The NBA announced that Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who was named College Basketball Player of the Year in all three seasons at UCLA and led the Bruins to two NCAA championships, died Monday at his home in San Diego. He was 71.
During an injury-plagued NBA career, Walton was a part of two championship teams and was named MVP in the 1977 Finals and the 1977-78 season.
Walton's Bruins teams won their first 73 games and UCLA won an NCAA men's basketball record 88 consecutive games. When Walton enrolled at UCLA in 1970, freshmen were not eligible to play on the varsity team, so during his three seasons on the varsity team, the Bruins went 49-0 at Pauley Pavilion and won 98 consecutive home games from 1970-71 through 1975-76.
In the 1973 championship game against Memphis State, Walton scored 44 points on 21 of 22 shots, a championship game record, as UCLA won its seventh consecutive championship and ninth in 10 seasons.
“It's very difficult to put into words what he meant to the UCLA program and the tremendous impact he had on the world of college basketball,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “Beyond his incredible accomplishments as a player, his tireless energy, passion for the game and unwavering candor were hallmarks of his extraordinary personality.”
“A passionate UCLA graduate and announcer, he loved being with his players, listening to them and sharing his wisdom and advice. To me as a coach, he was honest, kind and always had the right heart.”
Walton was the first player selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1974 NBA Draft, but his pro career was plagued by injuries and he only played more than 60 games in three seasons, although he did lead Portland to a championship in 1977.
Walton signed a seven-year, $7 million contract with the then-San Diego Clippers in 1979 after missing the previous season due to a foot injury. He played just 14 games in his first season with the Clippers after re-fracturing his navicular bone in the fourth exhibition game of 1979. He missed the entire 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons after undergoing multiple surgeries for his foot injury.
Walton returned to the NBA in the 1982-83 season, appearing in 33 games. He remained with the Clippers through the 1984-85 season, his first season with Los Angeles, after which he was traded to the Boston Celtics.
Walton played a career-high 80 games for the Celtics in the 1986-87 season, winning the Sixth Man of the Year Award and helping Boston win the NBA title, but was injured again the following season and played in just 10 games.
Walton spent the 1987-88 season on the disabled list, and attempted to return in February 1990, but injuries piled up and he retired as a player.
Walton overcame a stutter to become an Emmy Award-winning announcer who began his career in 1990 as a commentator for Clippers telecasts on the PrimeTicket regional sports network, working alongside longtime play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler.
“I could not have had a better friend and there are hundreds more who feel the same way,” Lawler wrote on Facebook. “He leaves a huge hole in our hearts.”
Walton has also been a commentator for CBS, ESPN, ABC and the Pac-12 Networks. He won a Sports Emmy Award for Best Live Sports Television Coverage in 1991 and was named one of the Top 50 Sportscasters of All Time by the American Sportscasters Association in 2009.
“Bill often described himself as 'the luckiest man in the world,' and everyone who had the opportunity to interact with him was lucky,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “He was truly a special, generous man who always had time for others.”
“Bill's unique spirit captivated and inspired audiences in his second career as a successful announcer.”
Walton's other honors include being selected to the NBA's 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams.
“Bill Walton was truly one of a kind,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As a Hall of Fame player, he redefined the center position. Bill then brought his enthusiasm and love of the game to his broadcasts, entertaining generations of basketball fans with his insightful and colorful commentary.”
“But what I remember most about him was his passion for life. He was a regular attendee at League events, always cheerful, smiling broadly and eager to share his wisdom and warmth. I cherished our close friendship, envied his boundless energy and respected the time he spent with everyone he met.”
Former President Barack Obama called Walton “the epitome of altruistic teamwork.”
“He was a remarkable spirit, full of curiosity, humor and kindness,” Obama wrote in a post on social platform X. “We are all poorer for his passing.”
Walton was also an avid Grateful Dead fan, attending more than 850 concerts since 1967 when he was a high school student, and occasionally playing drums with them, including a show in front of the pyramids of Egypt in 1978.
“Bill was my best friend,” Mickey Hart, the Grateful Dead drummer for more than 24 years, posted on X. “He was an incredible person — unique, irreplaceable, generous and loving. He called himself the luckiest man in the world, but we were the ones lucky enough to have known him.
“Some things can be replaced. And some things can't be replaced. Have a good journey, old friend. I love you.”
Walton was born Nov. 5, 1952, in the San Diego suburb of La Mesa, where he grew up and played basketball at Helix High School, leading the Highlanders to San Diego Regional championships in 1969 and 1970 and a streak of 49 consecutive wins.
Walton is survived by his wife, Lori, and his sons Adam, Chris, Nate and Luke, who played 10 seasons in the NBA, was part of two NBA championship teams with the Lakers and coached with the Lakers and Sacramento Kings, and is currently an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Today I had to say goodbye to a great friend who I will miss forever,” UCLA star and Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar posted to X. “The world feels much heavier right now. On the court Bill was an intense player, but off the court he was only happy if he did everything he could to make everyone around him happy.
“He was the best of us.”
