Bill Walton - Sports Century

as a shot blocker defender and team leader he was compared to Bill Russell as an inside scorer he rivaled Kareem abdul-jabbar and as a passer he stood alone among centers Bill Walton possessed all of the pieces of greatness except one due to inadequate bone structure in his feet he spent more than half of his NBA career on the sidelines but beyond the frustrations of his injuries he projected a social-awareness rare to his profession here is Bill Walton basketball player and political activist in that order country was in a great deal of turmoil the get man protest at their absolute height American boys being killed the whole fabric of America was unraveling Sports America didn't like the exterior society which was changing at a rapid rate this gifted athlete comes in but he has attitudes that are unconventional and even seemingly radical his hair was long he was hippy it was known that he smoked weed is he smoking pot or is he a common ester or what's going on it was his way of making a statement I always told bill what he represented to me was rebel with a cause I grew up in an environment where I was encouraged by my parents by my coaches to question authority to think for myself to have an opinion thinking people can only be turned against the president government in its agency I did born to play basketball and educated to raise political hell rarely at a man more closely to his time than Bill Walton as big man on the UCLA campus the 611 Center was impossible to ignore what was out front burn it down shut it down those were his words he wanted to do something important and be influential through basketball she was a person that people looked to your voice is going to be heard more than our voices so he let it be known where he stood with UCLA in the midst of a record run of seven consecutive national championships Walton was often torn between his loyalty to a coach and a need to demonstrate where he stood in a nation divided he was a champion of all minority cars but when you're representing a team and a university there are times when you know there's something he probably shouldn't do the Kent State situation he was out there riding with everybody else's coaches looking shake his head I think he was led by other people on doing some things I would rather he'd not been involved in but he has a right to do it he was an older guy great coach young great player he wanted to win and wouldn't want to win that may have been the only thing they had in common toward that end wouldn't imposed his rules with a predictable regularity there's a plane ride the stewardess comes by and offers bill what do you want he says a glass of wine and I'm home inhalation she comes back with a glass of ginger ale which is what's I said the gentleman in that other seat said I was to give you this and that's chuck wood one of the saddest days for coach wouldn't had to have been that you came down had to bail me out of jail after I got arrested anti-vietnam War protests it was in bill on I know you feel very strongly about this but I just don't think that getting arrested and taking part in this demonstration but it's all about ideas write letters and I scripted this letter to President Nixon I requested the debt she resigned which wouldn't he was so mad but he looked up at me with those sad soft eyes should be like and silence you're not going to send this in are you pail I said yeah coach I'm sending this in well I set it in it sure enough Nixon resigned it was unbelievable Woodman was right as always after leading UCLA to two national championships the 3-time Player of the Year joined the Portland Trailblazers in 1974 and marched on the NBA in full revolutionary regalia he was very pained about conditions on the ward and he's wanted a few people that had that type of visibility and put his prestige out there if you're not part of the fight that's a selfishness that is not acceptable he would do his own thing and people just didn't want to hear that they called him a rebel so you don't think there's anything contradictory about being a basketball player and say a social critic is the person who happened to play basketball Waltons high ranking among the 60s leading radicals was enhanced by a close friendship with activist and writer Jack Scott he and bill kind of connected on some of their thoughts about how athletes were being used and abused he was very instrumental in my life and in my progress as a human being you know Jack Scott was involved in all the battles of the day whenever I was out it was always close at one time they believe it again the family commune and all that Bill Walton had called and wanted me to come to a party I've never seen a place when little living room important target for so many 60s radicals have some degree of fame attended and Walton was right there in the middle of it in 1975 Waltons roommate Jack Scott made national headlines when the FBI suspected him of harboring fugitive Patty Hearst where as an avowed member of the Symbionese Liberation Army was wanted on bank robbery charges Bill Walton stood by him to the extent they did cast the shadows his career by that I mean when he sit down to do an interview one of the first things will come up with Jack stop have you ever had any dealings at all with Patty Hearst have you helped her in any way no no zone what about Jack Scott have you helped him Jack and I are real close friends but as well as his beautiful wife Mickey you had a star player was having his phone tapped for the FBI it was nervous for a lot of these people I was having a staff meeting and the channel 8 people him breaking into the meeting