William Theodore "Bill" Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is a retired American
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
playerA player of a game is a participant therein. The term 'player' is used with this same meaning both in game theory and in ordinary recreational games....
and
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sportscasterIn sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for
John WoodenJohn Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
's powerhouse
UCLA BruinsThe UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...
in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while leading the Bruins to two
Division I national titlesThe NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
. He then went on to have a prominent career in the
National Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) where he was a league Most Valuable Player (MVP) and won two
NBA championships. His professional career was significantly hampered by multiple foot injuries. Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on May 10, 1993 and the
Oregon Sports Hall of FameThe Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall...
that same year. He is the father of current
Los Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
forward
Luke WaltonLuke Theodore Walton is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His primary position is at small forward. After the 2010 NBA Finals, Walton and his father Hall of Famer Bill Walton became the first and only father and son to...
.
Early life and college career
Walton was born in
La MesaLa Mesa is a city in San Diego County, California. The population was 57,065 at the 2010 census, up from 54,749 at the 2000 census. It was founded in 1869 and officially incorporated as a city on February 16, 1912. Its official flower is the bougainvillea....
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the son of Gloria Anne (
néeA married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Hickey) and William Theodore "Ted" Walton. His listed adult playing height was 6 feet 11 inches; it has been reported that Walton was actually taller (7 feet 2 inches, or more), but did not like being categorized as a seven-footer.
He played high school basketball at
Helix High SchoolHelix High School, in La Mesa, California, is a charter high school built in 1952. It received its charter in 1998. Part of the Grossmont Union High School District, it serves a low to mid-level socioeconomic community and has a student body of approximately 2,400 pupils...
. At the age of 17, Walton played for the United States men's national basketball team at the
1970 FIBA World ChampionshipThe 1970 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Yugoslavia at Sarajevo, Split, Karlovac, Skopje and Ljubljana, from May 10 to 24 , 1970...
. He played college basketball for
John WoodenJohn Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
at the
University of California, Los AngelesThe University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
(UCLA) from 1971 to 1974, winning the national title in 1972 over
Florida StateThe Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
and again in 1973 with an 87–66 win over
Memphis StateThe University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....
in which Walton made an impressive 21 of 22 field goal attempts and scored 44 points. The Walton-led 1971–72 UCLA basketball team had a record of 30–0, in the process winning its games by an average margin of more than 30 points. He was the backbone of two consecutive 30–0 seasons and was also part of UCLA's NCAA men's basketball record 88-game winning streak. The UCLA streak contributed to a personal winning streak that lasted almost five years, in which Walton's high school, UCLA freshman (freshmen were ineligible for the varsity at that time), and UCLA varsity teams did not lose a game from the middle of his junior year of high school to the middle of his senior year in college.
Bill Walton was the 1973 recipient of the
James E. Sullivan AwardThe James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the American Amateur Athletic Union , is awarded annually in April to "the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Often referred to as the Oscar of sports awards, it was first presented in 1930. The award is named for the AAU's founder and past...
as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Walton also received the USBWA College Player of the Year and
Naismith College Player of the YearThe Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of the inventor of basketball , Dr. James Naismith....
as the top college basketball player in the country three years in a row while attending UCLA, at the same time earning Academic All-American honors three times. Some college basketball historians rate Walton as the greatest who ever played the game at the college level. In Bill Walton's senior year during the 1973–74 season, the school's 88-game winning streak ended with a 71–70 loss to the
University of Notre DameThe University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
Fighting Irish. During the same season, UCLA's record seven consecutive national titles was broken when
North Carolina StateNorth Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
defeated the Bruins 80–77 in double overtime in the NCAA semi-finals. With Walton's graduation in 1974 and legendary Bruin coach John Wooden's retirement after UCLA's 1975 national title, the unprecedented UCLA dynasty came to an end.
NBA career
Portland Trail Blazers
On leaving college, Walton was drafted by the
San Diego ConquistadorsThe San Diego Conquistadors, nicknamed the "Q's", were an American Basketball Association team based in San Diego, California. They were the only expansion team in the history of the ABA. The team played from 1972 to 1975. They were replaced in the ABA by the San Diego Sails.-San Diego...
of the
American Basketball AssociationThe American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...
and also taken as the number one overall by the
Portland Trail BlazersThe Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...
in the
1974 NBA DraftThe 1974 NBA Draft was the 28th annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on May 28, 1974 before the 1974–75 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players...
and was hailed as the savior of the Portland franchise. He signed with the Trail Blazers but his first two seasons were marred by injury (at different times he broke his nose, foot, wrist and leg) and the Blazers missed the playoffs both years. It was not until the 1976–77 season that he was healthy enough to play 65 games and, spurred by new head coach
Jack RamsayJack T. Ramsay is an American former basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack" . He is best known for coaching the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA Title, and for his broadcasting work with the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat, and for ESPN TV and ESPN Radio...
