Reflections on Bill Walton's Legacy
The global basketball community is mourning the passing of Bill Walton, who died this morning at the age of 71 after a long battle with cancer. Despite being plagued by injuries, Walton is one of the most accomplished and decorated players in basketball history. He led UCLA to undefeated national championship seasons in 1972 and 1973 before losing to David Thompson's North Carolina State squad in the 1974 national semifinals. Walton was honored as the Naismith College Player of the Year in all three of his varsity seasons (1972-74), and he was the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament in 1973 and 1974. In UCLA's 87-66 championship game win versus Memphis State in 1973, Walton scored 44 points on 21-22 field goal shooting while also grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds. That is perhaps the greatest single game performance in college basketball history, and Walton is on the short list of the greatest college basketball players ever, along with Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (known as Lew Alcindor during his college career). Walton admired UCLA Coach John Wooden, and often quoted Wooden's sayings, such as "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail" (which originated with Ben Franklin), and "Never mistake activity with achievement."
Walton played just 468 regular season games during an NBA career spanning 1975-88, but he earned the 1977 NBA Finals MVP, the 1978 regular season MVP, and the 1986 Sixth Man Award. Walton's 1977 Portland Trail Blazers are the youngest championship team in NBA history, and the Trail Blazers started 50-10 the next season before Walton suffered a serious foot injury; with a healthy Walton, that squad could have been contending for NBA titles into the 1980s. After retiring as a player in 1988, Walton had a long career as a basketball commentator on TV, overcoming a stuttering problem to become an Emmy Award winner and one of the sport's most beloved characters.
Walton always focused on team success more than individual honors, so the twin highlights of his NBA career were the championships he won in 1977 as a dominant player and in 1986 as a sixth man for a powerful Boston team featuring fellow Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson. In between those two peaks, Walton spent nearly a decade in basketball wilderness but he refused to give up his belief that he could reach the mountaintop again.
Portland trailed Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers 2-0 in the 1977 NBA Finals before reeling off four straight wins. In the decisive sixth game, Walton and Erving had a showdown for the ages: Erving poured in 40 points on 17-29 field goal shooting while dishing for eight assists and grabbing six rebounds, but Walton led the Trail Blazers to a 109-107 win with 20 points, 23 rebounds, seven assists, and eight blocked shots. Walton averaged 18.5 ppg, 19.0 rpg, 5.2 apg, and 3.7 bpg during the 1977 NBA Finals.
Walton and Erving are both members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 1993. They participated in a memorable Legends Roundtable with Bill Russell and Bob Lanier in 2011. I met all four of those legends, and I interviewed Erving and Lanier. Russell is the greatest winner in North American team sports history, while Erving, Lanier, and Walton were at the height of their powers when I first learned to love basketball as a child. It is sobering that Erving is the only one of those four who is still living.
Erving posted a heartfelt tribute to his friend and on-court rival:
After the 1977 championship season, Walton played in just two more playoff games with Portland before
leaving the team acrimoniously in 1979 as a result of how the franchise
handled his injuries. David Halberstam memorably told the story of Portland's championship season and the sad aftermath in his classic book The Breaks of the Game.
Walton averaged 11.9 ppg and 9.0 rpg in part-time duty
with the Clippers from 1979-85, first in his hometown San Diego, and then in Los
Angeles after the team moved. Walton enjoyed the healthiest season of
his career in 1985-86 as the first player off of the bench for one of
the greatest NBA teams ever, the 67-15 Boston Celtics that cruised to the championship with a 15-3 playoff run. He averaged 7.6
ppg, 6.8 rpg, and 1.3 bpg while shooting .562 from the field in 80
games. That was Walton's last hurrah, as injuries limited him to 10
regular season games in 1986-87, and spot duty in 12 playoff games as
the Celtics lost to the L.A. Lakers in the 1987 NBA Finals. Walton
missed the entire 1987-88 season due to injuries before officially
announcing his retirement.
Walton was an elite rebounder, passer, and defensive player. He was an efficient scorer who had a .521 career field goal percentage. Walton was selected to both the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List and the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.
As tributes pour in for Walton from teammates, opponents, and fans, it is evident that he will be remembered not only for his basketball greatness, but for the impact he had on the many lives that he touched.
Labels: Bill Russell, Bill Walton, Boston Celtics, Dennis Johnson, John Wooden, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Portland Trail Blazers, Robert Parish, UCLA
posted by David Friedman @ 11:50 PM
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