Bill Walton Appreciation Thread! (So what is with all the Bill Walton hate?)

Quite a few years back the Blazers did a championship team reunion, but limited it to 20+ year season ticket holders. Pretty nice event since it was relatively small.

Most of the team showed up, with just a few missing - Herm Gilliam (passed away), Wally Walker, and Bill Walton. I got the autograph of everyone in attendance.

I tried to contact Bill Walton to see when he would be in Portland next. I was able to get in contact with a guy that did his scheduling. He kind of laughed at me, but said I had a good story, so he said he'd pass my contact info along to Bill. Right. I got blown off.

A few days latter I got an email with nothing in the body of the email, but the subject line said 'send me your address', and the email address had Bill Walton's name. What the hell. I replied, and gave him my home address.

About a week later a box was delivered to my door. It included a Bill Walton autographed basketball, 3 8x11 photo autographs, 2 basketball cards autographed, and a legends of basketball brunch program autographed. It's like he went to his back room and just scooped a bunch of stuff into the box.

He's a pretty goofy guy, but damn, I've got a soft spot for him now.

 

You might be correct also.

 

I don't think it was catching lightning in a bottle so much as Walton was a generational talent and he broke down, which ended the Blazers' run. Walton is arguably the most underrated pure talent in NBA history--because he didn't have a long run as a superstar, people forget what a brilliant talent he was while he was healthy. Had he been healthy for a normal length career, he would easily have ended up in the center pantheon with Abdul-Jabbar, Chamberlain, Russell, Olajuwon, Shaq and Robinson.

 

Catching that brief window when Walton was healthy, along with a really good supporting cast is the lightning in the bottle I was referring to. Too bad it couldn't have lasted longer. There are generations of Blazers fans who know nothing of the magic of Walton cleaning the glass and hitting a streaking guard with a pinpoint pass for a fast break basket.

 

You don't need a long career to be in that position.

Walton was the best all around center to play the game in my not so humble opinion, until I saw a health Sabas play. Walton on defense was damn near as good, maybe as good as Russell.
On offense, he was good, but when he ran the plays in Dr. Jacks motion offense, he was a master, damn near as good as Sabas in that type of system.

 

When I was a kid, I wanted to be Bill Walton. In spite of the fact that I hated UCLA, Bill Walton was my favorite college player ever (followed by Larry Bird). He was such a complete player. He could could dominate a game at both ends of the floor, while also controlling the boards.

I still remember that record 44-point NCAA championship game performance when he made 21 of 22 field goal attempts. That has to be the greatest individual performance ever in a college game, which is somewhat ironic given that Walton was the ultimate team player. Memphis State just had no answer for him.

BNM

 

In the basketball world, Walton was to me...the natural...a huge reason I'm a basketball fan today...fortunate to have crossed paths with him over the years

 

Remember how Walton was swinging his arms right before the game started, laughing to the ref about how good he felt? The ref was trying to appear neutral with a straight face and not converse much. Walton kept bobbing that red head and waving that super-flexible big body around, and saying how he was in the mood to play.

From the 21 for 22 shooting, one might think that his defender at Center was sub-par for a college player. Larry Kenon became an All-Star 3 times in the ABA and 2 more times in the NBA.

 

what a great flashback...that dude had the record for steals once as a Spur...I think it was eleven in a game

 

Thats incredibly awesome!