Greetings my peeps and welcome to the All Things Basketball Podcast with your boy GD.
In this episode I'll be doing my play of spotlight on the late great Bill Walton.
So we'll go through his basketball playing days and then of course his life as a commentator
as well.
Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Okay guys it's your boy GD back with All Things Basketball with GD Podcasts and right about
now guys wanted to do this.
I did an IG live kind of giving you a little head start on what I'm going to cover this
week and that's going to be the passing of the late great Bill Walton.
So we'll do our play of spotlight on him and all that he's accomplished along the way and
of course give our condolences and so forth.
So without any further delay let's get right into it.
Born William Theodore Walton III, Bill Walton, one of the great centers who really played
the game but you know injuries really robbed him of what we could have seen from him.
You know you think of passing centers like Nikolai Jokic, I can even go as far back as
guys like Alvin Adams, guys like that who could pass out of the posts but Bill Walton
was the prototype when it came to that.
You just love getting his teammates involved and of course when need be he takes the scoring
upon himself.
So with that said and then of course injuries, 38 surgeries he's had in his lifetime.
So that just tells you all you need to know.
So with that said like I said Bill Walton, born November 5th, 1952, listed as 611 but
a lot of people joke, excuse me, a lot of people say oh there's no way he's just 611,
he has to be 7 feet.
He never wanted to be listed as 7 feet because being a 7 footer he thought there was a kind
of I guess you could say kind of a stigma put on guys that are 7 feet and taller so
he always considered himself to be 611 although he was taller than that.
But nonetheless like I said born November 5th, 1952 in La Mesa, California and that's
in the San Diego area.
His parents, William Theodore Jr. also known as Ted and his dad was 6'4 guys.
He was a music teacher and also a social worker and his mom Gloria Ann but she's known as
by her nickname Hickey.
And guys his mom was 5'10 so you're talking about right there his genes dictated that
he was going to be a tall young man so and his mom worked as a librarian.
So that's his parents and then his siblings, his brother Bruce who also played football.
I'll talk about him in a few also his sister Kathy and other brother Andy.
Bill's interest as a youngster was music, the arts, literature and politics because
that was handed down to him from his parents and actually his dad formed a family band
around the age they were in junior high school and high school.
And in that band Bruce would play the trombone.
His brother Andy on the saxophone.
Kathy she was multi-dimensional she could play the drums she could play tuba and she
gave him play the flute as well.
And Bill he would play the baritone horn.
So very talented family there as you can see.
Bill's first taste of organized basketball came at the age of 8.
He played in elementary school playing under Frank Graziano otherwise known as Rocky Graziano.
And he taught him the teen concept and how to make basketball fun and get everyone involved.
Bill as he was growing up very shy very reserved.
He also had a stuttering condition guys that he had up until the age of 28.
Also Bill would listen to the radio.
And on the radio in that round that time was Chick Hearn he would call the Laker game.
So Bill getting his early taste of basketball listening to the transistor radio which I
know a lot of you young folks are like what transistor radio that's how they listen to
basketball back in those days when he was coming up.
Not many families had TVs and so forth.
So there's that.
So we fast forward guys to high school.
He went on to play at Helix High School and that's in the La Mesa area of California.
Bill started out as a 6-1 kid and then before all was said and done when he graduated he
was at 6-11.
And Bill was plagued by injuries early on guys.
He had a broken ankle, broken leg, bones in his feet, broken bones in his feet.
Also torn cartilage in his knee.
In fact he I believe it was his sophomore to junior season where he had well I believe
it was sophomore year where he had to he got injured.
So he had to kind of rest himself and then doing that he grew additional five inches.
So he comes in 6-1 next thing you know he's 6-6.
And also guys Bill played with his older brother on the team.
His brother was a year older than him.
And his brother Bruce let me tell you guys he was 6-6, 250 pounds whereas Bill was a kind
of a rail at about 210 or so.
And Bruce would be Bill's enforcer.