to take pictures of me the FBI got Jack Scott's father mixed up with bills father that it was bills father that was asked to transport barriers didn't know Betty Hearst was I have never met Patty Hearst no idea what she even looks like I was dragged in on the periphery of that event you know in retrospect it was a disaster for all people involved Walton and all through all this was just somebody who supported these causes I think he sort of grooved on being a part of Walton had ample time to pursue his counterculture activities in his first two seasons injuries kept him out of 78 games well the Blazers cruised along under 500 he brings in this baggage while violating basic law a sport America which is thou shalt not speak out and rest thou is playing at a championship but he seemed to have so many views often counter to mainstream us kind of thinking and say that way when what's this guy about why did he just play basketball you know and just shut up born in La Mesa a middle-class suburb of San Diego Bill Walton was the second of four children his father Ted was a social worker and Gloria his mother a librarian grew up in an unethical hold it was all about books with all about music they had a very traditional home and religion was important but it was mixed with social obligation and this should be a better country my dad very interested in social justice and change she always had to have something fresh to talk about I would get up crack it on every day and always beat my dad to manage pay for the education was the big thing and if they had time for sports then spend as much time as they wanted as long as they got their schoolwork my parents would always challenges they would initiate these discussions about what was going on in the world his opinion for being made they would not accept that they would always keep pushing it before he was born he was never still in it he was jumping around and then as soon as he was born he was on the go and it sounded as if he was just trying to talk too fast and then we realized that he did have a hang-up on certain words the stuttering problem that has plagued me throughout my life has been has limited me as a person I just retreated from I did I'm not gonna talk his biggest fear was to get in front of somebody in that stutter not to be able to really say what he wanted to say he was gawking and too tall he doesn't feel comfortable in his body he's definitely self-conscious I always wanted to walk next to the building where you're walking down the sidewalk because if you're next to the building you don't look quite as tall bill never wanted to be seven we talked he wanted to be 611 because 611 was tall but 7 feet was a freak as he said I was a very reserved young boy with the big nose and horrible speech impediment found safety found sanctuary found peace freedom and a way to express myself through basketball go onto the basketball court and everything that doesn't work for you in the normal universe suddenly works Bruce was the perfect older brother and boy did he used to just beat me up on a constant basis I developed a greater sense of speed and quickness because I knew I had to get away from him Bruce would just take Bill inside and pound them and they forced the ball in the basket we'd be in the backyard court we had a thornbush off to the sides I fake one way pull up a net jump in just BAM nothing right down into that thorn bush Walton debuted auspiciously on blessed sacraments elementary team fourth grade he was playing with 6th graders I put him in I told him enough look just pass the ball don't shoot next you know he's making a pass but ball goes in as I knew you were gonna be good but you're making it look so easy for the 1st championship games I ever played it was very first didn't know really what to do pregame moments I'm patient back and forth in the restroom bill with dis fidgety as can be I said come on get with it this part of winning they said hey you've got to learn to love these moments because that's what it's all about and that lesson there capsulize what the rest of my career came to mean to me as a kid I played basketball all the time the competition the sweating the content the yelling at the referee basketball for me was a celebration of life we've guilt from the breakfast-table to go out playing all day long literally until we dropped that was really our whole life just growing up as kids we'd go over to the elementary school that had the eight-foot baskets and we would think that we were the NBA guys we would be throwing it down he'd play by himself and then three of us had tried to pass around and get the ball inside he'd be in there blocking the shot before we get in get in at helix high Waltons primary competition came from a crosstown rival and childhood friend Elias Delgadillo it was a kind of wake-up call I would give bill you gotta beat Elias it was a challenge for Bill and he rose to meet it I would recall those long arms of spider arms into the job into the chest asking for the bomb there as a sophomore levy was 62 at the start of the season by the time he finished his junior year he was 69 I cajoled a key to the high school gym and then the ad NBA came to San Diego with the San Diego rockets and they found out that I had been keeping the gym we'd have Pat Riley and Elvin Hayes and Bill is competing with them and he was in high school and he was blocking guys shots there were pro players our coach would have a tennis racket and with a tennis racket he would extend it all the way up and so with that I would have to learn how to shoot and art the ball higher you couldn't shoot over him well at 66 and 0 I think it was our