[22], Walton is a fan of the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers Band, Neil Young, Phish, and Bob Dylan. 1978 NBA MVP. [27], In the 25-team 1973 NCAA tournament, UCLA defeated Arizona State 9881 and then San Francisco in the West Regional Final 5439 to reach the Final Four. Walton was inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. [57], In five seasons with Portland, Walton played in 209 games, averaging a double-double of 17.1 points and 13.5 rebounds, with 4.4 assists and 2.6 blocks. [114], Walton also considers himself a fan and friend of the late writer Ken Kesey. [14], "I had no problem with him during the season", Wooden said of Walton's college days. Find out more. One more chance to be part of something special, to be part of the team, to be with the guys one more time. ", Bartow, after the 1973 national championship game: "Walton Walton Walton We couldn't contain Walton. He averaged 18.6 points, 14.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.2 blocks and Portland finished 4933. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? "They had some great teams with Elvin Hayes and Calvin Murphy and future head coaches and broadcasters such as Pat Riley, Rick Adelman, Rudy Tomjanovich, Jim Barnett, and Stu Lantz. He was raised with siblings Bruce, Cathy and Andy. DI indoor T&F championship selections revealed, How La. Portland Trail Blazers, 1st round (1st pick, 1st overall), 1974 NBA Draft, Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1993 (Full List), More Bill Walton pages at Sports Reference. "I regret that I wasn't a better person. Bartow added, "I felt very good at halftime, very good. He'd dart across the lane to establish position or to catch a sleeping defender off-guard on his way to the rim. He is a wonderful person and a very special human being", Walton said. [95][96][97] Luke was named after Walton's friend and former teammate Maurice Lucas. [38], In the 1974 Final Four, UCLA's record seven consecutive national titles was broken. After the successful surgery he was hospitalized for a week, and could not move freely for a year. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Playing 20 minutes due to foul trouble, Walton had four points and 12 rebounds in the victory over Weber State, taking only one shot. "It was all a matter of if he could stay healthy. And I realized immediately that I had just absolutely blown this whole deal with John Wooden. Bill Walton averaged 13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. Walton played for UCLA under Coach Wooden from 1971 to 1974. His commentary has been noted for his frequent use of catchphrases and hyperbole. I became his worst nightmare. A story published in The TerreHaute Tribune on March 24, 1972 noted that Walton hadn't lost a game since he was a sophomore in high school in 1967. They couldn't have been nicer, and I became their friend. Playing with four personal fouls, Walton fell hard to the floor on a play and injured his left knee and ankle. He has been highly successful in the oil business. Walton's most famous college performance was a 44-point outburst in the 1973 NCAA tournament national championship against Memphis State, when he made 21-of-22 field goal attempts. Look at his feet. [117], Walton, who has a service dog, wrote the foreword to the 2015 book Unconditional Honor: Wounded Warriors and their Dogs by author Cathy Scott. Or, as Walton himself would call it, "The Conference of Champions." Helix won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Championship in both 1969 and 1970, finishing 292 in 196869 and 330 in 196970. . Career High Seasons: 18.9 points (1977-78),. He did not get his wish and sat out the entire 1979 season in protest. "I was a skinny, scrawny guy. Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national college player of the year awards (19721974), while leading UCLA to NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973 and an 88-game winning streak. [81], Walton frequently works alongside Dave Pasch while calling Pac-12 games. But, he played in only six games and did not start any of them. [10], During his sophomore year of high school (age 1516), Walton grew from 6ft 1in (1.85m) to 6ft 7in (2.01m). Wooden would become a lifetime mentor to Walton. Bill Walton - Basketball Hall of Famer, former NBA MVP and one of only four players in the history of basketball to have won multiple NCAA and NBA Championships - returned to ESPN in 2012 as a college basketball analyst for Pac-12 games. A disgrace to the game of basketball, a disgrace to sport. "Twenty minutes too much", he said. In Walton's only NCAA tournament loss of his career, a double-overtime thriller against N.C. State, he still had 29 points and 18 rebounds while playing all 50 minutes, so he sure did his part to keep the Bruins in the game. But I'm all better now. He is big and strong and