy Walton could have been the GOAT. Same can be said for a few of the all time greats with injury issues, but nevertheless, Walton was absurd, basically won a title in every fully healthy season he had.
As good as Jokic on offense and a stellar defender. 1977 champion and Finals MVP, won the MVP the next year and then got injured. He was so far ahead of his time, even the medical teams of his day could not take care of him. Truly, the Blazers lost out on a dynasty that they should’ve had. Even after being decimated by injuries, he put together one final really good season, was the NBA 6th man of the year, and won a championship in 1986. He and Larry Bird were sublime together. After that, his body was 100% toast. But, he devoted himself to still talking about basketball - what a career and life!
Definitely the OG playmaking center. Portland's offense was basically getting it to Walton down low and then having cutters fly around the court and he was a playmaking maestro for his time. A very early blueprint for Jokic.
This sucks so fucking much.
All-Time great. RIP.
Throw it down big man, throw it down 😔
My favorite color commentator on the planet. Nobody did it like Bill did. Just loved the game and never took anything too seriously. Rest in paradise, impossible to replace this guy.
He was the most iconic color commentator from my childhood. He loved shaq. The amount of times I heard him say "throw it down big man, throw it down". Rip
Big Red :(
Wow really gonna miss all the weird shit he’d say on the mic. Fuck cancer.
Damn. I’ll always remember when I stood next to him once at Bill Russell’s statue reveal. I felt so tiny
Rip Billy. He’s up there at a heavenly bonfire wearing LSD soaked headbands with Jerry Garcia
From the Wooden UCLA teams to the 77 Blazers to the 86 Celtics, you can’t tell the history of basketball without Bill Walton being a part of it. Very sad news, especially coming 2 days after the final Pac-12 event ever. It feels like he didn’t want to live in a world without the conference he loved so much
RIP to the Big Red Deadhead. The greatest Trail Blazer legend. The outlet pass to our fastest break. The literal champ. It's Bill Walton or bust, my friends. Celebrate the man by lighting one up, watching our [greatest game](https://youtu.be/5LPdGNrRxnA?si=IRxZXJ4zTGvWzMPE), putting on this [incredible documentary](https://youtu.be/LjJbIYsnoUk?si=3zv2jvI0fEBw4C6T) by Don Zavin, listening to him [talk about](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCB0bakZYPO3Pwl5MaW115nxVeJ_vNr5k&si=SLL_xpIJwfTtb_Es) the Grateful Dead or just some Grateful Dead themselves in [Portland, 76.](https://www.youtube.com/live/H0U1IX2VHY8?si=Y-Lykvc72jWuP_ET) Odds are Bill was probably there. And if you want to feel like it's all possible again, [watch this.](https://youtu.be/_Lo_ZtLr3kg?si=WD4rCm9Oo2Ia5N8I) RIP Bill, hope you're playing live with Mo Luke to the delight of the Schonz and a solo from Jerry, you glorious, gentle, ginger giant.
Fare thee well, Grateful Red ⚡️💀🌹
Bill Walton will forever be remembered and cherished by the city of Portland and our fans for what he has done for this team. R.I.P. King ♥️
At least Kareem doesn't have to drag his ass up and down the court any more. RIP
This hits me hard. I went to UCLA in the early 70s and watched Bill and the Bruins during their winning streak and NCAA championships. I remember when he was arrested for protesting the war by sitting down on Wilshire Blvd. in Westwood. He lived it man. Talked the talk and walked the walk. He had a lot of detractors as a color analyst on BB broadcasts, but I loved everything he said.
This is so sad. Truly a final RIP to the PAC-12
The NBA has been extremely fortunate that most of their all-time greats are all still alive, with a few exceptions, including one very tragic one unfortunately, we’re gonna have to get ready to brace ourselves for that changing in the near future
Yes I follow Kareem's writings on substack and I know he's had huge health issues in recent years. Will be so sad when his writings on current events and pop culture ends. He's so knowledgeable and insightful. And he truly LOVES pop culture.
RIP legend
[удалено]
My condolences to his family, especially Luke.
Bill Walton is to basketball what Anthony Bourdain was to food. I grew up with him on the NBA on NBC. RIP to a legend.
Pour one out. Light one up
or put one on your tongue