Anytime the other team you know try some dirty tactics.
Bruce would come in there and handle business.
So guys during Bill's two varsity seasons those were his healthy years and that would
be his junior and senior year in fact.
Bill amassed the record of 62 and two guys including 49 straight games that he won.
And then doing so they will win two state championships guys.
And Bill played under the tutelage of Gorton Nash.
And then one of his early mentors as well was a guy named Ernie Vanderbilt.
Ernie Vanderway and the name Vanderway.
Yes, this is the dad of Kiki Vanderway who ended up playing basketball as well.
So like I said he won the two state championships.
Guys this is what he, one of his games he would have 50 points 34 rebounds and nine blocks
shots.
And he did that against the number one team in California Pasadena.
Pasadena High School.
And guys in Bill's senior year he averaged 29 points per game, 25 rebounds.
Doing it from the field are whopping 78.3%.
So Bill dominating in high school.
And actually his first national exposure would come in the magazine Sports Illustrated.
They would have a section for faces in the crowd and they had a little blurb about Bill
Walton.
And this happened during his senior year, January 26, 1970 guys.
So that's what Bill was doing in high school there.
And little known fact, the San Diego Rockets at the time that that was a NBA franchise
there that would later move to Houston and become the Houston Rockets.
They would practice in the high school gymnasium there for Helix High School.
And players on the team at that time was Elvin Hayes, Calvin Murphy, Pat Rowley when
he was a player, Rudy Tom Johnovich when he was a player and Rick Adelman as well.
All three of these guys.
Legendary NBA coaches.
And young Bill would have the keys to the gym because, you know, he want to go in there
and practice.
So you have these guys like Elvin Hayes, they would call Bill's house, asking for the
key to the gym so they can get in there and play and so forth.
And of course Bill would participate with those pros there.
So getting the early taste of the NBA game built it.
So during his time at Helix, of course, the all the colleges, the recruiters would come
in and Denny Crum, who was a assistant at UCLA, he would later become the head coach
at Louisville.
He came down to see Bill play while he was in college.
Actually he saw him during his junior year.
And after watching him, Denny Crum went back to the legendary John Wooden and was singing
the praises of the young Bill Walton saying he is the best high school basketball player
that he's ever seen.
And then as the story would go, actually I heard John Wooden say it himself.
He said, calm down Denny.
There's never been a great high school basketball player to come out of the San Diego area is
what he said.
So not cool even Denny Crum all that much.
He said, I need to see for myself.
John Wooden saw and he said, yeah, this guy is kid is pretty good.
So with that said, of course, they would recruit Bill and low and behold, Bill decides to
go to the University of California at Los Angeles, otherwise known as UCLA guys.
And of course, he is now the successor to Lou Alcindor, who will become Korea, who was
there the previous four years.
And we know actually I did a play a spotlight on Korean last year, you can check it out.
And he had a dominant run at UCLA.
So in comes Bill Walton to the University.
And oh, by the way, member Bill Walton's brother Bruce, he goes to the same college and plays
football there.
And he would later go to the NFL.
Now, say a little something about that later.
So Bill in his first season at UCLA actually as a freshman, the rules back then was the
freshman couldn't play with the varsity team.
So they would play.
They bill would be on the freshman team.
So on that team would be Bill Walton, a kid named Keith, Keith Wilts, who we now know
as Jamal Wilts and Greg Lee.
And they formed a mighty big three back then with Bill averaging six over 16 points per
game of over 18 points per game 16 rebounds and Wilts 20 points.
He would average and then Greg Lee, he averaged 17 points.
The JV team would go undefeated guys.
That's how good they were.
And of course, playing for the legendary John Wooden.
And you know, John Wooden, he has his pyramid of success, all his sayings and so forth that
it gets drilled into those young men's heads.
And of course, Bill would carry those words on into his pro career and pass it down to
his sons as well.
So with all of that said, now we enter his sophomore year.