wirey. Walton received the NBA Retired Players Association Humanitarian Award in 2002. [11], Before his sophomore season, Walton underwent surgery to repair torn cartilage on his left knee. He was named first-team All-American with Jim Chones of Marquette, Bo Lamar of the Louisiana-Lafayette, Ed Ratleff of Long Beach State, and Tom Riker of South Carolina. One anecdote that particularly illustrates Walton's decision to choose the Celtics over the Lakers involves Larry Bird, who happened to be in Auerbach's office when Walton called. "I wish we had NBA basketball here, and we don't because of me. American basketball player and sportscaster, First championship and Finals MVP (19761977), Second championship and sixth man award (19851986), Injury-plagued final playing year (19861987), 1972 Official Collegiate Basketball Guide, College Athletics Publishing Service, 1971, UCLA Bruins men's basketball 197172 NCAA champions, UCLA Bruins men's basketball 197273 NCAA champions, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player, Unconditional Honor: Wounded Warriors and their Dogs, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Helms Foundation College Player of the Year, National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, List of National Basketball Association annual rebounding leaders, List of National Basketball Association annual blocks leaders, List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders, "ON PRO BASKETBALL; Feet of Dancer, Touch of Surgeon, and a Shot, Too", "Bill Walton comes back from injury an enlightened man", "UCLA's superstar feeds their fast break and feasts on their foes", "Lex Nihil Novi: Bruce Walton had Bill's Back in High School", "Walton blames self for Clippers' San Diego exit", "ESPN Classic Walton weathered injuries to win titles", "Record Book Result - Most Field Goals Made - Percentage - Season (Minimum 400 Attempts)", National Federation of State High School Associations, "Record Book Result - Most Rebounds - Season", "Record Book Result - Most Rebounds - Per Game - Season (Minimum 15 Games)", "NBA.com: Walton, Lucas Ignite 'Blazermania', "The Thing Bill Walton Still Can't Forgive Himself For", "Bill Walton is finally feeling like himself again", "NCAA College Basketball AP All-America Teams", "The 100 Greatest Moments in Sports History Almost Perfect", "Best individual title game performances", "John Wooden retrospective: Gene Bartow says he was the best teacher in history", "Bill Walton wants to be more than a cardboard cutout", "Led by Bill Walton, UCLA won 88 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"Injuries [he missed games with a bad back]. Bruce and I are the only brother combination in history to ever play in the Super Bowl and to win the NBA championship. He was injured and lost for the remainder of the playoffs in the second game of the first-round series against the Seattle SuperSonics. Thank you people of New England. [16] His 25.0 rebounds per game in a season ranks No. Walton was a consensus All-American alongside Ernie DiGregorio of Providence, Ed Ratleff of Long Beach State, David Thompson of North Carolina State, and Kermit Washington of American. [61], In the Celtics' 41 series win over the Atlanta Hawks with Dominique Wilkins in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, Walton averaged 8.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 13 minutes. What a dream come true. Walton would never play for the Trail Blazers again. In a pre-season meeting with his new coach, Walton had advised Ramsay, "Coach, don't assume we know anything. In his first season with San Diego, Walton played 14 games for the Clippers in the 197980 season. And I almost wasn't. And they're saying, 'Red, come here. His efforts were rewarded with the NBAs Sixth Man Award for the 198586 season. 3x NATIONAL COLLEGE PLAYER OF THE YEAR. He even led the Bruins in assists in 1974 with 5.48 assists per game. The Waltons' La Mesa home was a hillside home on Colorado Avenue, just below Lake Murray. Bill Walton weighed 210 lbs (95 kg) when playing. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Also Read: Bill Walton's Top Moments during Warriors-Blazers Match. And Red says, 'Shut up. Walton was the inaugural inductee into the Grateful Dead Hall of Honor in 2001. Crum first saw Walton in 1968 as a high school junior and was at first dubious when hearing of Walton, but went to scout him anyway. The Associated Press noted that Walton was double-teamed for most of the game, too. He loved playing basketball, just loved it, practices, games especially away games. "So the things he taught us made no sense to us. Before the injuries hampered his professional career, Bill Walton dominated college basketball. He rarely talked about basketball, but generally about life. North Carolina State defeated the Bruins 8077 in double overtime in the NCAA semi-finals. I had no desire to ever stop playing. At halftime, the game was tied 3939. He had 19 points and 11 rebounds against Long Beach State. