Bill Walton - Basketball Legend & Deadhead - RIP

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Bill Walton, one heck of a basketball player, has died after a prolonged cancer fight. He was 71.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40229031/nba-champion-hall-famer-bill-walton-dies-71

While I vividly remember his playing years with the Celtics (when he was healthy) because I was a season ticket holder, his music taste was also newsworthy. He went to a lot of Grateful Dead concerts and notoriously brought several Celtics players backstage when the Dead played in Worcester.

RIP Bill.

Cancer sucks.

[JSngry]

Former(?) radical too!

I was MUCH a fan.

Throw it down big man!!!!!!

 

[danasgoodstuff]

Big news here in Portland, RIP.

[GA Russell]

RIP.

(2) Tom's Old Days on X: "Very Sad News,One Of The”Great Ones” Bill Walton has Passed Away at 71.#RIPBillWalton https://t.co/AulA5JsooS" / X

[Dmitry]

When I was 20 or 21, I saw him at the JFK airport.  I was amazed how tall he was; purpusefully, I came close enough to see that the top of my head wasn’t even at his armpit height. I was 6’ then.

[JSngry]

I'm old enough to remember his days at UCLA and the culture clash between him and John Wooten. Two greats who were polar opposites in almost every way except for winning basketball games.

Those were the days,!

[Kevin Bresnahan]

13 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

When I was 20 or 21, I saw him at the JFK airport.  I was amazed how tall he was; purpusefully, I came close enough to see that the top of my head wasn’t even at his armpit height. I was 6’ then.

Walton never let anyone measure his actual height & always had it listed as 6'11", supposedly so he couldn't be called a "7 foot freak" by anyone. I remember seeing him standing next to Artis Gilmore, who played with Walton during the Celtics 1987-88 season, and Walton was taller. Gilmore's official height was 7'2". It's pretty obvious in the team picture.

[JSngry]

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/bill-walton-activism/