Tag: Bill Walton

Hall of Fame Boston Celtics big man, broadcaster Bill Walton passes at age 71

Walton had reportedly been quietly battling cancer – rest in peace.

Hall of Fame Boston Celtics big man Bill Walton has reportedly passed away at age 71 after a long battle with cancer, reports Reuters’ Daniel Trotta. Walton, who won his second of two titles with the Celtics in 1986, and won 1977 NBA Finals MVP in his other title run with the Portland Trail Blazers that year along with many other accolades.

Injuries likely robbed the UCLA star of even more honors over the years, with Walton missing four NBA seasons in total before retiring from the game as a player. He also played for the Los Angeles (and San Diego, before they moved) Clippers before his stint in Boston.

“Bill Walton was truly one of a kind,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver of Walton’s extraordinary basketball career, and broadcasting career after it, saying, “what I will remember most about him was his zest for life.”

Rest in peace, Bill — you will be missed.

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Rasheed Wallace once called out Bill Walton

Rasheed Wallace once called out former Boston Celtics champion Bill Walton.

Bill Walton spent his career with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics. He won a championship with each team. However, his amazing career didn’t stop Rasheed Wallace from once confronting him over the “Jail Blazers” moniker he and the media had bestowed upon Wallace’s Trail Blazers team of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

During a recent interview, Wallace recalled his frustrations with the nickname provided to his Trail Blazers team and how it led him to call out Walton over his participation in how the team was portrayed in the media. Of course, Walton was an influential figure with Portland fans, so that incident likely created some issues within the fanbase.

Wallace’s comments came during an interview with the “Underdog NBA” YouTube channel. He explained why he was frustrated and what led him to confront the two-time NBA champion.

You can watch the full interview by clicking on the embedded link above.

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Bill Walton wildly claims George Lucas based Chewbacca off of him

If a game has Bill Walton on the call but he didn’t say anything that caught your attention, did it even happen?

Here is a question: If a game has Bill Walton on the call but he didn’t say anything that caught your attention, did it even happen?

The former NBA Finals MVP turned sportscaster is known to say some wild things whenever he is on the air and last night was no exception. During his men’s college basketball broadcast of Oregon against USC, his play-by-play partner Dave Pasch asked him to take a trip back in time.

Considering that they were at USC (the school where Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas attended in the 1960s) for the game, Pasch asked Walton if he could confirm a rumor he heard about the films.

Pasch said he heard that Walton was “in the mix” to play Chewbacca. Here is what Walton said (and note that the transcription reflects the way the former NBA big man pronounced the name of the Wookiee):

“No. I heard that. Chewybacca is modeled after me. […] George Lucas is all cool as they get and I remember the night that George and Kareem and Bill Russell and me, we were all up in San Francisco at a big fundraiser for the Martin Luther King memorial. […] I auditioned for Chewybacca and they said no but we’re going to model the character after you.”

While it is fun to take him at his word, especially because he shared a somewhat shaggy look with Chewbacca during his playing days, we might not want to take him seriously here.

Unfortunately, this sounds like it is potentially gibberish from Walton.

Lucas is on record as saying that Chewbacca is based on his pet (via the Denver Art Museum):

“I had an Alaskan Malamute when I was writing the film [Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope]. A very sweet dog, she would always sit next to me when I was writing. And when I’d drive around, she’d sit in the front seat. A Malamute is a very large dog—like a 130 pounds and bigger than a human being and very long-haired.”

Walton was bigger than most humans and also very long-haired but he was not Lucas’ Alaskan Malamute, who was named Indiana.

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Bill Walton absolutely unloads on USC basketball during ESPN TV broadcast

Bill Walton dropped a memorable one-liner on USC Thursday night.

Bill Walton is one of the most polarizing figures in modern media. People either love him or hate him on his ESPN and Pac-12 Network broadcasts. There is no in between. There is no subsection of people who are indifferent about Walton, the colorful and zany broadcaster with an on-air presence like no one else at ESPN or any other network.

Bill Walton, for better or worse, is one of one. There are no copies, no imitators, no personalities who try to be exactly like him. It’s impossible to duplicate his wild tangents and constant meanderings during a basketball game. He is in his own mental universe. It drives some people crazy. It is elite entertainment for others.

On Thursday night, USC basketball absorbed the full force of Walton’s sometimes skewering wit. You know that Walton is always stumping for Pac-12 NCAA Tournament bids, so he really doesn’t provide anti-USC commentary. If the Trojans have a chance to represent the Pac-12 in March Madness, Walton will take up their case instead of arguing against it.

However, USC has been so disappointing this season that Walton didn’t have a chance to talk up the Trojans. Instead, Walton had to be honest about this team’s situation.

