RIP Bill Walton | Page 3 | The Boneyard

RIP Bill Walton

This is a tough one for me. I remember being in Memphis where I was going to school and listening on the radio to UCLA destroy Memphis State in the National Championship game with Bill doing the most damage.
As great a player as he was I truly loved watching and listening to him on tv coverage and I always had to defend his unique, funny and entertaining antics.
For some reason there were many here attacking that but each to their own. A monumental loss for the world of basketball. RIP and condolences to his family and friends.
 
nomar said:
A lot of people on this forum have said they'd mute the TV when he was on. I always enjoyed his ramblings. "Have you ever been to a volcano?"

Of course he's not in the HOF for his color commentary. A top-10 if not top-5 college player and then an NBA MVP. And his injuries robbed him of what would have been an even greater NBA career.
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Definitely top-4. He, Lew, Russell and Maravich have the most incredible college résumé’s.
 
i thought I share one of my favorite Walton Quotesc
”“In life, being so self-conscious, red hair, big nose, freckles and goofy, nerdy-looking face and can’t talk at all. I was incredibly shy and never said a word,” Walton told The Oregonian newspaper in 2017. “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”
RIP Bill
 
AZHuskiePop said:
i thought I share one of my favorite Walton Quotesc
”“In life, being so self-conscious, red hair, big nose, freckles and goofy, nerdy-looking face and can’t talk at all. I was incredibly shy and never said a word,” Walton told The Oregonian newspaper in 2017. “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”
RIP Bill
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That’s a beauty.
 
Really shocked when I heard the news. I didn't even know he was sick. Did he keep it secret or did I just not know?
 
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Apparently prostate cancer. Hadn't heard he had cancer so he kept that to himself as he should. God bless
 
AZHuskiePop said:
I’ll never forget watching the 1973 NCAA final vs Memphis State . 44 pts on 21 of 22 . . Totally unstoppable.
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That game was one of the most dominant performances I've ever seen. He had four other baskets that were disallowed because they were too close to being dunks (then banned).

Per the Athletic:
He was never close to 100% after UCLA.
He said he suffered a knee injury on the playground as a youth and was never the same. “My legs were pretty much shot by the time I got to the NBA in 1974,” Walton wrote. “I peaked when I was 12.” He had an unimaginable 39 surgeries on his legs, ankles and feet.
 
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Complete dominance at UCLA and the 1977 & 78 NBA seasons until the tragic foot injuries that took away his prime years. It was great to see his "comeback" for the 1986 C's. He overcame chronic stuttering to be a Top 50 sports announcer - which exemplified his passion for basketball and the fans. If you get a chance to see the NESN documentary of the 1986 Celtics, lots of great Bill Walton commentary and stories! RIP Big Man.
 
I'm old enough to remember Walton's great skill at UCLA and watched that terrific performance against Memphis State and also the loss to David Thompson and NC State in 1974.

They spoke about him on PTI today and MIke mentioned that he often had to lay down during broadcasts due to the pain in his ankles and back. Tough guy.

I also witnessed first hand his love of music. I was in the pit for Springsteen at Fenway in September of 2003. Bill was there as well and not hard to miss. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to speak to him. I enjoyed his multiple part series on ESPN a short time ago especially when he talked about the 86 Celtics at a Dead concert. RIP Bill.
 
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One of the greatest college centers ever. Right up there with Russell, Wilt, Alcindor (name in college), Hakeem and The Admiral.

As a broadcaster? Not my cup of tea. He never shut up.
 
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IndyLives said:
Complete dominance at UCLA and the 1977 & 78 NBA seasons until the tragic foot injuries that took away his prime years. It was great to see his "comeback" for the 1986 C's. He overcame chronic stuttering to be a Top 50 sports announcer - which exemplified his passion for basketball and the fans. If you get a chance to see the NESN documentary of the 1986 Celtics, lots of great Bill Walton commentary and stories! RIP Big Man.
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I would love to see a well done Walton documentary.
 
nomar said:
A lot of people on this forum have said they'd mute the TV when he was on. I always enjoyed his ramblings. "Have you ever been to a volcano?"

Of course he's not in the HOF for his color commentary. A top-10 if not top-5 college player and then an NBA MVP. And his injuries robbed him of what would have been an even greater NBA career.
Expand ...

For college basketball only it's a two man conversation. It's Bill or Alcinder. And then everyone else.
 
I didn’t get to see his college career or early nba days, but did catch his swan song on the Celtics and you could feel the joy and see the latent talent. Loved him as an announcer too as he brought that same infectious joy.
 
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Dogdeacon said:
I didn’t get to see his college career or early nba days, but did catch his swan song on the Celtics and you could feel the joy and see the latent talent. Loved him as an announcer too as he brought that same infectious joy.
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His somewhat limited minutes with the Celtics were snapshots of his days as a starter for Portland, in the years he was relatively healthy.

Shot blocker and silky offensive moves near the basket. When I visited San Diego during his and Jabbar's playing days, billboards featured the two and the dates of their upcoming games against each other.

I followed those head to heads, and more often than not, Walton slightly outperformed Jabbar. No mean feat!
 
Back in 2001, the New Haven Register awarded me “Best Lookalike” for high school basketball, claiming I was a spitting image of a young Bill Walton. The mop-top and sideburns are long gone, but still honored to be compared to the late great.
 
In the USA you can't even get a freakin' moment of silence as requested by the announcer without an ad popping over your face on the day of your death.

Some goofy jazz music starts playing as the announcer says, let's have a moment of silence for Walton, and they immediately start hawking the Google Pixel over a montage of Walton's career accomplishments.

I know it was some preplanned ad but you really don't have control of your telecast in order to block things out for heaven's sake?
 
Both Bill Walton and Dave Cowens had a shuffling way of walking so when you saw these tall gangling guys walking in the streets of Boston, they looked like the invading alien machines from War of the Worlds. Or you could say they walked like puppets, or marionettes, like someone was yanking their legs forward and their arms up in slow motion.

Anyway, that was my impression of seeing Walton walking down the street
 
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