junior senior year obviously we were killing people by you know 40 50 60 points out of whack ball goes up bill goes up helix player split dole spins in midair fires the ball downcourt it was like seeing a college team with the fast-break on despite his dominance Walton remained rail-thin through high school but he had first-rate protection Bruce was Bill's protector if you fouled bill Bruce was going to very proudly pick up a personal foul and the other guy was gonna be eating a little plywood there was a game when we were playing against a team that was particularly intent on roughing me up this guy caught him in half a bill suits Mesa Basset shoes free throws makes a free throw we're coming back the other week they were running down the court side by side through Skip's the poor kids at elbow in the chest all of a sudden throws a big gasp from the crowd and there was Bruce standing there over the top of this fallen opponent a bruised head most sheepish grin on his face I never saw that guy in the rest of the game despite Waltons 29 points and 25 rebounds a game in a 33 a no senior season Sports Illustrated selected Tom McMillan of Pennsylvania as high school player of the year we just smiled at that we thought I wonder if they really know what's happening out here after they ran that story Sports Illustrated called they said who's this Walton kid we've been told that he's the best player in the country that we got the wrong best player and nobody in a nation Connor John Wooden Connor San Diego had never even had a Division one player and I told coach wooden I said he's the best high school player I've ever seen go shuts the door to the hall and he says then he don't ever make a statement like that would get to San Diego go to the game I said well what do you think of him he says well he is pretty good isn't he and that was an accolade for coach when Coach wooden actually started calling and coming around that that was a dream come true because from the first time I ever saw UCLA played basketball I knew that's what I wanted to do it was a wonderful girl from he got everything he wanted one side of his life was the free spirit and then the other side the basketball side was completely disciplined with great players and a great coach Coach wooden outside of my mom and dad has been the single most inspirational and influential person in my life he spent his whole time dreaming about what would work for us as individuals when Bill Walton joined John Wooden in 1970 the standards had never been higher UCLA had won four consecutive national championships Pauley Pavilion was Yankee Stadium UCLA where the Yankees playing with the best players in America you have the best coach of all time the weather's great and at least half the fans are of the female persuasion it's a great lifestyle Holley pavilion just glowed walk out on that Court as the chosen few people just jumping up and down and screaming the band was playing and the cheerleaders kicking their legs in the air and throwing the pom-poms up and it was just such an unbelievable moment of celebration in a brilliant college career never was Waltons talent at a higher point than in the 1973 championship game against Memphis State hello and get their 21 out of 22 field goal against tonight Walton finished with a Finals record 44 points as the Bruins took their seventh straight title as a college player he was in complement he had a presence on the court that was so intimidating and engulfing this cloud hung over the gym wherever he was I was not a fun person to be available for the games during the years as I had to and I would work myself into a range into a terror we used to do a a drill in the hallway outside of the locker room where we just passed the ball back and forth in one hand to handle fans as quickly as we could and my fingers would be deep red but he was burning ballin so hard and Bill would get so up before a game but he'd have a hard time coming down and he finally went to Wooden and asked some permission smoke some dope because it helped bring him down and finally wouldn't said yes but don't tell your teammates Bill Walton changed everything inside I would love for people to get by me I could put so much pressure on people that they would get by me and they would run into Bill Walton so that balls visible so that he could just leave right off of that position without having to gather to come up he had the ability to time his leap so that he caught the rebound and turned his upper body had the facility to throw that great outlet pass he was a control tower through whom you ran both your offense and your defense there's never been anybody quite like but the tower known as Bill Walton was already experiencing severe structural stress he would spend at least 20 to 30 minutes with heating pads underneath his knees and on top of his knees so that his his knees would be just crimson when he got ready to suit up for practice after every game he would sit with ice the 20 30 40 minutes every day he was a great athlete body quickness eyesight vision coordination he has all these great assets and he has your grandmother's feeling midway through Waltons senior season UCLA's winning streak had reached 88 games January 19th 1974 at Notre Dame a 12 point lead and the ball with a couple minutes to go Walton limping a bit 72-61 crewmate intercepts he's got two more goes from 11 to 7 10 seconds now the crowd gets into it and then that's when the defense picked up take the air I don't know dad lay it goes all the way 75 and the odium now Krauts melmac momentum was going 32 31 that's hey you believe that for three minutes and 22 seconds that you can shout