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. [88][89], Walton resides in his hometown of San Diego with his wife Lori (m. 1991). I thought everybody had the same thing: great parents, great schools, great neighborhoods, great colleges, great coaches. William T. "Bill" Walton. After losing the first two games, the Blazers won four straight to win the NBA championship. [99][100], Nate Walton played basketball at Princeton. ", unattributed (1972): "If you rate all the teams in the country you would have to rate it in the following order: the Los Angeles Lakers, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the UCLA Bruins.". Following surgery on his back, Walton returned to broadcasting as a part-time commentator for the Sacramento Kings for 201011 and 201112. "Walton could do everything, he had great timing, complete vision of the floor, had excellent fundamentals and was a great passer, both in outlet passes and in the half court. But as soon as I got on the court I was fine. [84], While broadcasting a WashingtonOregon January 2019 game with Dave Pasch, Walton mentioned he had appeared in the motion picture Ghostbusters. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. In the locker room after the 1973 Championship game, Coach Wooden introduced Walton to representatives of the ABA, who hoped to convince him to turn pro. Walton eventually signed with the San Diego Clippers when he became a free agent in 1979. Overall in 197273, Walton averaged 20.4 points and 16.9 rebounds in 30 games on 65.0% shooting, as UCLA again finished 300 (140 in the Pac-8 conference). [18], "It was a dream come true to be a part of a special team", Walton said. Michael Jordan is NOT the G.O.A.T of college hoops -- so says Bill Walton, who tells TMZ Sports that honor belongs to Kareem! [39][38], "David Thompson's a great champion. Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993. [101], Adam Walton played at Louisiana State University, Pomona College and the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California. Professional Life of Bill Walton. "[65], "It wasn't important to me because I had no say in the personnel decisions, but what I was impressed with was Bill Walton's character", Parish said of Walton joining the Celtics. [116] It remained on The New York Times bestseller list for two weeks in April 2016. Get the latest news, stats, videos, highlights and more about not available Bill Walton on ESPN. USA forward James Forbes told ESPN as part of a SportsCentury documentary, "If [Walton] plays, all of this becomes academic. School: UCLAPosition: CenterHeight: 6-11Weight: 210 poundsYears active: 1971-74NCAA tournament record: 11-1College averages: 20.3 points per game, 15.7 rebounds per game, 65.1% field goal shooting. In April 2019, Luke Walton was named head coach of the Sacramento Kings. UCLA was leading 7059 with 3 minutes remaining. [102][103], Bill Walton's other brother, Bruce Walton, played in the National Football League with the Dallas Cowboys from 1973 to 1975. In 87 total games, Walton averaged 20.3 points and an . His high arch, which made the foot bones susceptible to breaking, was lowered to relieve the stress on the bones. [63], In the 1986 NBA Finals, the Celtics defeated the Houston Rockets with "Twin Towers" Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson 42 to win the NBA Championship. [15] In addition, Walton's 825 rebounds that season ranks No 3 all-time. "[12], In 169 games with the Clippers, Walton averaged 11.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.3 blocks, shooting 53.2%. "Yes", said Gloria Walton, "then when the referee wasn't looking, Bruce would give the player an elbow and let him know that the skinny guy was his kid brother. Rocket players learned that to get into the Helix gym they could call the teenage Walton, who had his own gym key. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. On the black day in 1974 against North Carolina State, he produced 29 . Some school's results have been altered by retroactive NCAA penalties. The Clippers never finished near .500 or made the playoffs in his tenure with the franchise. ("Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes! William Theodore Walton III Twitter: BillWalton (Big Red, Grateful Red, Red Baron, Redwood, Chief) Position: Center Shoots: Right 6-11, 210lb (211cm, 95kg) . It is a stain and stigma on my soul that is indelible. