Danny Ainge reflects on Bill Walton's influence throughout his NBA career 💚 | SC with SVP

we're grateful for the time of Danny a to talk about Bill Walton and of course Danny we understand that you wear the hat of the Utah Jazz but I think for the purposes of this conversation on a night where the Celtics are playing folks understand we're going to talk a little bit about Boston and about Bill Walton and and I just when you hear the news and you think about the man the first thing that comes to your mind about Bill Walt and Danny is what I mean he was just such a unique uh complicated character he um you know as a player as a teammate as a person uh as a broadcaster I mean he was just his own guy and I don't know anybody even close to like him um but he always made a smile made us laugh he was he treated everybody like royalty um you know he had the highest of compliments for everybody came in contact with what's interesting Danny is that so many folks that are watching our show I'm sure that are in the younger demo right they they didn't know the guy at UCLA or Portland or even Boston so I just would ask as a player if you try to frame what he was understanding how his body really betrayed him but like even as as busted up as he was by injury what type of talent did Walton possess well I mean he was one of the best big men of all time um Bill Walton uh I grew up in Eugene Oregon and so I was a big pack eight guy at the time and UCLA was our favorite team to watch and come into town into Eugene and so I I idolized Kareem first and then Walton came in after him and I idolized him as a young player and then I got a chance to meet him uh in 75 or 76 the summer at a at a Blazer basketball camp and he always remembered that like in 1986 when he joined the Celtics he had remembered that um and remembered me as a player um but 1977 I still think is one of the most incredible individual performances in NBA playoff history uh what Walton did with that Portland Trailblazer team to win the championship start out 02 and come back and win four straight games he was so good he's like a point Center he's calling out plays he's not dribbling the ball up the court like joic is right but he's calling the plays as he's coming up um and he's you know getting the ball in his hands and he's making plays and making every body around him better I heard some story Danny about Walton telling you that the only thing worse than guards are backup guards is there any truth to that yeah we were scrimmaging one day and we had some battles and Bill was the leader of our second unit and uh Jerry seing happened to be you know subbing in that that day with the starters but he was our backup guard and uh he got really you know he always got frustrated at me because he couldn't run down the court and change directions like so if you got got in his way he'd be all frustrated like get out of my way get out of my way and so cin got any way the only thing I hate worse than guards is blankety blank backup guards I can I can I could hear him saying it right I mean that but that like we there's a big giant picture Danny in our studio right now this giant smile and it's like every picture I feel like there's this smile and I feel like that's reflective of who he is but he's such a free spirit and I'm just trying to imagine you know there's a certain and I'm you know I think of the Mystique of that team that you were a part of trying to figure out how does he fit in like cuz he's his own dude was there was that difficult for him to kind of I don't want to say assimilate but have it make sense no bill was so smart and he understood what a team was all about and his first phone call is to Robert Parish and he says Robert you know are you okay with me coming to this team I'm coming to be your backup I want to be part of something special and Robert was of course welcomed him with open arm arms and and they were great great friends as teammates and then you had bird and male and myself who like I said we all idolized bill as a college player and as a as a young NBA player and so we were all excited and it was great for me because I was the I was the little brother and I was the one that got picked on a lot on that group of guys and when Walton showed up all the attention went to him and so I was freed up and and uh Walton got picked on a lot by the the guys that looked up to him and the razing and Bill loved it he loved being on that team um I remember when he showed up Scott one year the first his first year and we're playing pickup ball in the open gym and we're getting ready for this season and we are pumped up like we've just lost to the Lakers in the NBA finals in 85 and we feel like we're a better team and we're adding Bill Walton to the team and everybody is is really jacked up and Walton in this pregame practice he says I'm sorry guys I'm going to be gone for the next three or four days I like what do you mean you're going to be gone like we're getting ready for the season he says I got to go to South Dakota for an Indian Reservation sit in and we were just like what what are you talking about he had to go protest some Indian Reservation sit in and so we missed him for a few days but I mean that's just who he was he was just a character he had a lot of beliefs uh a lot of political views um he talked a lot about what a great chess player he was he he you know he just he was so unique in every way without question and I I'm just glad for our viewers that they get the perspective of who he was as a player and in true Bill Walton fashion we could go forever Danny he I mean he came on my show once and he started talking about bears not not the cow bears but actual grizzly bears and I just put my head in my hand I just gave up because I was going to let him go until he was done but it's obviously on a night like tonight we got a lot to get to and I want to just close with this if if you were to sort of sum up Bill who he was to you as a person and what you'll hang on to and remember for the remainder of your days where what would you say about that you know he was a great teammate uh and he was a great friend and uh he was a he was a worthy Idol for a young kid growing up on the west coast and um I'll never forget him I will I will miss him uh as I've been in my job the executive positions traveling around the country doing games I always loved going to watch him and Dave do their games and would always say hi to Bill and and we talk for five or 10 minutes and uh we've exchanged texts back and forth over the last couple weeks when he hasn't been doing well and um he just to the to the very end he's just a a caring cares more about everybody else than he does himself and and yet he's one of the most charismatic people I've ever witnessed but I used to stay up Scott on the East Coast for 10:00 Pack 12 games not for the games being played but to listen to Bill's broadcast because knowing him so well it just added so much to the flare that he had and uh anyway I'll always remember him well they say don't meet your Idols it's beautiful Danny to hear that sometimes you can meet him and they turn out to be even better than you might have dreamed I I'm so appreciative of your time and the perspective that you can lend to your teammate friend Bill Walton thank you thank you Scott [Music]

Channel: ESPN

Views: 150,997

Keywords: espn, sports, Stephen A, SportsCenter, Bill Walton, NBA champion, Hall of Famer nba, Bill Walton dies at 71, bill walton breaking news, bill walton news, bill walton espn, bill walton celtics, boston celtics, stephen a smith bill walton, stephen a. smith bill walton, bill walton tribute, bill walton dies, bill walton passes away, bill walton ceremony, bill walton, bill walton dave pasch, danny ainge, scott van pelt, danny ainge bill walton, scott van pelt bill walton

Id: wALWHdpEJZc

Length: 7min 44sec (464 seconds)

Published: Tue May 28 2024