So Bill makes his varsity debut December 3, 1971 versus DeSenedo.
And in his first game, UCLA wins 105 to 49.
And in that game, Bill has 19 points and 14 rebounds.
For the season, Bill would average over 21 points per game, 15 and a half rebounds, shooting
it 64% from the field guys.
They finished undefeated.
They would go on to win the championship.
And as a team, their average was 84.6 points per game and their opponents 64.3.
So they were absolutely blowing people out of the water all year long.
In that tournament, they would defeat Weber State 90 to 58, where also Long Beach State,
they beat them.
And Long Beach State was coached by Jerry Tartania at the time.
We would later know him being at UNLV.
So they beat them 73 to 57.
And then Louisville, they would beat them 96 to 77 in a game where Bill Walton goes absolutely
nuts.
33 points, 21 rebounds.
He would go 11 of 13 from the field and 11 of 12 from the free throw line.
So Bill absolutely destroying Louisville.
And guys, that was in the final four, in fact.
So in the championship game, they would squeak by Florida State 81 to 76.
And a game that was kind of nipping tuck until the latter part of the game, UCLA would take
care of business.
And in that game, Bill Walton would have 24 points and 20 rebounds.
And thus getting the most outstanding player in the tournament and making the all-turning
team.
So Bill's first full year as a player, a rousing success, guys.
So much so, he comes into camp for the following season.
So he's riding high, guys.
He comes in and during that summer, too, guys, he also got introduced to the band, The Grateful
Dead.
So once that happened, then came the love affair he had with the band, The Grateful
Dead.
So much so, he grew his hair out, and then he came back to camp.
And of course, John Wooden, old school coach, he wants his guys clean cut, no facial hair,
any of that stuff.
So Bill comes in with his long hair, and John Wood says, what are you doing?
Bill says, he's won a championship, since he was the most outstanding player in the
tournament, all the accolades he got in his first year, he's figured, coach will give
him a little slack and let him wear his hair long.
No, no, no, John Wooden ain't having that.
So here's what John Wooden says to him, because he refuses to cut his hair, he said, well,
Bill, we're going to miss you.
And with that, Bill jumps on his bike, he loves the bike guys, he's a cyclist.
So he jumps on his bike, goes finds the local barber, gets him to cut his hair, even get
the scissors himself to cut his hair off, and then 15 minutes later, he gets back to
the gym and that's the story.
So I guess that leeway didn't happen for him.
All right, so let's go to his junior year.
Junior year, pretty much a rousing success as well.
30 straight games, he won.
So so far, Bill in two seasons as a varsity player, no defeats guys, 60 and 0.
Another championship, he would average on the season, 20.4 points per game, almost 17 rebounds
and 65% from the field guys.
So good gracious.
And then in that year, they would average 81.3 points per game, the team would average
and their opponents a little over 60 points per game.
So again, they're crushing their opposition guys.
And then that tournament guys, they defeat Arizona State 98 to 81, where Bill dominates
yet again, 28 points with 14 rebounds.
San Francisco, they beat them 54 to 39.
Again, where Bill didn't play all that well guys, nine points with 14 rebounds.
And then the final four against Indiana coached by the great Bob, the late great Bob Knight.
70 to 59, where Bill has a game where he has 14 points, just seven rebounds, but he has
nine assists.
And then he has the ultimate game guys against Memphis State 87 to 66.
This is a performance for the ages guys.
44 points he scores on 21 of 22 shooting from the field.
Good gracious.
And then 13 rebounds to assist in a block.
He does injure his knee late in that game and had to be carried off.
Memphis State coached by Jean Bartow, legendary coach, and their main player there was Larry
Keenan, but Bill absolutely destroys Memphis State, giving you one of the finest performance
you'll ever see in a championship game.
So your two years undefeated both years, right and high.
Oh, by the way, he was the most outstanding player in the tournament yet again, and also
on the all attorney team yet again.
During the offseason, though, guys, he did get arrested during the offseason.