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Look at this. Some college basketball historians rate Walton as the greatest who ever played at the college level. At UCLA in the early . (Bill Walton had attended Stanford Law School for two years while with the Clippers, but never graduated.) Center Bill Walton was an absolute monster during his three-year stretch at UCLA in the '70s. "Maurice was so important in my life and in little Luke's life", Walton said. Do you have a sports website? Walton was injured again in the 198687 regular season, but returned in time for the 1987 playoffs. In addition to making the All-NBA first team and the All-NBA defensive team, Walton was honoured as the play-off MVP for the second consecutive year even though the Trail Blazers failed to repeat as champions. Bill Walton Greatest Games: 44 Points vs Memphis State (1973 NCAA FInal) - YouTube 0:00 / 5:04 Bill Walton Greatest Games: 44 Points vs Memphis State (1973 NCAA FInal) Larry Legend 20.2K. After his retirement as a player, Walton has become a successful and controversial basketball color commentator. Period.". home/away, monthly, etc More Bill Walton Basketball Reference pages. 2x NBA CHAMPION. That's because offensively, Walton played a key role in transition. College: Arizona High School: University in San Diego, California Recruiting Rank: 1998 (71) Draft: Los Angeles Lakers, 2nd round (3rd pick, 32nd overall), 2003 NBA Draft He missed three games. [24], Overall, in 30 games in 197172, Walton averaged 21.1 points and 15.5 rebounds, shooting 64.0% from the field. Walton spent the 198788 season on the Celtics' injured list. That's the day the oft-injured Hall of Famer, whose career had . "[49], Walton led the NBA in both rebounds per game (14.4) and blocked shots per game (3.2) as he was selected to the NBA All-Star Game, but did not participate due to an injury. Nonetheless, he was one of the greatest college basketball players in history. The basketball was awful, and the business side was immoral, dishonest, corrupt, and illegal. [64], "I knew we had something going when we got Walton", Larry Bird said on Walton and the 198586 Celtics. Having played just 468 games over 10 seasons, Walton retired after the 198687 campaign. [37], In the 25 team 1974 NCAA tournament, UCLA defeated Dayton 111100, in a game where Walton had 27 points and 19 rebounds. We already had a pretty good team, and I think adding him and (Jerry) Sichting really helped us. He was a good but injury-prone pro. Bill Walton was inducted to the Hall of Fame as a Player in 1993 (Full List) "Coach Wooden looked at me and said, 'Walton, I used to think you were a good player until you missed that one shot,'" Walton said. I was never so embarrassed in my life. [69], Walton was selected to the 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team, but declined to participate. The titles made Walton and him the first NBA father-son pair to have both won multiple NBA championships. They defeated Long Beach State and coach Jerry Tarkanian in the Western Regional final 7357 to reach the Final Four. In fact, the number of jumpers he made outside of the lane might be the most impressive part of his 44-point, 95-percent shooting performance. He earned Academic All-American honors in 1972, 1973 and 1974. He also set the single-tournament mark by shooting 76.3 percent (45 of 59) in 1973. It's not like he attempted 22 dunks, and still, he missed only once all game. But that led to extreme efficiency. "[20], "I would love to play one more game", Walton said he wished. In a 2004 interview with ESPN, Walton stated that "for the first time in my life, I was exposed to negative coaching and the berating of players and the foul language and the threatening of people who didnt perform. I lived most of my life by myself. I've never met anybody who stopped playing voluntarily. Walton ignored doctors who said he would never play again and underwent surgery to restructure his left foot in 1981. [22], The 197172 UCLA basketball team had a record of 300, winning its games by an average margin of more than 30 points, averaging 94.6 points to opponents' 64.3. If you let him have the ball around the basket, you're dead. Nate was on the ballot for the 2003 California Recall election, receiving 1,697 votes. I had three different periods of my life in my relationship with him: (1) when I was a high school student and he was recruiting me; (2) when I played for him when I was 17 to 21; (3) and then 36 years of being his friend. Thank you Larry Bird. "[36], UCLA finished 264 and 122 in the Pac 8 Conference, with Walton playing alongside Keith Wilkes, David Myers, and Marques Johnson. Perhaps, I've never had a better team when you consider both offense and defense. ")[92][120], Walton appeared in the 1984 motion picture Ghostbusters.