Tag: Bill Walton

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.

How many Boston Celtics have been named 6th Man of the Year – and who were they?

Can you name the duo who first won the award for Boston three years running? Better yet — can you name the seasons?

When you scan the history of the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, it would be easy to miss the brief era during which the Boston Celtics dominated the annual honor bestowed upon the player deemed to be the best player for his ball club coming off the bench as a substitute for a starter.

It was a short epoch, spanning three consecutive years in which two Boston frontcourt players earned the honor, followed by a fourth, more recent player on Boston’s roster taking home the hardware. If the award had been around before the 1982-83 NBA season, the Celtics might have had more winners given the team-oriented style of play and depth that carried them throughout the 1960s.

But four awards in franchise history is still a solid record. Can you name the duo who first won the honor for Boston and the seasons in which they did it?

Bill Walton tells his first-person account of Bird’s legendary left-handed game

The Celtic champion alumnus gave his first-person account on an old episode of the new Celtics podcast “View from the Rafters.”

Fans of the Boston Celtics are have long caught on to the team’s self-produced podcast “View From the Rafters: Behind the Scenes with the Boston Celtics” to catch the exclusive stories told by the players and coaches themselves.

And there are few stories more iconic in team lore than the tale of legendary forward Larry Bird’s infamous “left-handed” game, where he played the majority of the contest with his off hand on a whim. In the third episode of the new podcast, champion Celtics center Bill Walton regaled listeners with his account of that night told from a first-person perspective.

“Larry was well-known for predicting what he was going to do on the road trips,” began Walton.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 5

Today’s installment focuses on the 21 players who wore No. 5 over the years as of September 2023.

The Boston Celtics have more retired jerseys than any other team in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean the rest of their jerseys have little history of interest tied to them.

In fact, with 17 titles to their name and decades of competitive basketball played in them, their unretired jersey numbers pack in some of the most history not hanging from the rafters of any team in the league. To that end, we have launched our accounting of that history, with every player in every jersey worn by more than one Celtics player in the storied franchise’s history accounted for.

Today’s installment focuses on the 21 players who wore No. 5 over the years as of September 2023.