out at UCLA and be themselves it if you look back that's what we did Notre Dame 71 UCLA 70 with six seconds left and the Walton the winning streak in collegiate sports history has ended where it began three years ago they'll tell you that you know we lost that game 17 years ago 14 days and 27 hours it's that big of a thing to me failed expectations we should have done a lot more that's the kind of defeat the absolutely never get over Digger Phelps he ruined my life and exposed as merely human even to themselves the Bruins went on a binge losing back-to-back games at Oregon State and Oregon but even after the trauma of that Lost Weekend further disappointment awaited at the Final Four March 23rd 1974 North Carolina State at Greensboro 11-point lead down the stretch in regulation with the ball couldn't hold on seven-point lead the second overtime couldn't get it done UCLA the deficit range for Bill Walton that loss is one that he'll be thinking about probably almost every week if not every month of his life he said well I guess I really don't know how to play basketball I'm a total failure worthless I'm totally worth I sat there for an hour and a half just repeating same thing if I had one thing to do over again it would be the day we lost to North Carolina State to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament that lesson of Coach wooden is about not beating yourself failing to prepare pairing to fail I'd like to have that meat critic the Walton era ended at 86 and 4 he averaged 20 points and his 16 rebounds a game eclipsed Kareem abdul-jabbar's school record when I left UCLA and joined the Portland Trailblazers as their number one draft pick it was tough he's College Player of the Year and just all world and he comes and because of injuries and so forth is just nothing works out 17 games into my rookie season came to practice one day and I couldn't run and it felt like there was stabbing died being jabbed into my foot they told me was nothing wrong with you Walton here just the malingerer you're a quitter and I was stunned it wasn't getting fixed and so they were putting him out there because they thought he was a malingerer and that made the problem worse my problems were undiagnosed stress fractures these were cracks in the bones that developed from playing too much basketball you could never point to what the moment when it happened and people couldn't see it the players wonder what's going on with this guy I think and some of them had the idea that maybe he didn't have they didn't want to be there the local media cited Waltons diet as the cause for his injuries he had the goat's milk and carrots but he's had paper bags of juices closely you gotta eat some meat man here's your wasting away to nothing it's a real food things were so bad so often that I would call up the owner virtually every 48 hours say I don't want any part of this I quit I haven't sit down just toss and turn all night Lawson when you quit you can't walk away bill this is what you love before the 7677 season the patience was beginning to wear thin that Walton may may not despite his phenomenal college career be the franchise player that spring the Blazers hired Jack Ramsay as head coach then they obtained Maurice Lucas in the ABA dispersal draft giving Walton the enforcer he admits since he played with his brother in high school I guess he was more impressed when I told him that I was gonna protect him yeah I'll take care all that dirty work he would go around or he's do this literally and threaten people on our team that if they didn't play the game of their lives she was gonna kill him under the protection given him by Lucas Walton emerged as the team leader by midseason the cloud of doubt that hovered over him for two years was replaced by blazer mania everybody's watching and everybody's trying to look like him what bill is and what most of the culture in Oregon was at that time is a pretty natural fit the local lovin peaked in Game six of the 1977 Finals against Philadelphia as the Walton show drew a 96% TV share in the Portland area and catching juicing muscle they go to the law behind him a big gross we'll look it's Walton he wants Walton comes up on Gerald the 1977 Portland Trailblazers championship team was the youngest team in the history of the NBA to ever win the championship and it was also magical I remember Bill had a habit of reaching over and palming my head I wanted to be part of Jack Ramsay brain waves so I reached down put my hand right on top of his head trying to just get a little bit more right from the great coach the setting went crazy and it was a biggest sporting event that ever happened to organ it was like this miracle had happened important this sport that they didn't really understand had come there and in a relatively short time they were the champions they would come by the house in the middle of the night is yelling and screaming go Blazers go and they would leave flowers on the front steps there's mommy sure that the guy that took my bike I started on my bike today sometimes I want me sure that guy brings it back to me I mean sighs the only bike I have we were all healthy that following year and ride knowing in victory we just started the season I don't I can eat us a very few did as Portland built a 50 and 10 record through February when stress fractures reappeared in Waltons feed the Blazers won just eight of the remaining 22 games without their leader despite intense pain Walton played in the first game of the playoffs scoring 17 points in a loss against Seattle he asked if he could go into the doctor's office the day before the second game of the series and have a shot