[85][86]. [11][46], Walton overcame a stuttering problem at age 28 with the help of Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman, after a lengthy conversation between the two at an event. Then I joined the NBA. Walton led UCLA in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage for three consecutive years: No sophomore, junior or senior in UCLA history has averaged more rebounds per game, respectively, than when Walton was a sophomore, junior and senior. In 2015, he made a visit to the Ken Kesey Collection while on a stop at the University of Oregon. Walton wrote the memoir Back from the Dead (2016). One new team enters after the opening weekend. [32], "I don't think anything ever meant as much to me as playing UCLA and one of John Wooden's best teams for the national championship", Bartow said in 1993. Prior to joining the varsity team, Walton (18.1 ppg, 68.6% field goal accuracy), along with Greg Lee (17.9 ppg) and Keith Wilkes (20.0 ppg), was a member of the 200 197071 UCLA freshman team. Walton averaged 7.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 19 minutes, and finished with a career-high 56.2 field goal percentage. Bill Walton College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Bill Walton Position: Guard 6-1 (185cm) School: Eastern Kentucky SUMMARY Career G 66 PTS 10.9 TRB 3.0 AST - FG% 45.4 FT% 71.2 Walton Overview Game Logs NCAA Tournament Game Logs 1964-65 All Game Logs On this page: Per Game Per Game Share & Export He never talked about strategy, statistics or plays, but rather about people and character. Wooden said Walton is the best center he had ever seen in throwing outlet passes. He may not have been fast in the traditional sense at 6-11, 210 pounds, but he was quick. But in life, being so self conscious, red hair, big nose, freckles and goofy, nerdy looking face and can't talk at all. His career was rehabilitated during two seasons with the Boston Celtics at the end of his career. It's also available for football, hockey and baseball. I'm lying on the table there in the doctors examining room. [83], While broadcasting a game between the Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans, Walton talked about a speech Bob Dylan gave at MusiCares, and ESPN had prepared graphics about Dylan's career highlights. "[36], In 2009, Walton underwent an eight-hour spinal-fusion surgery. [67], Overall, Walton played 90 total games for the Celtics, shooting 55.1% and averaging 7.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks in 18 minutes. Bill Walton averages for the NBA season and Playoffs, including points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and other categories, year by year and career numbers. Bill Walton made at least $2,625,000 playing professional basketball. Walton is particularly attached to the Grateful Dead, whose concerts he started attending in 1967, while he was still in high school. And when you're in that position, it's the worst feeling in the world. By far the youngest player on the roster, Walton played minimally in five games, averaging 2.6 points. [56] Walton nonetheless won the 1978 NBA Most Valuable Player award and the Sporting News NBA MVP, as well. I never spoke to anybody. Oct 23, 2021. I had no idea what we had at UCLA. [40], Walton left UCLA to begin a new life in professional basketball and kept a lifetime friendship with Coach Wooden. As a matter of policy, Sports Reference only reports the results of games as played on the field. Here is the schedule, scores and game times for the 2023 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, running Feb. 23-26. He was undercut by a Washington State player and broke two bones in his spine, which remained damaged until corrective surgery in 2009. The Terre Haute Tribune noted that Walton "doesn't shoot all over the place." He spent three more quiet seasons in San Diego before being traded to the Boston Celtics in 1985. Walton played in his only NBA All-Star Game in 1978 and was named to both the NBA's First All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA First Team. But, he made 12 of his first 13 shots and the Bruins led Notre Dame by 17 points at halftime. 2 (2003), NBA Street V3 (2005), NBA 2K12 (2011), NBA 2K13 (2012), NBA 2K14 (2013), NBA 2K15 (2014), NBA 2K16 (2015) and NBA Jam: On Fire Edition (2011), and lent his voice to NBA 2K5 and NBA Shootout 2004. Walton re-fractured the navicular bone in the fourth 1979 exhibition game and subsequently missed all of the 198081 and 198182 seasons, undergoing several surgeries on his injured foot. John Wooden. Walton said of the loss, "We could have, we should have won them all, and we didn't get it done. Walton had entered high school at a height of about 6ft 0in (1.83m) tall and graduated at about 7ft 0in (2.13m) tall. He could not walk to the hospital. [35] Later in the season, UCLA dropped consecutive games in consecutive days at Oregon and Oregon State,[36] nicknamed "the Lost Weekend". "[41], Walton was drafted by the American Basketball Association's Dallas Chaparrals in the 1973 ABA draft as an underclassman in an attempt to lure him from UCLA. Viewed by many as the best-passing big man of all time, Walton was honoured as one of the NBAs 50 all-time greatest players in 1996. "Coach Wooden never talked about winning and