Here it is:

That’s how bad USC is. Bill Walton is burying the Trojans on the air.

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Is former Boston big man Shaquille O’Neal the king of beefs?

Even as a big man emeritus, Shaq refuses to let go of grudges, exemplified by his ongoing campaign to besmirch Walton’s resume.

Former Boston Celtics big man Shaquille O’Neal is not just known for his on-court dominance but also for his penchant for beefs and rivalries with his peers on the court.

Shaq’s relationships with his fellow players during his Hall of Fame playing career have at times been fraught, as captured in a documentary put together by the folks behind the “Secret Base” YouTube channel. Focusing on his intriguing beef with fellow Boston big man alum Bill Walton and the tumultuous dynamics he had with coach Stan Van Gundy long before joining the Celtics to name a few, the Big Aristotle is no stranger to beef. Even as a big man emeritus, Shaq refuses to let go of grudges, exemplified by his ongoing campaign to besmirch Walton’s resume.

These beefs, whether on the court or off, add layers to Shaq’s legacy, showcasing a player unafraid to speak his mind.

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Three Boston Celtics alumni make HoopsHype’s list of top former NBAers in the media

The Boston Celtics have had no small number of former players matriculate into a media role, but who are the best at it now?

The Boston Celtics have had no small number of former players matriculate into a media role after retiring from the game, going back to Celtics Hall of Famers Bill Russell and Tommy Heinsohn to Paul Pierce and Brian Scalabrine today.

And as with all things, some have done better in such a role, and others have had stronger skill sets elsewhere. But a handful have gone on to win a second fame in the broadcast booth, some even garnering cult status as media members. In today’s media landscape, there are several high-profile Boston alumni making a living on the airwaves.

The folks at HoopsHype put together a fan vote-driven ranking of the 15 best former NBAers had a trio of former Boston players; let’s see which landed where in their assessment.

On this day: Cs’ 1st home game; Walton born; Radja, Earl, Rivas, Hemric, Loscutoff debut; Englund passes

On this day in Celtics history, the team played their first home game in franchise history.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the newly-formed professional basketball franchise the Boston Celtics played their first home game in 1946 in the Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league to the NBA) in team history.

The game was an inauspicious loss, 57-55 to the now-defunct Chicago Stags (not to be confused with the later franchise of that city, the Bulls), which saw two of the Celtics break double figures. One of the pair was guard Johnny Simmons, who scored 13 points on 6 field goals and a free throw, though we don’t know how efficiently since that and many aspects of the game were yet to be recorded in those early years of the sport.

Forward Wyndol Gray scored 12 points as well, and future star of television and film Chuck Connors added 8 points in the loss.

How many of the NBA’s official 50 greatest in 1996 were Boston Celtics?

In 1996, the NBA released a list of its 50 greatest players up to that year to celebrate as many years of play as a league. Can you guess how many were Celtics? Better yet, who they were?

In 1996, the NBA decided to assemble a panel of 50 players, media members, and team representatives in total to select the 50 greatest players of the league’s first 50 years on the anniversary of the NBA’s first season of 1946-47.

The league again plans to assemble a similar list to honor the 75th anniversary of its foundation in 2021, but before we begin to recount which alumni of the Boston Celtics were added to the list, let’s take a look at the old one. Dominated by names once populating the championship eras of the team from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, a total of 14 of the NBA’s 50 greatest players once donned the green and white.

Let’s review who made the cut, and when they were Celtics.

How many Boston Celtics are in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame?

No team in NBA history has produced more. How many can you name?

With Boston Celtics Hall of Fame Paul Pierce officially part of the incoming 2021 class and big man Kevin Garnett getting his formal induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in May 2021 — nearly a year after getting the nod due to the pandemic — all three members of the so-called “new Big Three” of KG, Pierce and Ray Allen have been ensconced in what serves as the Valhalla of basketball.

But they are far from the only Celtics so honored. In fact, there is a veritable host of Boston legends populating the Hoop Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, just a short drive away from the NBA’s titletown. The Celtics have more players than any other team in league history.

Let’s take a look at the 40 Celtics who have been honored with a Hall of Fame induction.

Complete list of Boston Celtics in the Basketball Hall of Fame

Celtics Wire celebrates the 48 members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame with ties to the Boston Celtics franchise.

The Boston Celtics are one of the bedrock franchises in professional sports. Legends such as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett dazzled fans with their athletic exploits and won the NBA championship in Boston.

A couple of hours down the Mass Pike in Springfield, no fewer than four dozen players, coaches, and contributors with ties to the Celtics franchise have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame over the years, spanning the decades from the first years of the storied ball club’s existence up to the team’s last era of contention.

Below, Celtics Wire celebrates the 49 members of the Hall of Fame with Celtics connections in a photo gallery.