Bill Walton

He was named to the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams.

William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player.

He played college basketball 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's early career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) was very successful, winning the 1978 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and an NBA championship with the Portland Trail Blazers, for which he was also named Finals MVP.

However, his professional career began to be significantly hampered by multiple foot injuries requiring numerous surgeries.

Walton sat out the 1978–79 season and was then signed by the San Diego Clippers (now Los Angeles Clippers), for whom he played four injury-plagued seasons.

His career was rehabilitated during two seasons with the Boston 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.

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 won another NBA title in 1986 as a member of the Boston Celtics.

He earned an Emmy Award in 1991.

Walton is a noted fan of the Grateful Dead, as a self-described "Deadhead", and often mentions them in his broadcasts.

He has hosted several podcasts and satellite radio programs featuring the music of the Grateful Dead.

Walton was born and raised in La Mesa, California, the son of Gloria Anne (née Hickey) and William Theodore "Ted" Walton.

He was raised with siblings Bruce, Cathy and Andy.

The Waltons' La Mesa home was a hillside home on Colorado Avenue, just below Lake Murray.

His listed adult playing height was 6ft 11in; it has been reported that Walton is actually taller (7ft 2in or more), but does not like being categorized as a seven-footer.

Walton's father Ted was a music teacher and social worker and his mother Gloria, a librarian.

His parents had interests in art, literature, politics, and music.

Walton took music lessons, and although his parents were not sports-oriented, Walton followed in the footsteps of his older brother Bruce, who had gravitated toward sports.

When the Walton children were in junior high and high school, their father formed an informal family band: Bruce and Bill played trombone or baritone, Andy played the saxophone, and Cathy played the flute.

"Bill and I couldn't quit fast enough", Bruce said.

Walton first played organized basketball under Frank "Rocky" Graciano, who coached at Walton's Catholic elementary school.

Coach Graciano "made it [basketball] fun and really emphasized the joy of playing the team game", said Walton.

"I was a skinny, scrawny guy. I stuttered horrendously, couldn't speak at all. I was a very shy, reserved player and a very shy, reserved person. I found a safe place in life in basketball."

Walton played high school basketball at Helix High School in La Mesa alongside his brother Bruce, who was one year older at 6ft 6in and 250 lb. Bruce was a star football player as well.

If Bill Walton was getting physical treatment in a basketball game, Bruce returned the treatment.

"When those opposing teams would try to get physical with me, Bruce would do whatever it took to protect me", Walton recalled.

"He went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys. Bruce and I are the only brother combination in history to ever play in the Super Bowl and to win the NBA championship."

"When they would begin to rough up Bill, I would look at coach and he would give me a nod", recalled Bruce.

"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."

Walton's struggle with injury and pain began while at Helix High School, where he broke an ankle, a leg, several bones in his feet, and underwent knee surgery.

Before his sophomore season, Walton underwent surgery to repair torn cartilage on his left knee.

Because of his recovery from the knee surgery, Walton played most of his sophomore year on the junior varsity team.

Coach Gordon Nash promoted him to the varsity team the end of the season.

But, he played in only six games and did not start any of them.

During his sophomore year of high school (age 15–16), Walton grew from 6ft 1in to 6ft 7in.

Coach Nash played Bill and Bruce Walton together in the paint.

Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.