And that was for being being part of the anti Vietnam war protests guys.
So Bill very much aware what's going on and opposed to the Vietnam war, like a lot of
college students at that time.
Coach Wooden would have to bail Bill out of jail.
And they had a talk and he, of course, John wouldn't express his disappointment and basically
told Bill, you know, there's a better way of handling handling these sort of things.
So yeah, so they didn't see I'd I in that regard.
But nonetheless, that's what can you do.
All right.
So this is senior year guys.
He runs his win streak all the way up to 88 games.
So he has an 88 game win streak, which was snapped in a game against Notre Dame coach
by.
Now we know him as a commentator digger felt.
And that was a 71 to 70 loss in a game where Bill, he had a very good first half second
half, he was MIA 24 points in the first half with nine rebounds and then scoreless in the
second half.
Mine you bill did injured his back like 11 days prior to that.
So you have that there.
And then also two guys, Greg Lee was benched in the second half of that game.
So that many people say that that definitely played a role in what happened as far as the
game goes.
So very critical there.
So they end up the year finishing actually 26 and four.
They would have a weekend where they had two consecutive losses guys on the road to Oregon
and Oregon State.
For the year, Bill average above 19 points per game, nearly 15 rebounds, five and a half
assists because this was a year where assists were actually being recorded in college.
And then 66 and a half percent from the field guys.
And Bill played in of those 30 games he played in 27.
So he missed three.
In the tournament guys, they end up defeating Dayton 111 to 101 where Bill has 27 points
with 19 rebounds and then also San Francisco, they beat them 83 to 60 in a game where Bill
has 17 points, nine rebounds for assists.
In the final four though guys, they would lose to North Carolina State and what was
a absolute barn burner guys.
They went into double overtime 80 to 70.
And in that game, Bill played 50 minutes scoring 29 points along with 18 rebounds and four assists.
And this game is considered by a lot of people, one of the greatest tournament games and NCA
history.
Actually, they ranked it and it's 13th.
What happened with UCLA?
They had a five point lead down the stretch in regulation.
They lost that lost that lead.
And then in the second overtime, they had a seven point lead with state loss.
So Bill did make all tournament team there.
But UCLA, they come short.
So Bill has two championships as a collegiate player.
Definitely something you can not underestimate for the most part.
As for his career, 86 and four.
So actually the 88 games win streak was the college's win streak.
So let me correct that.
It was the college's win streak, not his personal win streak.
And he goes, like I said, 86 and four during his college career.
Outstanding guys.
His career averages when all was said and done.
Above 20 points per game.
Nearly 16 rebounds.
Five and a half assists.
Probably more, but they started counting in his senior year and then over 65% from the
field guys.
So that is his career there with the UCL18.
Now we move forward to his time.
Oh, before I even go there, many consider him the greatest college player ever.
Of course, among the likes of Luau Sender as well.
He's in that stratosphere guys as a college player.
And during his time, the ABA came chasing after Bill Walton.
First in his after his junior year, the Dallas Chaperrals tried to recruit him.
They came in.
Briefcase full of money.
That didn't sway Bill.
And then as a senior, the San Diego conquistadors came, came a knocking, trying to get Bill
to come over to the ABA.
And they sweetened the deal to guys by signing Wilch Chamberlain as a player slash coach.
But again, Bill not having that his eyes are towards the NBA.
So with that said, he enters the 1974 draft guys.
He's drafted number one overall by the Portland Trail Blazers.
And in that draft guys, the number two pick Marvin Barnes, who goes, who gets drafted
by the Philadelphia 76ers.
He actually doesn't go there.
He goes to the ABA instead.
Marvin Barnes does the fifth pick.
Bobby Jones, he's drafted by the Houston Rockets.
That's when they would make the move to Houston.
Bobby Jones would also defect to the ABA.
Then you have Campy Russell, who was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers at eight.
Also Bill's teammate, Mar Wilkes.
