Sports Poets Society

Bill Walton smiles as he acknowledges fans before broadcasting a Pac-12 basketball game.  Walton has died after a battle with cancer, the NBA announced Monday. (Associated Press) https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2024-05-27/bill-walton-ucla-legend-nba-star-pac-12-cheerleader-has-died By Ben Bolch  - Los Angeles Times Staff Writer  Follow   May 27, 2024 Updated 5:02 PM PT Bill Walton once said his dream Final Four field would include five Pac-12 Conference teams. He repeated the motto “ Conference of Champions ” on basketball broadcasts as if he was being paid by the number of references he could fit into one game. It wasn’t an act — it was Walton being Walton, as colorful as one of the tie-dye shirts the avowed Grateful Dead fan loved to wear. Walton, the giant redhead whose basketball prowess at UCLA and in the NBA was surpassed only by his zest for life and all its absurdities, died Monday while surrounded by family after a prolonged battle with cancer. He wa...

AP -- The Trail Blazers’ Bill Walton (32) battles Julius Erving (6)  of the Sixers for a loose ball during the NBA Finals on May 29, 1977. 28 May 2024 - Philadelphia Daily News By Tim Reynolds Associated Press "BILL WALTON ENJOYED LIFE IN EVERY WAY.  TO COMPETE AGAINST HIM & TO WORK  WITH HIM WAS A BLESSING IN MY LIFE."    - Julius Erving on X formerly Twitter Bill Walton, who starred for John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins before becoming a Hall of Fame center for his NBA career and one of the biggest stars in basketball broadcasting, died Monday, the league announced. Mr. Walton, who had a prolonged fight with cancer, was 71. He was the NBA’s MVP in the 1977-78 season, a two-time champion, and a member of the league’s 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams. That followed a college career in which he was a two-time champion at UCLA and a three-time national player of the year. “Bill Walton,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said, “was truly one of a kind.” Mr. Walto...

28 May 2024 - USA TODAY US Edition Jeff Zillgitt Columnist USA TODAY Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, an all-time great champion in high school, college and the NBA, died Monday following a prolonged battle with cancer, the NBA announced. He was 71 years old. “Bill Walton was truly one of a kind,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As a cherished member of the NBA family for 50 years, Bill will be deeply missed by all those who came to know and love him.” An American original, Walton led a remarkable life on and off the court, excelling in basketball and dabbling in the counterculture scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He remained connected to both throughout his life as a basketball player and TV analyst and lifelong fan of the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and Neil Young. At 6-foot-11, he was one of the most skilled big men to play the game. He defended, rebounded, blocked shots, passed and scored. He averaged 13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds 3.4 assists and 2.2 block...

Bill Greene/Globe Staff / 1987  - Mr. Walton (left, with Larry Bird and Robert Parish)  called his time with the Celtics the highlight of his career. For Walton, his splendid time with Celtics was short, his charisma lifelong 28 mag 2024 - The Boston Globe DAN SHAUGHNESSY The memories and stories started pouring in as soon as the news broke. Everyone remotely connected to the 1985-86 Celtics has a Bill Walton memory. Invariably, those stories are personal. And all of us were shocked monday when it was learned that Walton had died in California at the age of 71. No player ever loved playing for the Celtics more than Walton. And it’s cruel and ironic that Bill would pass with the team on to another appearance in the NBA Finals, which means a chance to win an NBA-record 18th banner. My friend rich Johnson, longtime curator of the New England sports museum and — like Walton — someone with a lifelong stutter, weighed in online, sending out a recording of the Grateful Dead’s “He’s G...