Invoice Walton Dies at 71; Basketball HOFer Gained 2 NBA Titles, 2 NCAA Championships

NBA legend and Corridor of Famer Invoice Walton died Monday at 71 years previous.

The NBA announced his dying and famous he was “surrounded by household” after “a protracted battle with most cancers.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver launched a press release that mentioned, partially, “Invoice Walton was really certainly one of a sort … What I’ll bear in mind most about him was his zest for all times. He was an everyday presence at league occasions—at all times upbeat, smiling ear to ear and seeking to share his knowledge and heat. I treasured our shut friendship, envied his boundless vitality and admired the time he took with each particular person he encountered.”

Earlier than he was a champion on the NBA degree, Walton was among the finest males’s school basketball gamers within the sport’s historical past.

He attended powerhouse UCLA and performed three seasons from 1971 to 1974 whereas constructing a resume that included two nationwide championships, three Naismith Awards, two Related Press Participant of the Yr awards and three consensus All-American choices.

Walton was a transcendent collegiate star, and the Portland Path Blazers jumped on the likelihood to pick out him with the No. 1 general decide of the 1974 NBA draft.

It’s laborious to script a greater begin to a profession than the one Walton loved, as he led the Path Blazers to their solely championship in franchise historical past in simply his third season. As if that wasn’t sufficient, he was the league MVP in his fourth 12 months after finishing second in voting in that third season.

Walton led the league in rebounding and blocks throughout that championship season in 1976-77 after which received NBA Finals MVP whereas averaging 18.5 factors, 19.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.7 blocks and 1.0 steals per recreation within the victory over Julius Erving’s Philadelphia 76ers.

He appeared nicely on his strategy to an extended and legendary profession, however foot accidents undercut a lot of his peak following that unbelievable run in Portland.

In consequence, he missed the 1978-79, 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons whereas enjoying simply 14 video games in 1979-80 and 33 video games in 1982-83 for the San Diego Clippers.

To Walton’s credit score, he carved out a second act of his NBA profession as a bench presence for the Boston Celtics. He took dwelling the Sixth Man of the Yr in 1985-86 for a Celtics crew that received the championship and is basically remembered as among the finest in NBA historical past.

He performed simply 10 video games after that season however was nonetheless elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Corridor of Fame in 1993 and named a member of the NBA’s seventy fifth Anniversary Workforce following his profession.

That profession alone would have made him a perpetually memorable determine within the basketball world, however he later grew to become one of many voices of the game for a technology that was not sufficiently old to have watched him play.

Walton grew to become an NBA and school basketball analyst for NBC, CBS, ABC and ESPN. His eccentric method and catchphrases captured the viewers’s consideration and by no means did not amuse even when the video games themselves weren’t thrilling or shut.

He received a Sports activities Emmy in 1991 and was named one of many high 50 sports activities broadcasters of all-time by the American Sportscaster Affiliation in 2009.

Some will bear in mind Walton as certainly one of school basketball’s greatest all-time gamers, some will bear in mind him as a champion and MVP for the Path Blazers, some will bear in mind him for his supporting function on Larry Chook’s Celtics, and others will bear in mind him as a broadcaster who appeared to get pleasure from each second on air.

He’s certainly one of basketball’s most enduring figures, and he’s survived by his spouse and 4 kids.