He gets drafted by the state warriors at pick number 11.
And then Maurice Lucas drafted 14th.
Bear that name in mind guys, Maurice Lucas.
He would get drafted by Chicago via the New York Knicks pick.
And then Maurice Lucas, he would go to the ABA.
And then also Brian Winters, he's drafted by the LA Lakers at 12.
And then late in the third round, George Gervin gets drafted by the Phoenix Suns.
But George Gervin at the time was in the ABA playing for the Virginia Squires.
He stays in the ABA.
So Bill is now in the NBA.
His first two seasons were pretty much a disaster guys.
They were injury plagues seasons guys.
Here's the injuries he amassed in those first two years.
Broken wrist twice.
Two dislocated toes.
Two broken toes.
Spray ankle and a leg injury.
As a rookie, he only played in 35 of the 82 games.
Adverting 12.8 points per game.
12.6 rebounds.
Nearly five assists shooting at 51.3% from the field.
And also he was 2.7 blocks for him.
His second season, oh by the way, he was coaching his first two seasons under legendary
coach Lenny Wilkins.
Although his two seasons here were nothing to sneeze at.
It didn't go all that well for Lenny Wilkins.
But Bill had a tremendous respect for Lenny Wilkins nonetheless.
And in season two, 51 games he played in.
And then his average over 16 points per game.
13.4 rebounds.
Over four assists.
About a little over block and a half per game.
Shooting at only 47, over 47% from the field.
And season three, that's where everything came together guys.
They changed coaches from Lenny Wilkins to Jack Ramsey.
Jack Ramsey, a veteran coach, he's coaching other places like Philadelphia and also for
the Boston Braves.
And then also a key move for the Portland Trailblazers at the time.
Acquiring in the 1976 ABA dispersal draft, a guy by the name of Maurice Lucas, who I
think made a huge difference in for that Portland team.
His presence really, really was imperative for that squad.
He was a guy who, if guys want to try and, you know, beat up Bill, that wasn't going
to fly with Maurice Lucas.
He wasn't having that.
Also on the team was Lionel Hollins in the back court.
So Bob Gross, Dave Tawczyk, Rookie, Johnny Davis, and Lloyd Neal as well on the squad.
Bill in the off season, he still continued his cycling.
He got it to weightlifting guys and he would change up his diet upon entering that season.
Bill pretty much went vegetarian for the most part.
In those first two seasons, it was rough for Bill.
The fan base got on him, calling him a bus and just absolutely destroying Bill.
And then, you know, remember too, the fact that he's this free spirit, you know, he's
now really gets to hang with his guys, the Grateful Dead and so forth.
So you know, they call him a hippie and all these sort of things.
But Bill won the fan base over on opening night in his third season, guys, after getting
it to a fight and being ejected from the game.
From third string center comes in trying to mess with Bill.
Bill stands up for himself and he gets into a fight and he gets ejected.
The crowd goes wild.
And then after that, the crowd started showing up for the games.
And then of course, the winning helps.
So they began winning as well with Jack Ramsey under the helm and his cast of players in
the record for the season, 49 and 33 guys.
He played in 65 games.
So much more up from his previous season, 14 more games.
The average 18.6 points per game for over 14 rebounds, 14.2 to be exact, which led the
NBA 3.8 assists and then 3.2 blocks.
That also led the NBA.
And guys, he's two of five players to have led the league and rebounds and blocks in
the same season.
And guys, that's the kind of season Bill was having.
He finished 52.8% from the field and then nearly 70% from the free throw line.
And that year, guys, he finished second in the MVP voting, losing out to his predecessor
at UCLA, Karim Abdul-Jabbar.
He was selected to his first All-Star game, although he didn't play in that game.
He was hurt at the time.
He was first team All-Defense, second team All-NBA guys.
That's the kind of year he had.
So let's go to the playoffs.
In the playoffs, guys, he would win the first round against Chicago going up against artist
Gilmore.
