Bill Walton has passed away at 71 years old (1 Viewer)

[sfidc3]

He was the best passing center I've had the pleasure to watch.

When he was healthy he was a truly great player.....all around player that could see the court like a PG.....good defender and rebounder and could score if necessary.....RIP to an all time great.....

 

[CoolBrees]

I met Bill Walton at MSG on New Year's Eve in 2002 for Phish's reunion.

He was in seats like four away and I said something to the affect of I was glad he was to my side and not in front of me. He said he sits most of the time because of his knees but also so those around him can see better

During the show I kept looking over at him and was full of joy. Biggest smile and arm wide open, accepting the Phlow.

During set break he took pictures and met everyone who asked. He didn't get a moment to himself. That smile never left his face.


He will be missed.

 

[DaveXA]

When he was healthy he was a truly great player.....all around player that could see the court like a PG.....good defender and rebounder and could score if necessary.....RIP to an all time great.....

Yeah, he was a shell of himself late in career because of the health issues, but when he was in his prime, he was an awesome player.

 

[The Nomad]

He had that one great year at the end of his career with the Celtics in 85-86 which may be the greatest team of all time. Certainly the best passing team ever.

 

[DaveXA]

He had that one great year at the end of his career with the Celtics in 85-86 which may be the greatest team of all time. Certainly the best passing team ever.

Agreed. That's what set them apart back then. They weren't the most athletic, but they could pass like no other team and having Larry Bird on your team instantly makes you a contender back then.

Probably Walton's bigger accomplishment was helping the Blazers win the NBA title in 1977. He was the Finals MVP and averaged 18 points 15 rebounds per game in the playoffs that year.

Unfortunately his body let him down many seasons after that and he never could stay healthy long.

The year he won the title with the Celtics, was pretty crazy because his body had started really breaking down at that time. Still managed to win 6th man of the year that year.

 

[woohoosaint]

 

[DaveXA]

I agree with the big fella.

 

[sfidc3]

I agree with the big fella.

I think the reason Walton and others were hard on Shaq is because he didn't really work on his weaknesses much.....he was just a physical athletic monster for the most part.....he didn't have the skill set of a Jabbar, Walton or Russell.....

 

[DaveXA]

I think the reason Walton and others were hard on Shaq is because he didn't really work on his weaknesses much.....he was just a physical athletic monster for the most part.....he didn't have the skill set of a Jabbar, Walton or Russell.....

The only big men I can recall who truly worked on every aspect of his game outside those 3 would be Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon. Probably could add Dirk Nowitski as well.

Oh sheet, of course I gotta add David Robison.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I think the reason Walton and others were hard on Shaq is because he didn't really work on his weaknesses much.....he was just a physical athletic monster for the most part.....he didn't have the skill set of a Jabbar, Walton or Russell.....

And yet Hakeem and maybe Bill Russel are the only bigs who did/could have gone toe to toe with him

 

[DaveXA]

And yet Hakeem and maybe Bill Russel are the only bigs who did/could have gone toe to toe with him

Duncan held his own with him for the most part. They traded blows, not literally, but on the court, a lot. Some fun times back then.

 

[sfidc3]

And yet Hakeem and maybe Bill Russel are the only bigs who did/could have gone toe to toe with him

I would take either of them over Shaq any day.....and that's not a knock on Shaq.....

Hakeem was incredibly skillful, creative offensively had a zillion moves and was also a much better defender.....Shaq was 10 + years younger, he never played against the best version of Hakeem.....

Russell? Probably the best defensive player of all time, hard to compare as the games were just so different over the time span....

 

[The Nomad]

I would take either of them over Shaq any day.....and that's not a knock on Shaq.....

Hakeem was incredibly skillful, creative offensively had a zillion moves and was also a much better defender.....Shaq was 10 + years younger, he never played against the best version of Hakeem.....

Russell? Probably the best defensive player of all time, hard to compare as the games were just so different over the time span....

I tend to believe that of all of the past greats from before the modern era (Magic and Bird) Russell would have the most trouble trying to adapt his game to the modern game. He was THE rim protector, but the modern game would make his game thinner. He was athletic and smart, but guys like Joker would be very difficult. Shaq would be quite impossible for Bill even though he held his own against Wilt.

 

[DaveXA]

I tend to believe that of all of the past greats from before the modern era (Magic and Bird) Russell would have the most trouble trying to adapt his game to the modern game. He was THE rim protector, but the modern game would make his game thinner. He was athletic and smart, but guys like Joker would be very difficult. Shaq would be quite impossible for Bill even though he held his own against Wilt.

Well, sort of. They were the giants of their day, but we have to remember that those guys didn't have, or even need the strength and training regimens today's players go through, not to mention everything else we know now about health and nutrition. I have no doubt Russell and Chamberlain would have had Hall of Fame careers even today. They definitely would have had to work harder for everything, but considering their work ethic was pretty much unquestioned back then, I they would have put in the necessary work.

All that said, comparing players 30-40 years apart is almost always a fool's errand.

 

[Saintman2884]

Agreed. That's what set them apart back then. They weren't the most athletic, but they could pass like no other team and having Larry Bird on your team instantly makes you a contender back then.

Probably Walton's bigger accomplishment was helping the Blazers win the NBA title in 1977. He was the Finals MVP and averaged 18 points 15 rebounds per game in the playoffs that year.

Unfortunately his body let him down many seasons after that and he never could stay healthy long.

The year he won the title with the Celtics, was pretty crazy because his body had started really breaking down at that time. Still managed to win 6th man of the year that year.

Perhaps Walton still believes he did the right thing from a moral/ethical perspective as it related to him requesting a trade from the Blazers in 1979 due to some bad-faith, unethical questionable decisions made by their FO, in his view, but I also think its even more plausible that if Walton had to re-live the same scenario over again: he'd probably had tried to give his run in Portland a longer duration because he was traded from a near-perennial NBA Finals team to a poorly-run, badly managed, egotistical, terrible San Diego Clippers team that constantly re-defined mediocre, pitiful NBA basketball, and run by a thinly-veiled, vain bigot like Donald Sterling.

BTW, a very good, up-and-coming bio-series about Donald Sterling's well-publicized disgrace and fall as Clippers owner as well as HC Doc Rivers struggling, balancing act to help build a contender (which he did) for a indifferent, callous bigot who didnt care if he won or not. The series is called Clipped and its debuting next Tuesday, June 4 on FX. Ed O'Neill plays Donald Sterling.


The 85-86 Celtics were sort of that era's teams entering their "prime stage" and it would end up being their last NBA Title until 2008, and this title would end up being Boston's third NBA championship of the 1980's, a decade they co-dominated with the L.A. Lakers. Before New Orleans got the Hornets and then Pelicans, 1980's Boston Celtics made me an NBA fan. Bird, McHale, DJ, Robert Parrish, a young, fresh-faced Danny Ainge, Walton sort of gave them that final complement and much-needed depth and production off-the-bench for a already-championship squad.

I think, besides his early days in Portland, he probably felt his happiest in Boston. He looked very different in 1985-86 as the 6th Man of the Year then the grizzled, assertive dominating player in Portland. He looked more like a hit man then a Tie-dyed hippie in late 70's PNW Portland.