I am far more liberal than Walton. He won a championship, then immediately got injured the next year, blamed everyone but himself for his pussy ankles, then shit all over his team and the city. He defines egotism.
True. He never once admited the tiniest possibility that his penchant for weird, fad diets might have contributed to his problems. And if even half the stories about his drug use were true, he made Sheed, Damon, et al look like Mormons! I don't care if people smoke weed....but when I hear stories about a pro athlete messing with mescaline, peyote, and LSD - that's a problem.
As I remember it, and I could be wrong (shocking, huh?), in his law suit Walton claimed the team doctor (Robert Cook) was shooting up his legs and ankles and feet (or whatever) so he could play, against his wishes, which masked the symptoms of his injuries and led to his pretty catastrophic injuries. When the team countered that his Cocaine use contributed to masking the symptoms of his injuries, which contributed to the further injury, the suit was dropped, seemingly so he wouldn't incriminate himself. It appeared the team had him over a barrel, and he was pretty bitter about it. That could be totally wrong, but that's an IIRC.
That's good to hear. But you must recall there was a certain animosity toward him at the time for his political views and lifestyle. At least there was in the conservative bastion I was living in.
I don't recall all the details after all this time either. I do recall this: Bobby Gross had a partially torn ligament. They shot his leg up with cortisone and novacaine and had him play anyway - with predictable results. I always found it odd the Walton said he got hurt *exactly* the same way. It is hard to explain why even a complete doofus of a Dr would make the same mistake twice in a matter of weeks. In any event, that doesn't explain why he took his dispute with his Dr out on his team-mates and fans.
You're right, there was hostility towards him over some pretty silly stuff. As for me....I was a student at U of O when Walton was at UCLA. I WAS one of those dirty hippies!
I don't remember anything about his cocaine use if he did. I followed it pretty closely at the time and I don't remember anything at all about that. Quick edit. I know he wasn't suspend or anthing for drug use which I think would have been a big story if they could prove he was doing cocaine. Like I said this is the first I've heard about him using cocaine while he was playing.
In this article it just says the suit was settled out of court. I like this quote from Ramsey: The article is a good read.
This is what came to my mind. I am not excusing Walton's drug use. You would have to be delusional to think he did not partake given the times and the crowd he hung with (Jerry Garcia). But they even had a drug problem during that era in the US Military. Every sector of the US was being over run by the drug use of the times. But Walton was still a great player that had unfortunate luck with the injuries. He did not ever quit on his coach, teammates or organization. His injuries were mishandled in Portland, sad but true. Team docs, trainers and even management have turned 180 degrees when handling injuries now.
Yeah, at the time I think the attitude was "shoot up and get back out there". Now they take a longer term view...most of the time anyways...
the stories I've heard included pot, psychedelics plus lots of He's probably my favorite Blazer ever... on the court. I don't pay much heed to his announcing shtick as thats just him being goofy and rooting for the teams that bring in the ratings (Lakers) and against those that don't (Blazers) like every other national media guy. It's laughable that anyone really thinks/thought he was being truly judgmental about the "Jailblazers" pot smoking... I mean come on STOMP
Personally... I think the psychedelics would be the least likely things to cause a problem for a pro athlete. They're non-addictive, are taken in extremely small quantities, and don't do physical damage. Unfortunately, weed hits you right in the lungs which is very bad, alcohol is a strain for the body to eliminate and causes a ton of physical issues...the most troubling drug in that list is the coke...cause cocaine just plain sucks...
While we are on the subject, we should probably acknowledge the elephant in the room - greenies. Even Bill Russell has admited that he (on rare occasions) gave in and popped uppers before games. It's been speculated that the use of uppers, at least on a part-time basis, was pretty much universal in the NBA until well into the 80s. The intent - PED vs recreational - may have been different.....but it still had to be harmful to the players.
All untrue. Those who take the drug repeatedly have to do so in progressively higher doses to achieve the same effects, which can trigger a whole host of health problems due to the unpredictability of this drug.