And in that series, guys, two games from when they went, 17.3 points per game, 12.3 rebounds,
4.3 assists, 4.3 blocks.
So very nice series for Bill.
Then we move on to the conference semifinals where they would face Denver Nuggets at center
for them, Dan Issel.
And they win that series four games to two.
Bill in that series, 17.5 points per game, 13 rebounds, over 6 assists, and 3 blocks.
In the conference finals, guys, against the LA Lakers, they were the underdog in that
series.
Everybody thought the Lakers would win.
Lakers had the better record, actually.
And of course, led by Karima Dujibar.
But the Blazers would get the best of the Lakers, winning that in a suite, guys, four
games to none.
Bill for that series, 19.3 points per game, nearly 15 rebounds, nearly 6 assists, and
2.3 blocks.
I mean, he went toe-to-toe with Karima.
Karima, of course, he got his numbers.
But overall, the Blazers just wiped him off the floor.
And then in the finals, guys, they played the Philadelphia 76ers, again in the underdog
role because a lot of people were rooting for Dr. J. It was his first year in the NBA
after being in the ABA.
So everybody was rooting for them.
It had a stack team as well, guys.
It had Dave McInnes.
You had also Phil Collins, not Phil Collins.
Doug Collins, you had him there.
You had Lloyd Free, who we now know as World B Free.
Darrell Dawkins was on that team.
They had a loaded team.
Again, everybody had them favored, no one except for the Portland faithful gave the Blazers
a chance.
And then as the series started, the Blazers would lose the first two games.
So it seems like things were not starting good for the Blazers.
But in that game, I think this is critical.
The fact that there was this fight towards the end of the game with Darrell Dawkins and
Maurice Lucas.
And yeah, it was pretty bad fight.
You know, back in those days, they let people go and so forth.
If it was today's NBA, both those guys would be probably suspended for game three.
But that wasn't the case here.
So so that's the way to get game two ends.
Game three.
Here's what Maurice Lucas does.
Man, it's a genius.
He goes makes a beeline for you because everybody was out there.
Everybody was shooting up shots, practicing and so forth.
Maurice Lucas was nowhere in sight.
What happened was he would come on to the floor.
He would make a beeline for the lake.
Not the lake is the Sixers bench.
He goes up to Darrell Dawkins.
What he does, he puts out his hand and shakes his hand.
Reluctantly, Darrell Dawkins go and shakes his hand.
And from that moment, Darrell Dawkins was putty and Maurice Lucas's hand the rest of
the series.
Absolutely genius of Maurice Lucas.
So what do the Blazers do?
They run off four straight victories to get the championship.
And in that series, Bill Walton absolutely showed up and showed out 18 and a half points
per game.
19 rebounds guys.
He absolutely controlled the boards over five assists.
3.7 blocks in a steal per game.
And then the game clinching championship game.
Game six, 20 points, 23 rebounds.
And assists in eight blocks, guys.
Absolutely masterful performance.
So much so, Bill Walton gets the finals MVP.
And the Portland Trail Blazers win their first and only championship for the City of Portland.
And then dig this, guys.
CBS has to.
The game is over.
You know how it is today.
They have the trophy ceremony and all this.
CBS cuts away from all of that to show the Kemper open.
Because supposedly the one of the higher up execs was a golf lover.
So the Kemper open was and they kept advertising it during the game.
If you know the series over will go straight to the Kemper open.
And then that's what happened.
So Bill Walton's on top of the world.
Winning the NBA championship.
What's to come?
Well, anywho.
All right.
So I'm going to cut it off here.
Actually, there's more to do as far as Bill's career in the NBA.
And then also his commentating that he does after his playing days are done.
So we're going to stop it here, guys.
But I'm going to continue.
But please come back to listen to the second half of this.
All Things Basketball with GED.
That's the website on YouTube, socials, podcast platforms, all of that.
All right, guys.
So I have part two coming to you.
Thanks so much for listening.
And we'll talk soon.