, the Trail Blazers became the Cinderella team of the NBA. Walton led the NBA in both rebounds per game and blocked shots per game that season, and he was selected to the
NBA All-Star GameThe National Basketball Association staged its first All-Star Game in the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951. From that year on, the game has matched the best players in the Eastern Conference with the best players in the Western Conference....
, but did not participate due to an injury. Walton was named to the NBA's First All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA Second Team for his regular season accomplishments. In the postseason, Walton led Portland to a sweep of the
Los Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
in the conference finals (arguably holding his own against
Kareem Abdul-JabbarKareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
during the series) and went on to help the Trail Blazers to the
NBAThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
title over the favored
Philadelphia 76ersThe Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
despite losing the first two games of the series. Walton was named the Finals MVP.
The following year, the Blazers won 50 of their first 60 games before Walton suffered a broken foot in what turned out to be the first in a string of foot and ankle injuries that cut short his career. He nonetheless won the league MVP that season (1978) and the
Sporting News NBA MVP, as well. He played in his only All-Star Game in 1978 and was named to both the NBA's First All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA First Team. Walton returned to action for the playoffs, but was reinjured in the second game of a series against the
Seattle SuperSonicsThe Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
. Without Walton to lead them, Portland lost the series to Seattle in six games. As it turned out, Walton would never play for the Trail Blazers again. During the offseason, Walton demanded to be traded, citing unethical and incompetent treatment of his and other players' injuries by the Blazers' front office. He did not get his wish and sat out the 1978–79 season in protest, signing with the
San Diego ClippersThe Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
when he became a free agent in 1979.
Later career
Walton spent several seasons alternating between the
courtIn basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor with tiles at either end. In professional or organized basketball, especially when played indoors, it is usually made out of a wood, often maple, and highly polished...
and the disabled list with his hometown
San Diego ClippersThe Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
. After the 1984–85 campaign, Walton called on two of the league's premier teams, the
Boston CelticsThe Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
and the
Los Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
. After several players on the Celtics said they liked the idea of having Walton as a teammate backing up
Robert ParishRobert Lee Parish is a retired American basketball center. He was known for his strong defense and jump shooting, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003...
and
Kevin McHaleKevin Edward McHale is a retired American professional basketball player and current head coach of the Houston Rockets. After his playing career, he worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves as the team's general manager and later its coach. He was fired as coach in June 2009...
,
Red AuerbachArnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death...
made the deal happen. One anecdote that particularly illustrates Walton's decision to choose the Celtics over the Lakers involves
Larry BirdLarry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
, who happened to be in Auerbach's office when Walton called. Bird said that if Walton felt healthy enough to play that it was good enough for him, as opposed to Lakers GM
Jerry WestJerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His nicknames include "Mr...
, who was hedging his interest in Walton pending a doctor's report. Boston acquired Walton by sending popular forward
Cedric MaxwellCedric Bryan Maxwell is a retired American professional basketball player now in radio broadcasting. Nicknamed "Cornbread", he played 11 seasons in the NBA, and played a key role in two championships with the Boston Celtics.-College career:Maxwell was a star forward/center for the Charlotte 49ers...
to the Clippers along with a first-round draft pick. Providing a reliable backup to McHale and Parish, Walton played in a career-high 80 games and received the
NBA Sixth Man AwardThe National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's most valuable player for his team coming off the bench as a substitute . A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters from throughout...
that season en route to the NBA Championship, becoming the only player to have ever won an NBA Finals MVP, Sixth Man Award, and regular season MVP.
Walton injured himself again the following season, but returned for the 1987 playoffs. He spent the 1987–88 season on the injured list. He attempted a comeback in February 1990, but injury intervened and he
retiredRetirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
from the game. His ankle problems became so severe years later that he had both his ankles
surgicallySurgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
fused. His saga of injury and failed rehabs was connected to the use of pain killers by the doctor who was assigned to his case. Walton has said repeatedly in his broadcasts that he is just as much to blame for taking the medication as the doctor was for giving it to him. Yet his experience with injuries and the circumstances surrounding them have come to serve as a warning for professional athletes who undergo major injury, as well as being an interesting case study for medical ethics. In a June 8, 2010 interview on
The Dan Patrick ShowThe Dan Patrick Show is a syndicated sports talk show hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by DirecTV Sports Group and is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks. The three-hour program broadcasts live every day beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern/6 a.m. Pacific time on Fox...
