RIP Bill Walton

[FiatLux]

One of the best ever when healthy.










What a long strange trip it's been.

[mvscal]

Well, shit. That sucks. He was definitely a character.
.RIP

[JPGettysburg]

Apparently he had prostate cancer for a very long time. Every man should start getting their PSA checked yearly, beginning at age 45.

[FiatLux]

Throw it down, big man, throw it down!!!

[Sudden Sam]

Damn. RIP. Really liked that guy.

My PSA had dropped a tad again last check. We’re now only going to check it yearly rather than every 6 months.

[Smackie Chan]

Throw it down, big man, throw it down!!!

I had led this post with that but was beaten to the punch.

Great player, great character. He and Coach Wooden were an unlikely pairing with Wooden representative of the buttoned-down conservative and Walton of the counterculture. But both had great respect for each other.

In his book Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court, the Coach, who didn't allow his players to have facial hair, related the story of the time Walton informed him while playing at UCLA that he was going to grow a mustache or beard. Wooden replied, "Well, Bill, we'll miss you." Needless to say, Walton stayed clean-shaven. Otoh, Walton wasn't much of a drinker but was a fan of the herb, and sought Wooden's blessing to smoke a joint after games to help him unwind. Wooden gave the OK, but told him to keep it on the down-low.

Bill Walton will be missed.

[JPGettysburg]

Damn. RIP. Really liked that guy.

My PSA had dropped a tad again last check. We’re now only going to check it yearly rather than every 6 months.

And, keep in mind, PSA only tells part of the story.
You can have a high PSA and only have an enlarged prostate with no cancer.

[Sudden Sam]

Damn. RIP. Really liked that guy.

My PSA had dropped a tad again last check. We’re now only going to check it yearly rather than every 6 months.

And, keep in mind, PSA only tells part of the story.
You can have a high PSA and only have an enlarged prostate with no cancer.

They found cancer a while back. I can’t even recall when. Year and a half…maybe 2. No idea. I never even think about it until they tell me it’s time to check things.

[JPGettysburg]

Damn. RIP. Really liked that guy.

My PSA had dropped a tad again last check. We’re now only going to check it yearly rather than every 6 months.

And, keep in mind, PSA only tells part of the story.
You can have a high PSA and only have an enlarged prostate with no cancer.

They found cancer a while back. I can’t even recall when. Year and a half…maybe 2. No idea. I never even think about it until they tell me it’s time to check things.

Prostate?

[FiatLux]

UCLA and USC broke his heart by breaking up the Pac-12.

Fitting he passes away the same year as the Pac-12/Pac-10, they don't get more California than that guy.

Always loved Cal and let it be known he wanted to go to school there. But, hoops and stuff.

[Sudden Sam]

And, keep in mind, PSA only tells part of the story.
You can have a high PSA and only have an enlarged prostate with no cancer.

They found cancer a while back. I can’t even recall when. Year and a half…maybe 2. No idea. I never even think about it until they tell me it’s time to check things.

Prostate?

Yeah.

[Diego in Seattle]

RIP Bill & Bruce.

[JPGettysburg]

They found cancer a while back. I can’t even recall when. Year and a half…maybe 2. No idea. I never even think about it until they tell me it’s time to check things.

Prostate?

Yeah.

After they found it, the next step is a Pet scan, ordered by your urologist.
The Pet scan is the best technology there is to see if the cancer has spread, or if it's only in the prostate.

If it's only in the prostate, the next step is surgery.
Today, it's nerve sparing micro robotic surgery.

If caught early, and it hasn't spread, you're cured.
Radiation. Is the other option for those who are not candidates for surgery.
But the problem with radiation is that it STAYS in the body, ultimately causing other problems.

[Sudden Sam]

Still have this one.

[Softball Bat]

The '85-'86 Celtics were one of the best teams (any sport) in my lifetime.

Bird was at his best.
McHale, Parish, Johnson, and Ainge were tremendous.
Sichting and Wedman were great off the bench.
But Bill Walton as the 6th man was what really elevated that team to be historically great.

Walton is on the short list of greatest college players of all time.
Stellar fundamentals, dexterity, smarts, and heart.

And of course, Walton led the 'blazers to their only NBA title.

Post-playing career, Bill's media career was also special.
Truly one of the really fun characters of our time.

[FiatLux]

Awesome picture.

Celtics play in an hour and a half. Should be an emotional game for the Celtics and for the NBA fans.

[Screw_Michigan]

UCLA and USC broke his heart by breaking up the Pac-12.

Fitting he passes away the same year as the Pac-12/Pac-10, they don't get more California than that guy.

Always loved Cal and let it be known he wanted to go to school there. But, hoops and stuff.

Beat me to it, the Pac 12 dying was finally too much for Bill. I admired his unending positive spirit and his way to not take things too seriously. And he was funny to boot. RIP

[L45B]

UCLA and USC broke his heart by breaking up the Pac-12.

