RIP Bill Walton

In an excellent piece, this is what stood out most:

There is one thing fitting about the timing of Walton’s passing: he will never have to see the Bruins play in the Big Ten.

... with no more knee and foot issues on his end - with any luck - so he could enjoy some pickup games on occasion.

EDIT: Since his cancer fight was not public, now I'll add Keep Pounding.

 

Star Man-

Microfractures also ended the career of Grady Sizemore.

 

One of the things I enjoyed about Walton's commentary was he was not afraid to be honest about what he was seeing. Perhaps not as brutal as Johnny Miller or John McEnroe, but you still knew what he felt.

 

I've never heard the story about when he threw his jersey into the crowd after the Blazers won the title. Did he get it back? Was it ever put up for bid?

 

Part of the only brother combination to play in a Super Bowl and an NBA Finals.

 

Even more amazing when you think about the fact that their mom and dad were the polar opposite of the stereotypical sports parents.

 

I wish I could find the audio of Walton annihilating Larry Johnson after Game 4. He was always honest as a broadcaster but it was the rare time his disdain wasn't for what was on the court but at a more personal level. LJ just seemed to be an affront to Walton's sensibilities as a human being.

 

Some jackass hoping for clicks or a boost to his social media profile is going to offer the "anti-" opinion on Walton's passing - yes?

 

no

 

I wasn't a UCLA fan, a Lakers fan, a Trail Blazers fan, or a Celtics fan. But I just think these two are just so impressive men. Just thoughtful and smart and eloquent. The last of a generation. Great men.

 

Walton was vehemently anti-Fatfuck, so the minions of Team MAGA who usually devote their energies to slander campaigns against any and all liberal-ish celebrities or athletes, dead or alive (see: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Tom Hanks, Robert DeNiro, Eminem, John Lennon, etc etc etc) are busily warming up.

Walton's background as probably the most prominent anti-Nixon radical hippie freak survivor of the post-1968 period will be fully regurgitated.

One of the foundational articles of faith among the right wing screech machine in mass media and the intertoobs is that Nixon was really an effective no nonsense leader who was taken down by an evil alliance of smelly hippies, uppity negroes, commie radicals and limp wristed liberals who of course were powered by left wing media. Nixon like Reagan is considered one of their prehistoric patron saints.

We should probably keep the politics in the politics thread, but I'm fairly confident this is pretty much exactly what Bill Walton would say, and in many cases did say.

Throughout the 30-for-30 segments covering his political activities, at no point did the contemporary Walton say "I was wrong," or "I've changed my mind."