just to see how it would feel I went out there and after taking that shot was able for the first time to run it all and move 15 minutes into that game the bone split in head was like a about like a racehorse in the stretch you broke its leg or something did you certainly just people seeing Bob and Wally Walker Hill couldn't even jump that time the pain killing shots did I took my foot was obviously a mistake the biggest mistake though was that I did not have enough courage enough conviction in my own personal character to be able to stand up and say no it's about a young man not accepting entirely his own responsibility for decisions made in the rush and promised victory well it did demoralize the organization at the time because headline stories were that scenario technical staff against pill Walt Walt ensued the team doctor over the treatment of his foot claiming negligence but there would be no compensation for the irreparable damage done to his relationship with the Blazers there was just no trust there was no confidence there was no mutual respect I made the decision that I couldn't work under those conditions bill was angry he was depressed they'd taken away what must have seemed like his life and the consequences instead of being a championship had all been negative my decision to leave the Portland Trailblazers the toughest decision I've ever had to make in my life because that was my team and I loved those guys but the breakdown in trust and what makes a team work had been so complete hi after sitting out the 1979 season Walton signed as a free agent with the San Diego clippers it was a marketing dream it was perfect hometown boy comes back you know mom and dad are here it's all wonderful the warning sign was that the news conference where he was announced after all the media left I'm talking to Bill and I said what are you up to tonight I gotta go to the hospital get some bone spurs removed for my ankle a holy smoker they didn't announce that one to the public his foot and ankle were poor shock absorbers and so Olympic jumping and coming down it was a lot of shock going on his feet at that time and I think that's why I can't break in them I went and saw every doctor I toured every imaginable treatment and nothing worked the more I tried the more frustrating any God or confusing a God it was a disastrous point in my life I thought he was done because from every indication that I had the ankle and the foot was just dust it needed baling wire to be held together how do you play basketball when you're an athlete in a team game here is the worst feeling in the world because you have no life and you're not part of the team yet there's nothing really you go do to satisfy yourself was like seeing uh you know somebody like carving the eyes out of the Mona Lisa or something he was such a brilliant player I felt for him in search for a viable alternative to basketball the former radical changed his image and enrolled in Stanford Law School I just call him up and ask him what the hell or she would do it's who are you now he was the most valuable player in pro basketball and he met the Portland Trailblazers to the world title Pete bill whoa famous lovers why he was selecting famous lovers bill trying to join that category he said hey yeah just think if I change my approach and maybe my health have change the franchise would have thrived in San Diego billet had ten healthy seasons down there but without that it was such a disappointment it is without a question the biggest failure of my professional life because of the fact that the injuries kept coming back professional basketball failed in San Diego and a lot of lives were hurt ruined because of that and I take full complete responsibility for them by 1985 Waltons ailing foot had been completely rebuilt through multiple surgeries and after playing in 67 games for the lowly Clippers Walton went in pursuit of a winning situation called up red auerbach said red I desperately want to be on your team but Larry Bird was sitting across the desk from the diamond Larry said go get that guy he knew that he can help us with this limited about time that he would play and he did exactly what we asked him to do he realized that it was his last hurrah and he also realized how fortunate he was to be the sixth man so he was able to contribute without having his body break down you they used Walton as their comic foil and he loved it bill was the butt of a lot of their jokes I mean Larry would make fun about Walt's feet and about his beard and is very eating in his politics after almost a decade out in the cold Walton happily absorbed the hazing in scrimmages he led the bench against the starting team usually battling with Kevin McHale the practice sessions for the Boston Celtics were incredibly spiritual events the trash-talking and the rivalries and the competition it was just incredible he he'd always be like you know go green tea you know and we were just all to happen guys came out were to kill the Redeem there occasionally I would stumble into a fortunate play where the ball would bounce my way they were just tease me unmercifully about hey you know this guy he used to be able to do something out there and then he played well with all you know we'd run on the car wheel flashback absolutely we'd always say he thinks it's 1977 again is with Portland averaging eight points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes Walton appeared in more than 70 games for the only time in his career he won the NBA's Sixth Man award and the Celtics won the title doesn't walk in the room screaming go Celtics go Celtics NBA chance it ended up being like a week-long