Fitting he passes away the same year as the Pac-12/Pac-10, they don't get more California than that guy.

Always loved Cal and let it be known he wanted to go to school there. But, hoops and stuff.

Beat me to it, the Pac 12 dying was finally too much for Bill. I admired his unending positive spirit and his way to not take things too seriously. And he was funny to boot. RIP

Third. Bill was the original PACBSH, he always boasted about the “conference of champions.” No way was he gonna stick around to watch his alma mater play in the B1G 25.

[Screw_Michigan]

PACBSH

[The Seer]

I believe this weekend (conference baseball tournament) was the final contests within the Pac 12...A bit eerie on the timing...

R.I.P.

[The Whistle Is Screaming]

RIP Bill, truly a larger than life guy.

Such a cool story....

https://relix.com/articles/detail/i-am- ... -entwined/

"The final two years of your professional basketball career took place in Boston, where you brought the members of the Celtics to see the Grateful Dead.

It was fantastic. They had the time of their lives. It was a spectacular evening. Everybody on the team went, with the exception of Danny Ainge—his wife would not let him go.

We all met at Larry Bird’s house, who arranged for a fleet of limousines to take the whole team across town to go to the show. We pull in, drive right into the building, go backstage and I’m introducing everybody back and forth. We go up on the stage—they had built this incredibly nice private lounge just for the Celtics. They brought all these coolers full of our favorite drinks, milk and water. It was absolutely spectacular. The lights go down, Jerry steps up to the front, and he leans in and he looks over at Larry, who I was sitting right next to. Jerry is standing in that golden shaft of light that was just so perfect, and he’s fiddling with his foot pedals and he’s kissing his microphone to make sure it’s the perfect height. He looks over at Larry, and he winks at him and he mouths to him, “This is what we do.”

Then he turned back and just blew it out. Six or seven hours later, the lights came back up, and the band was all packed and gone. The Celtics’ eyes were kaleidoscopes, and they said, “Oh, my gosh. Can we come back tomorrow?” And they did come back and it was fantastic."

[Smackie Chan]

They brought all these coolers full of our favorite drinks...The Celtics’ eyes were kaleidoscopes

Was Owsley the caterer?

[The Whistle Is Screaming]

They brought all these coolers full of our favorite drinks...The Celtics’ eyes were kaleidoscopes

Was Owsley the caterer?

Must have been. Oh, to have been a fly on that wall....

[FiatLux]

Nice story TWIS.


Some cool tidbits from BW's wiki…



While Walton was in high school in 1967, the NBA expansion San Diego Rockets came to town. The Rockets had no set practice facility and would often play pick-up games at Helix High School. Rocket players learned that to get into the Helix gym they could call the teenage Walton, who had his own gym key. Walton recalled Elvin Hayes calling and telling his mother, "Tell Billy, Big E is calling and we need him to open the gym tonight. I said, 'Mom, that's Big E! Give me the phone!' I was never so embarrassed in my life. Elvin and I are still close friends. All of those guys all [sic] still my friends to this very day."[11]

"We had the best gym in San Diego and all the Rockets players wanted to go there", Walton reflected. "They had some great teams with Elvin Hayes and Calvin Murphy and future head coaches and broadcasters such as Pat Riley, Rick Adelman, Rudy Tomjanovich, Jim Barnett, and Stu Lantz. All these guys treated me—little Billy—like I was part of the team. They couldn't have been nicer, and I became their friend."[11]


Beginning in elementary and high school, Walton had loyally followed UCLA's basketball team on the radio. He was recruited by many colleges, but quickly accepted UCLA's scholarship offer to play basketball for the Bruins and Coach Wooden. Wooden became a lifetime mentor to Walton.[19]


Hall of Fame Coach Denny Crum, then an assistant coach at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) under John Wooden, was sent to watch Walton play. Crum first saw Walton in 1968 as a high school junior and was at first dubious when hearing of Walton, but went to scout him anyway. "I came back and told Coach Wooden that this Walton kid was the best high school player I'd ever seen", Crum recalled.[18]











Bill Walton on UCLA, his love for Berkeley
https://youtu.be/QJ_w_Tfm-7k?si=fpF1qhAlfbrc3-Px

[Smackie Chan]

One of the funniest things I heard Walton say on TV (and there are many from which to choose) was when he was covering a Bulls game during the Jordan era when Reinsdorf & Krause were the owner & GM of the team. Whoever Walton was teamed up with that day said something about those two, to which Walton responded, "You have your Jerrys and I have mine."

[Screw_Michigan]

I believe this weekend (conference baseball tournament) was the final contests within the Pac 12...A bit eerie on the timing...

R.I.P.

Correct

[FiatLux]

Walton responded, "You have your Jerrys and I have mine."

Classic Bill.

If you don't like Bill. You're an asshole.

Bode indeed.

[StrawMan]

Walton was one of a kind, generational talent. I was a center and learned so much watching him play.

RIP