, Walton admitted to contemplating suicide for a time due to the constant pain resulting from injuries sustained during his NBA career. His injuries, along with his 1978–1979 year-long protest, gave him an unpleasant, if not odd, record. Walton holds the record for the most games missed during an NBA playing career, when taking into account the number of years he was officially listed as a player on a team roster.
Walton was inducted into both the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. Walton also had his number 32 retired by the Blazers in 1989. His number 32 was also retired at UCLA, in a joint ceremony with fellow basketball legend, number 33,
Kareem Abdul-JabbarKareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
(Lew Alcindor). He is also enshrined in the UCLA Hall of Fame. In 1996, he was named as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time. He was added to the San Diego Hall of Champions in 1990.
Broadcasting
After his retirement as a player, Walton overcame a
stutteringStuttering , also known as stammering , is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds...
problem to become a successful and controversial NBA color commentator for NBC (1990–2002),
Los Angeles ClippersThe Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
(1990–2002) and ABC/ESPN (2002–2009).
Walton's trademark catchphrases included, "That's a
terrible call!
Terrible," "Where in the world is [x]?" (for a player who has disappeared from a game), "What is a foul?", "Dial a violation," "He couldn't even inbound the ball!", "Throw it down, big man! Throw it down!", and "Basketball is a game played by men competing for the ultimate prize". Also, after a predominantly one-handed player made a basket going to his strong hand, Walton would often summarize the action and then say, "He's left-handed by the way Marv" or "Someone should tell player |x| that player |y| is left-handed and promises to be so for the remainder of the game," indicating that perhaps the defender should have defended that side of the player. In addition, his commentary during games was notable for his frequent use of
hyperboleHyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally....
. Walton typically was paired with
Steve "Snapper" JonesStephen Howard "Snapper" Jones is one of the most esteemed and watched National Basketball Association television analysts.-Basketball career:...
for NBA games because he and Jones had a point-counterpoint banter during games. Despite their frequent on-air argumentative banter they are actually good friends, as was shown in Walton's short lived 2003 TV series
Bill Walton's Long Strange Trip.
After nineteen years working in broadcasting, he left ESPN in November 2009, as the result of back problems dating back to an injury suffered while playing at UCLA. Following surgery on his back, Walton returned to broadcasting as a part-time commentator for the
Sacramento KingsThe Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
and the
Boston CelticsThe Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
.
Personal life
Walton currently resides in his hometown of San Diego with his wife Lori. He and his first wife, Susie, have four sons: Adam, Nathan, Luke, and Chris.
LukeLuke Theodore Walton is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His primary position is at small forward. After the 2010 NBA Finals, Walton and his father Hall of Famer Bill Walton became the first and only father and son to...
, although not as tall as his father, played at the collegiate level for the
University of ArizonaThe University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
and now plays for the
Los Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
as a
small forwardThe small forward, or colloquially known as three, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically somewhat shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers, but on occasion are just as tall...
, a team with whom he won in both the 2009 and 2010 NBA Finals, making them the third father-son pair to have both won an NBA championship. Another of Walton's sons, Chris, played for
San Diego State UniversitySan Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
. Nate, his middle son, played basketball at
Princeton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
but then entered the corporate world and earned his MBA from
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
's
Graduate School of BusinessThe Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of the professional schools of Stanford University, in Stanford, California and is broadly regarded as one of the best business schools in the world.The Stanford GSB offers a general management Master of Business Administration degree, the Sloan...
. (Bill Walton attended
Stanford Law SchoolStanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...
for two years but never graduated.) Nate was on the ballot for the 2003 California Recall Election, receiving 1,697 votes. Walton's other son, Adam, also played NCAA basketball at
Louisiana State UniversityThe LSU Tigers are the athletic teams of Louisiana State University. They participate in the NCAA's Division I, in the Southeastern Conference. It fields teams in 14 varsity sports . Its official team nickname is the Fighting Tigers and the school mascot is Mike the Tiger...
.
