William T. "Bill" Walton's Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech

thank you thank you so much that big smile on my face at the end of that video I had been trying for 20 years to make that shot from that far away from the basket and it finally went down in the last game that I played Without a broken foot and I'm really glad that it did because I never really had a chance after that to show that I could make that kind of shot it is great to be here great to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame not only as an inductee but as part of the Julius Irving highlight film as well it wasn't quite the way I remembered that series but it must have happened the way for you Julius the thing that made playing basketball against not only Julius Irving but every single member of this class of 93 so special was that these are all great players and great players as epitomized by Dr J never stopped coming at you when you were a top player yourself and you were on your game the other team they would basically concede your abilities and change their Style no one I played against more represented the opposite view of that than Dr J Dr J the most spectacular and exciting player that I ever played against kept charging at you regardless of your success and often failures against you Dr Jay you are truly a a Class Act and it was a special day not only today but always on the court with you most everyone up here tonight has spoken of the important contributions of family and friends and coaches and players and teammates and fans in their lives in their careers I'd like to start myself with my parents who came all the way from San Diego my father and mother did not encourage me in a world of sport they encourage me in a life in a life of excellence and success no matter what it is that I chose they're still trying to figure out what it is that I do my father has two championship watches from UCLA two NBA championship rings an NBA a couple of NBA All-Star Rings an NFL Super Bowl ring for my older brother Bruce tonight I am proud to present him with yet another ring the Hall of Fame ring that I I received tonight my mother on Mother's Day yet again mom I'm sorry that I couldn't be home couldn't be with you was working yet again at if you can call it work at basketball you've given us so much so much of your time so much of your love and mostly so much of your patience as we've gone on in our lives I'd also like to thank the coaches who gave so much to me the five of Fame coaches I played for Jack Ramsey also a Hall of Famer who escorted me tonight the man who took me to the highest points of my game in that Series against the the Sixers and Dr J also like to thank Lenny Wilkins and Casey Jones who could not be here tonight Lenny because of his commitments still in the NBA playoffs and Casey Jones with other commitments the great job they did in teaching me how how to play but also in teaching me how to be a better person and I'd like to take this moment to also give a special thanks to two people who I think are some of the most important individuals in the world history of basketball two people who can't be with us here tonight because of ill health hopefully not brought on by anything I ever did to them but I wouldn't be surprised if I did nudge him along the way a little bit John Wooden and red hour back two people who who saw basketball in a different way than most others who saw basketball as a thing of beauty a thing of teamwork a thing of style a thing of success and as a celebration a celebration of years hours a lifetime of commitment on the basketball court celebrated by young men charging up and down the court with huge Smiles on their face thank you on and thank you red for making my life what it has become I'd also like to thank my teammates my teammates who made me a much better basketball player than I could ever have become myself the concept of team has always been the most intriguing aspect of basketball to me if I had been interested in individual success or an individual sport I would have taken up tennis or golf some things that I'm naturally very good at as my friends know but I chose basketball a place where I could run up and down the court with the wind blowing through my hair and screaming at the referees for making the wrong call yelling at the coach to gosh darn it put some rebounders in here so I don't have to do it all my teammates who were willing to pass me the ball much to their dismay I can remember coach wooden saying emphatically look on a fast break anybody can shoot but in that set offense if that ball doesn't go into Walton every time you're out of there the teammates I've had have all made me a better player and a better person I'd like to to pay special tribute tonight to some of them Greg Lee and Keith wils two Southern California men who who join with me in UCLA in making our run there so successful frustrating and disappointing at the end yes but nice to think back about at this point on the Portland Trailblazers lonel Holland Johnny Davis Bob gross Maurice Lucas of course Maurice Lucas the player who in my mind made be made me the best player that I could ever become the nicest thing that anybody ever said about me as a player was that besides what Jack said in the video there I wonder who wrote that for him but the nicest thing anybody ever said about me was that I made the other players around me play better well no one other than Maurice Lucas made me a better basketball player and then at the end of my career when I was a a broken down washed up old warhorse who couldn't play to be rescued by Red hour back in Boston Celtics and Casey Jones and be able to play with the best player I ever played against or played with in Larry Bird and then also the other great future Hall of Famers who will all be here Dennis Johnson Robert Parish and then two teammates who were here tonight who came from Boston for this special moment because to me it's the friendships you develop the special moments in that locker room on the road trips guys who call you up the night before you're going to have your leg operated on guys who say Bill we're with you guys like Jerry seing and Kevin mccale came here tonight to share this most fantastic moment of my career Jerry was a a teammate dream he did so many things with the