RIP Bill Walton

Oregon State beat UCLA in 1973-74, Walton's senior year, ending their 71-(?) game Pac-8 winning streak. Several of the Beavers who played in that game still live in Corvallis and are still Beaver fans, they go to the games. If Walton happened to see one of them when he was at Gill doing a game, he would always ask how they are doing, be very gracious, and never make any excuses about why UCLA lost.

I doubt he even knew these guys name, since UCLA did not scout. But he recognized their faces and was genuinely happy to see them and riminess about their old games and the old Pac-8 days, when UCLA stayed in some run-down local hotel and you could see Wooden at the hotel coffee shop.

I watched the 1973 Memphis State and 1974 Notre Dame games in friend's dorm rooms, and the UCLA-NC State 1974 semifinal at my fraternity house. Unforgettable moments. Games like that were so, so big at the time, because so few games were televised and when one was, it was a huge deal.

I'm watching the 30-for-30. Like legendary governor Tom McCall, Walton is still an icon in Oregon.

 

Its an interesting idea to explore - how much, really HOW MUCH of Oregon's current perception as a lefty, granola hippy paradise was nurtured by Bill Walton. Portland was not "Portland" before Walton arrived.

 

When Walton shows up at the Court of Dreams, he'll be in the (reasonably) healthy, 25-year-old body he had in 1977-78, when he was really the best player in the world.

One of the amazing things you learn in the 30-for-30 -- or maybe knew before -- was that Walton was NEVER completely healthy after he got out of high school.

He had knee surgery coming out of high school, and in 1969-70, ANY knee surgery, no matter how routine it would become later, was considered career-threatening and likely career-impeding.

Even as Walton burst onto the national scene with UCLA as a sophomore, he was still experiencing knee stiffness following the surgery and required heavy icing after games and practices. He was as dominant as any player in BKC history, but he already had to overcome the balky knees.

When he went to the NBA, the problems shifted to the chronic foot fractures.

 

In the 30 for 30, they show Walton from behind going up towards the TV stage after the '73 final, 21-for-22 for 44 points. He's visibly hobbling. Looks like a senior league rec golfer like me. He was a jnuior.

 

Everybody from everywhere has or will have a Walton column, so I won’t link the local one. But this headline is worth sharing.

“The world needs more Bill Waltons. Now we’ve lost the only one.”

 

My only real exposure to Walton as a player was with the Celtics at the tail end of his career. I was a kid, and learned later just how dominant he had been. You could still see the flashes of his greatness. That seemed to be a perfect role for him on that 1986 team.

The 30 for 30 on Walton is excellent.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of his broadcasting style at first. Which now seems odd to me. I think if it was a team I was rooting for, I found him distracting.

But that didn’t last too long. As a I caught him on other games I wasn’t invested in, he grew on me fast.

He did a piece from the Maui Classic a while back. Riding his bike. Talking about his injuries, his life, his outlook. It was well done and stuck with me.

RIP to a great American life and character. Throw it down, big man.

 

The passing of Bill Walton makes me hope there is an afterlife. Because it seems he would enjoy it most.

 

The world feels even more heavier now for Kareem than when he was dragging Walton and Lanier up the court for 48 minutes every night.

 

The Breen/Walton part of that article is wonderful.

Governor Tina Kotek should declare Bill Walton an honorary eternal citizen of Oregon.