party I'd call him up and he'd answer the phone headquarters world champions if Boston Celtics Dewalt speaking I would just die lap for me to be revitalized to have that chance once again that I had lost so many here that's so special when we return to sports century Bill Walton faces a new life after basketball becomes unbearable he said I've been living in pain 24 hours a day for the last so many months he said I just said never mind this is handed I have this image of an ankle and foot that has been just pulverized over time there's a lot of sad moments in an athlete's life one of the saddest for me was in 1987 we were playing and big playoff game in Boston the crowd at the Garden but just chanting my name Walton Walton Walton full volume and I wanted so desperately to get out there and help the team and do what I could and and I couldn't go a dispirited Walton stayed on the sidelines for the next two years then as he trained for one last comeback attempt in February of 1990 the last fishers of a broken career opened wide I was in the weight room at my house as I finished my workout was on my way back from the waiting room to the house I couldn't take another step and the pain was just too great by that I literally had to get out of my DS he had crawl into the house I called my friend I said I need some help by the crutches I can walk he finally came to the conclusion that basketball is done now what do I do to live the rest of my life and that was to fuse the ankle on the foot he had bone against bone there was no more cartilage left in his ankle either less with it the way it is Laurie has the ankle fused so it doesn't move anymore and if there's no motion then there's no pain my life is over I've got nothing I can never gonna be able to run again and I'm never gonna be able to yell at the rest you know basketball has been it for me so what am I gonna do with my life what am I gonna do of my life ain't looks at me Susan well I'm a 7-foot tall redhead with a big nose and has a stuttering problem I think I'll go into NBA broadcasting right my decision to go into broadcast was one of the biggest stretches recorded history I have been cursèd my entire life for the horrendous speech impediment and when I was 28 years old I ran into legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman who took me aside and said bill we've got to fix this stuttering problem and I said I mean the paint light I couldn't even talk and I told him that I used to stutter and stammer also when I was a kid and got over it through application and some instruction and he could get over it also they worked together for some period of time flew back and forth spent as much time as he could with a great marty glickman look what happened the Trailblazers retired his jersey and he launched into a 15 minutes thanks to everybody and my jaw is absolutely on my knees and I look turn to my dad and I said Ted where did that come from I think he's making up for a lot of his years where he couldn't speak because he's talking all the time I miss basketball a lot bad I missed a competition what do you miss the most well what I really missed the most is you know it's waking up every morning and knowing that in just a couple hours I'm gonna go out kick somebody's ass one was worked alongside you know on broadcast he just won't stop talking the natural him as it turns out who knew it's a punishing metamorphosis I take my career very serious I prepare I work at practice it's just like being a player when they throw that ball up when that red light comes on you've got to be ready he'll go look for example what he thinks the opening will be and practice it for a half hour in the mirror of his hotel room until he finally sees himself how he looks how he says it how he smiles look I'm a has a Cosell thing where you love him or you hate him but you usually have to watch him they play good defenses San Antonio they rebounded well the offense that's what sucked for it for New York he does kind of enjoy it when the critics in the audience have their next snap by some comment that he's made I'm sure he'd give it up in a second if he could you know run and jump again I think is the most significant basketball player who's ever laced on speakers Bill Walton influenced a game at both ends of the floor at a higher degree than any player who's ever lived if you would take all the fundamentals you would want in a center I think Bill Walton healthy would great higher than any player that's everything it was love of game and a sense of purity that carried him almost in spite of the enormous vulnerabilities of that body I don't think any one could match Bill Walton when he was at his peak the only problem was he wasn't there long enough the contradiction is in his personal life he was the Explorer and the counterculture guy and in his basketball life he was the ultimate Orthodox person he's had a lot more highs and a lot more loads than the normal person would ever experience and to still be leading a charmed life is pretty remarkable he doesn't walk on water but he knows where all the stones are right below the surface in the political world beyond the microphone Walton remains abrasively candid he actively back former Knick star Bill Bradley it is ill-fated bid for the 2000 presidential nomination at a Democratic caucus in Iowa Walton handed vice president al gore a note that read thank you in advance for withdrawing from the race free SPN classics sports century and Chris Fowler

Channel: Keith

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Id: Y3AzCetKBOc

Length: 43min 16sec (2596 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 04 2016