ball did so many things without the ball always there always wanted the pressure shot L to be on the court with him I always played my best when I play with little short guys who could really run fast and shoot the lights out Jerry was a classic teammate for me Kevin mccale the second toughest player I ever played against underneath the hoop one of my best friends a player who has shared so many of my high moments and so and so many of my low moments is a true and dear friend of mine I just really wish that I had played him for my number when I first got here to Boston so that I didn't have to wear number five and when I signed the autograph balls people wouldn't have to specify which number I got to put on the ball these special people up here tonight have all had tremendous impacts on my life Dr J of course I spoke about that is a a NeverEnding moment Walt Bellamy I used to watch him as a young man and young kid in San Diego my favorite player of all time was Bill Russell still is today and I learned from Walt Bellamy how when you're playing against somebody who is better than you how to get something done so that when you are faced in that moment when the other guy is better and you still have to win and you still can win you know how to get it done you know what to do thank you Walt dick Maguire a man I never saw play seen a lot of video I saw more tonight talked to a lot of people dick Maguire a man who who created the idea of threading the needle and seeing opportunities and and making basketball the beautiful game that it is by setting up your teammates thank you dick for your sense of creativity creativity teamwork and opportunity on that small hardwood Port Dan Isel as tough a player as I ever played against on the court a player that reminded me much of my self someone who could do everything on the court when he needed to yet had also worked religiously with his teammates to make his team win the ball game I had to play my absolute best to come out on top of against Dan Nell in the battles that the Blazers and the Nuggets had that a lot of you in in the east coast never had a chance to see because there was no ESPN and no USA Today that yes basketball did exist before 1979 and then Anne Meyers a person who I grew up with in Southern California played of course at UCLA with her brother an was always around always wanting to learn and Dave was Dave was one of those interesting characters who always thought I was too calm and too relaxed on the basketball court and uh I'm very sorry that Dave could not be here tonight to share in our joy thank you a and Calvin Murphy another man who I grew up with when Calvin came to San Diego Calvin epitomized something that I learned from coach wooden over the four years I spent with him and that said it it doesn't matter how big you are it matters how big you play Calvin Murphy was not a great little man Calvin Murphy was a great man as a high school student in San Diego I had the key to my high school gym and Calvin Murphy would call me up as well as his teammates on the San Diego Rockets and say Bill let's go down and play ball and I never thought of Calvin Murphy as a little man I thought of him as a giant because of his skills because of his passion for the game because of his fight and his Spirit to win each and every day Calvin Murphy reiterated in my mind the belief that you always win through quickness toughness passionate commitment to success Calvin thank you once again and ulia I never played against you I I stopped playing against girls basketball the day I knocked Dam bird out in a pickup game at helenic college but ulia you make all of our accomplishments hail by comparison they give us a lot of credit at UCLA for our accomplishments with an 88 game winning streak and 10 championships in 12 years there's nothing like what you have done we salute you thank you so much for setting a standard of Excellence that will never be beaten but the real thanks tonight should go to the fans of basketball and not only the fans throughout the country but particularly to the fans of New England where the Basketball Hall of Fame is where the game was invented because I've been all over the world and basketball has given me an odyssey of a trip around the world that has exposed me to to so many things outside of my hometown of San Diego where I still live yet I have never seen anything like the commitment to the sport of basketball like I do from the fans here in New England and not just Celtic fans who root for the home team to win but fans that root for the game to be played at its highest levels you've been very fortunate here in New England and in Boston to have red hour back in the Boston Celtics as your example of the Great that basketball can be you've had Bill Russell and Dave Cowans and Larry Bird the cornerstones of the great Championship eras that this a that this area has seen and witnessed sure there have been tremendous amounts of other players and there a lot of them are here tonight people like John havich and Sam Jones and Frank Ramsey and I'm so proud to have been part of that family albeit for a very very brief time but it's the fans who have pushed pushed not only me but all of these players and everyone in the Hall of Fame and when I look back and reminisce about my career and the accomplishments that I've been able to receive and to realize that of the thousands and thousands of players who have played professional basketball there's less than 60 of us that have made it into the Hall of Fame I am made to feel a very very special person tonight that specialness is all the greater because of the Hall of Fame where it is located and the people here in the audience and throughout New England that made my life what it is a great life in basketball a lot of wonderful things have happened to me beating Kevin mccale on the practice court at helenic College winning championships as coach wooden said at every level winning the wheel of Fortune nothing nothing is better than making it into the Hall of Fame with this wonderful group thank you very much it's real special

Channel: OfficialHoophall

Views: 106,429

Keywords: Bill Walton, Speech, Basketball Hall of Fame, Enshrinement, Basketball, History

Id: Z93DePD6NAw

Length: 15min 58sec (958 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 25 2012