Remembering Bill Walton: 1952-2024

Cover photo: Bill Walton of the Portland Trail Blazers holds the ball high in 1977. Photo credit: Malcolm Emm

One of the greatest centers in the history of basketball was born today, Nov. 5, in 1952. 

Before the likes of Nikola Jokic at the center position, Bill Walton blended a superior ability to pass the ball with top notch offensive skills and shot-blocking ability. 

Walton was a star player at Helix High School in La Mesa, Calif., leading his school to a state championship as a senior, a campaign in which he produced 29 points and 25 rebounds per game while shooting 78.3% from the field. The team won 49 consecutive games under his leadership. 

Playing for the legendary John Wooden at UCLA, Walton turned in one of the best collegiate careers in NCAA history. As a sophomore, junior, and senior, he averaged 21.1 points and 15.5 rebounds, 20.4 points and 16.9 rebounds, and 19.3 points, 14.7 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. He led the NCAA in rebounding in each of those seasons. In his sophomore and junior years, Walton was named Associated Press Player of the Year, Naismith Player of the Year, and 1st team All-American. 

Leading a team of fellow future NBAers Jamaal Wilkes, Swen Nater, and Henry Bibby, Walton’s Bruins won the ‘72 national title over Florida State University 81-76. Walton registered 24 points and 20 rebounds in the game. In 1972-73, the team went 30-0 once again, with Walton, in the national final against the University of Memphis, going 21-of-22 from the field for 44 points and 13 rebounds. The Bruins won the game 87-66. 

Walton was drafted first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1974 Draft, a draft that also included Hall of Famers George Gervin, Bobby Jones, and Walton’s UCLA teammate Wilkes. In Portland, Walton would form with power forward Maurice Lucas. Drafted 14th overall to the Chicago Bulls before playing in the ABA with the Spirits of St. Louis, Lucas arrived in Portland prior to the 1976-77 season and created the NBA’s most formidable inside duo alongside Walton. 

Although Walton dealt with injuries right from the start of his career (he missed 762 games throughout his career due to ankle, feet, leg, and hand ailments that required 30 surgeries), he was a dominant player essentially from jump. 

After averaging 12.8 points, 12.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 2.7 blocks as a rookie, Walton registered 16.1 points, 13.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.6 blocks in 1975-76. In his third and fourth seasons, we would see the best versions of the big man. 

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Bill Walton’s Second and Third Year Stats

1976-77: 18.6 points, 52.8% FG (14.3 FGA), 14.4 rebounds (1st, 11.1 DREB, 1st), 3.8 assists, 3.2 blocks (1st), 34.8 minutes, 65 games, 2nd in MVP voting, 2nd team All-NBA, 1st team All-Defense

The ‘77 Trail Blazers won 49 games, and defeated the Bulls in three games in round one, beat the Denver Nuggets in six games in Western Conference Semifinals, and swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. In the NBA Finals, they met the 50-win Philadelphia 76ers, who were led by Julius Erving. In the series, Walton averaged 18.5 points (54.5% FG), 19.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 3.7 blocks per game in 37.7 minutes. He was named Finals MVP. The win remains the only NBA Finals victory for the Trail Blazers in the history of their franchise. 

1977-78: 18.9 points, 52.2% FG (15.2 FGA), 13.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.5 blocks, 33.3 minutes, 58 games, MVP, 1st team All-NBA, 1st team All-Defense

The ‘78 Trail Blazers won 58 games, but lost in the Western Conference Semifinals to the Seattle SuperSonics. Walton, who broke his foot during the season, attempted to play in the series, and played just two games (24.5 minutes per) and averaged 13.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.

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After missing all of the 1978-79 season because of the foot injury, Walton during the 1979 offseason signed a seven year contract with the San Diego Clippers worth $7 million. Over the next three seasons, he played in just 14 games (all in 1979-80) and averaged 13.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks in 24.1 minutes per game. Walton played in 155 games from 1982-1985, playing a high during that span of 33.3 minutes in the 1982-83 season.

Prior to the 1984-85 season, the Clippers moved from San Diego to Los Angeles. That season, Walton played in 67 games, starting 37. He averaged 24.6 minutes per game, and averaged 10.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. 

On Sept. 6, 1985, Walton was dealt to the Boston Celtics for 1981 Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell and a first-round draft choice. In Boston, Walton underwent a career renaissance, playing 80 games for one of the greatest teams in NBA history. In 19.3 minutes per game, Walton averaged 7.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. His unselfish attitude and passing aptitude meshed seamlessly with the likes of Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. Walton was rewarded for his effort with the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award for 1986. 

Walton played one more season (10 games in 1986-87) before not playing in 1987-88 due to injury and ultimately retiring after that season. 

Over 10 seasons, Walton played in 468 games (28.3 minutes per game) and averaged 13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks. In his brief but brilliant Blazer career, the center registered 17.1 points (51.0% shooting on 13.8 attempts per game), 13.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.6 blocks per game in 33.7 minutes per game in 209 games. 

In 1993, Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in 1997, and as one of its 75 Greatest in 2021.

Post-career, Walton was one of the more colorful and entertaining color commentators and analysts, working at the NBA on NBC, ESPN and ABC’s early coverage of the NBA in the 2000s, and as a color commentator on NCAA broadcasts for ESPN. 

On May 27, 2024, Walton passed away at the age of 71 after a long and private battle with cancer. His son Luke was a standout player at the University of Arizona under the legendary Lute Olson and played 10 years in the NBA, was the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers from 2016-19 and is currently a lead assistant with the Detroit Pistons. 

When people mention promising NBA careers derailed by injury, they go to the more modern careers of Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Derrick Rose, Greg Oden, Brandon Roy, and Tracy McGrady. Dial it back a few decades though, and you’ll find a player better than all of them, a dominant center whose brief exhibition of a complete repertoire got him on the 50 Greatest list and someone who longtime columnist Bob Ryan counts as someone who at his best was as good as any center who ever played. You can’t get a bigger compliment than that. 

Said fellow UCLA alum Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of Walton in a substack piece after Walton’s passing, “Bill was like a younger brother to me…He had wanted to be more like me on the court, I wanted to be more like him off the court.” 

We remember the great Bill Walton on what would have been his 74th birthday.