Walton is a well-known fan of the
Grateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, Allman Brothers Band,
Neil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
,
PhishPhish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
, and
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. He attended more than 650 Grateful Dead concerts, including traveling with the band to
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
for its
famous 1978 performanceRocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 is a live album by the Grateful Dead, consisting of two CDs and one DVD. It was recorded at the Gizah Sound and Light Theater in Giza, near Cairo, Egypt on September 15 and 16, 1978....
before the Pyramids (joining the band on drums), quotes Dead
lyricsLyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
in TV and radio interviews. To fellow Deadheads, Walton is fondly known as "Grateful Red" and the "Big Red Deadhead" and "World's Tallest Deadhead". In the video for "
Touch of Grey"Touch of Grey" is a 1987 single by the Grateful Dead, and is the band's biggest commercial hit. The song is known for its refrain "I will get by / I will survive". It combines non sequitur lyrics with a pop tempo. The music was written by Jerry Garcia, and the words are by Robert Hunter...
", Grateful Dead drummer
Mickey HartMickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
is wearing a Celtics jacket that was given to him by Walton. In 2001, Bill Walton was inducted into The Grateful Dead Hall of Honor.
Walton expounds upon his music interests on his own satellite radio show,
One More Saturday Night (named after the Dead song
of the same name"One More Saturday Night" is a song written by Bob Weir and performed by the Grateful Dead. Weir is credited with writing "One More Saturday Night", although there is evidence that the song was originally written with Robert Hunter, with different lyrics...
), heard during late prime time on Sirius Radio's
Jam OnJam On is a Jam Bands radio station on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 29 , XM Satellite Radio channel 29 and Dish Network channel 6081. It has featured basketball player Bill Walton hosting a Grateful Dead show, hippie icon Wavy Gravy, and pedal steel player Buddy Cage as a DJ...
and XM Radio's
Grateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
channel. Walton has stated in his online introduction to his radio show column that he enjoys going to concerts alone because then he has fewer things in between him and reaching the omega point that all concert goers seek at shows.
Walton still has a committed relationship with the Celtics, if not professionally, as a fan. Despite the area where he grew up, and the team his son Luke plays for, Walton is careful to point out, "Even though I grew up in the heart of Laker country, the Celtics were always MY team". He keeps a picture of the floor of the old
Boston GardenThe Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
in his kitchen. Walton joined the Celtics broadcast crew for a West Coast road trip in 2011.
In 1990, Walton was inducted by the
San Diego Hall of ChampionsThe San Diego Hall of Champions is an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California. Located in the Federal Building in Balboa Park, the facility recognizes outstanding athletic accomplishments and traditions involving more than forty-two sports...
into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.
In popular culture
Walton has cameo appearances in the films
Celtic PrideCeltic Pride is a comedy film written by Judd Apatow and Colin Quinn and directed by Tom DeCerchio. It features Daniel Stern and Dan Aykroyd as Mike O'Hara and Jimmy Flaherty, two passionate Boston Celtics fans and Damon Wayans as Lewis Scott, the Utah Jazz's All-Star shooting guard.-Plot:Best...
,
Little NickyLittle Nicky is a 2000 American comedy film directed by Steven Brill. It stars Adam Sandler as Nicky, one of Satan's three sons.-Plot:The story revolves around a struggle to determine which of Satan's three sons will succeed their father as ruler of Hell...
and
Semi-ProSemi-Pro is a 2008 American sports screwball comedy film from New Line Cinema. The film was directed by Kent Alterman and stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tierney. The film was shot in Los Angeles near Dodger Stadium , in Detroit and in Flint, Michigan...
. Walton also appeared as Sven the Wise in the 2011 Capital One Visigoth SportsNet commercials.
Bill Walton is a playable character in the video games
NBA Street Vol. 2NBA Street Vol. 2 is the sequel to NBA Street. It was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and for the first time in the series, on the Xbox. Japan was only able to see a PlayStation 2 release of this game...
(
2003-Events:*February 27 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Yu Suzuki of Sega to the AIAS Hall of Fame....
),
NBA Street V3NBA Street V3 is the third game in the NBA Street series. It is the sequel of NBA Street Vol. 2. It was released for PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox, along with a PlayStation Portable port of V3 called NBA Street Showdown....
(
2005-Events:*March 6 — The television show 60 Minutes tackles issues within video game controversy. This segment of 60 Minutes has been criticized by video game players for encouraging video game censorship....
), and
NBA Jam: On Fire Edition (2011), and lent his voice to NBA 2K5 and NBA Shootout 2004.
Walton is parodied in a popular
TwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account (@TheBillWalton) entitled 'The Bill Walton Trip' that has been featured in the Washington Post and on live NCAA coverage discussed by fellow former UCLA great and NBA professional Marques Johnson. Due to the content and increased popularity of the feed, it was featured on
ESPN.comESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...
Page 2 and commented on by Bill Walton himself.
External links