Bill Walton (5) on the USA Basketball team at the 1970 FIBA World Championship at age 17. (USA Basketball Photo)
Talk about Larry Bird and Magic Johnson all you like. Same with Michael Jordan.
But as I was growing up I thought the most dominant basketball player was Bill Walton.
He was a two-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player and national champion at UCLA. However, before that at age 17 — he was only seven months younger than me — he represented USA Basketball at the 1970 FIBA World Championship. He was the youngest member of the team that finished fifth in the competition.
Walton passed away Monday at age 71 after a battle with cancer.
Most younger basketball fans knew him as a wacky, sometimes controversial college basketball analyst who at times spent more time talking about things other than basketball during a game. Myself, I always thought he was entertaining even when I disagreed with him.
Walton was a two-time NBA champion and is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, issued this statement Monday after Waltons passing.
“The passing of Bill Walton is heartbreaking. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and close friends at this difficult time. Only a select few players could rival Bill’s accomplishments on the court, having won multiple championships in both high school and the NBA, sandwiched of course around being a two-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player and national champion for UCLA during inarguably the greatest period of dominance the sport has ever seen,” Gavitt said.
“More recently, he was an engaging and entertaining television commentator championing college basketball. Bill Walton was a brilliant, interesting, thoughtful, humorous, and genuine soul who loved life and cared about everyone he encountered. He will be dearly missed by all of us who were fortunate enough to share his friendship.”
2 Responses
He was the guy that said during his time at UCLA they violated every recruiting
rule in the book, and that if the NCAA had investigated, UCLA would never
be allowed to play another basketball game.
R.I.P. Bill Walton.
The UCLA cheating during their "historic" run was obvious to any who looked at their situation. The NCAA has had the practice of picking their winners and losers, especially with regard to enforcement, for as long as I can recall. The UCLA "dynasty" and the UNCCheaters’ fake classes have been two of the most glaring examples, but the history books are repleat with this unequal application and enforcement of the rules.
The NCAA also has major dirty hands with regard to the degradation of college sports, leading to the imposition of NIL and the Transfer Portal on everyone by ignoring the issues when legitimately raised by coaches and players over the years. It is clear that the NCAA is rotten to its core, and the term of NCAA president Emmert was the most disastrous period ever for the NCAA.
The NCAA has systematically destroyed college sports, and Mark Emmert delivered the fatal blows.
The sooner major football and basketball leagues divorce from the crooked NCAA, the more likely it will be for the fans to see some measure of sanity return to the sports we all love so much.