losing, but rather about the effort to win. Providing a reliable backup to Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, and playing alongside Larry Bird, Danny Ainge and Dennis Johnson, Walton received the 1986 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award en route to the NBA championship. Back from the Dead ( 2016 ) drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court I was a... & # x27 ; s the day the oft-injured Hall of Fame in 1997 when. ( `` Tell your old Man to drag Walton and him the first games... Spent the 198788 season on the field Final Four, UCLA 's record seven consecutive national titles broken. You have suggestions to improve this article ( requires login ) at Louisiana State University, college! April 2019, Luke Walton was injured and lost for the Trail Blazers again a. 96 ] [ 120 ], `` it was a hillside home on Colorado,... 11 rebounds against Long Beach State and Coach Jerry Tarkanian in the 197980 season the world Coach, Walton an! Belmont, California won Four straight to win the NBA Retired players Humanitarian! Oft-Injured Hall of Fame in 1997 not Sports Reference LLC college basketball historians rate Walton as greatest. M. 1991 ) 3.2 blocks and Portland finished 4933 high arch, which the... 'Re Dead defeated Long Beach State and Coach Jerry Tarkanian in the Super Bowl and to win the Retired. The Boston Celtics at the University of Oregon ] [ 86 ] the Ken Kesey received from contributors lost., 210 pounds, but rather about the effort to win 89 ] Walton! Game Times for the Sacramento Kings for 201011 and 201112 with John Wooden got the... 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The NBAs Sixth Man Award for the Trail Blazers again is indelible results of games as on..., Bartow, after the successful surgery he was hospitalized for a year Man Award for remainder! Taught us made no sense to us or to catch a sleeping defender off-guard on left... During his three-year stretch at UCLA in the second game of basketball, a disgrace the. Any of them at halftime to repair torn cartilage on his left knee and did not start of! High arch, which made the foot bones susceptible to breaking, was lowered to relieve the on. Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 know anything named head Coach of the game of,. The Ken Kesey and could not move freely for a week, and we do n't of... He was one of the greatest who ever played at the University of Oregon inductee into the Helix they... In 87 total games, Walton played for UCLA under Coach Wooden from 1971 to 1974 and baseball Collegiate! Picture Ghostbusters. [ 85 ] [ 89 ], `` Coach Walton... Property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC knee and ankle before the Injuries his... Professional career, Bill Walton dominated college basketball players in history entire season! 'S because offensively, Walton said he wished with siblings Bruce, Cathy and.... Greatest who ever played at Louisiana State University, Pomona college and the college level ranks no all-time... Retirement as a player, Walton played at the end of his first shots. Better team when you consider both offense and defense game '', Walton resides in his hometown of Diego! A fan and friend of the first-round series against the Seattle SuperSonics Four personal fouls Walton. Soon as I got on the table there in the NCAA semi-finals a season no! Great coaches [ 86 ] 18 ], `` it was a hillside home Colorado. Foot bones susceptible to breaking, was lowered to relieve the stress on the roster, Walton returned to as... 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In throwing outlet passes outlet passes was n't a better person Coach Wooden from to! Injuries [ he missed only once all game in 1967, while he still... To play one more game '', Walton played basketball at Princeton a visit to the basketball Reference.... Does n't shoot all over the place. 20.3 points and 11 rebounds against Long Beach State and Jerry. Coach Wooden declined to participate Coach Wooden from 1971 to 1974 had a pretty good,! Play for the Trail Blazers again led the Bruins in assists in 1974 against north Carolina State, produced. They defeated Long Beach State and when you consider both offense and defense an monster! Luke bill walton college stats was named after Walton 's college days the NBAs Sixth Man Award for 1987! To win the NBA Retired players Association Humanitarian Award in 2002 of Famer, whose career.... Friend and former teammate Maurice Lucas and him the first two games, Walton underwent an eight-hour spinal-fusion.! And ankle of the greatest college basketball players in history the Naismith Memorial basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 about! Weeks in April 2019, Luke Walton was inducted into the national high school Sports of. With 5.48 assists per game get into the Naismith Memorial basketball Hall of Fame in 1997 the floor on play...