By Reggie Gatlin-Holt

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

William Theodore Walton III (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024) was an American professional basketball player and television sportscaster. He played college basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Portland Trail Blazers, San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers, and Boston Celtics. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Walton played for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national college player of the year awards (1972–1974), while leading UCLA to NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973 and an 88-game winning streak. After being selected as the first overall pick in the 1974 NBA draft, Walton led the Portland Trail Blazers to an NBA championship in 1977, earning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award that season. Walton won the 1978 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and an NBA championship with the Trail Blazers, for which he was also named Finals MVP.

However, Walton’s professional career was significantly hampered by multiple foot injuries requiring numerous surgeries. Walton sat out the 1978–79 season and was then signed by the Clippers, for whom he played four injury-plagued seasons. His career was rehabilitated during two seasons with the Celtics at the end of his career. Playing as a backup center behind Robert Parish, Walton earned the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in the 1985–86 season, winning his second championship that same season. He was named to the NBA’s 50th and 75th anniversary teams. Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

After retiring from the NBA, Walton overcame stuttering and embarked on a second career as a sportscaster, working both as a studio analyst and color commentator with stints for several networks and teams. He earned an Emmy Award in 1991. Walton was a fan of the Grateful Dead, as a self-described “Deadhead“, and often mentioned them in his broadcasts. He hosted several podcasts and satellite radio programs featuring the music of the Grateful Dead.