13.3 PPG, 3.4 APG, 10.5 RPG, 52 FG%, 66 FT%
“Though remembered by many for a career plagued by injuries and a personal life spiced by controversy, Bill Walton won high praise from players and coaches alike during his checkered career. During his prime as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers in the mid-1970s — a prime that lasted a mere three years — Walton drew comparisons to such players as Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell.
“Bill Russell was a great shotblocker. Wilt Chamberlain was a great offensive player,” Dr. Jack Ramsay, Walton’s coach in Portland, told Sport magazine. “But Walton can do it all.”
After achieving superstardom playing for John Wooden’s powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early ’70s and winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, Walton was destined to become an NBA legend. When he was healthy, Walton had few peers.
He won the NBA Most Valuable Player award while playing for the defending NBA champion Trail Blazers in 1977-78. At the top of his form, Walton scored, passed, intimidated, hustled, and played the role of leader with the best centers of his day. He was a perfectionist whose range of skills and dedication never ceased to impress those who saw him play.
After the 1984-85 campaign Walton went shopping. He called on two of the league’s premier teams, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. After several Celtics said they liked the idea of having Walton as a teammate and as a backup for workhorses Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, Red Auerbach made the deal happen.
Walton appeared in 80 games in 1985-86, 13 more than his previous career high. While playing only 19.3 minutes per contest, he averaged 7.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.1 apg and 1.33 bpg. He also set a career high with a .562 field-goal percentage. In one game he scored 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in just 26 minutes. During the season he was hampered only by a broken nose, the 13th of his 13-year career. Assuming an unfamiliar supporting role, the 33-year-old Walton was playing with the excitement of a college kid. And the league rewarded him with the NBA Sixth Man Award, won by McHale the previous two seasons.
With one of the strongest lineups in NBA history, Boston steamrolled through the regular season, compiling a 67-15 record. In the playoffs the Celtics lost only three of 18 games, defeating the Houston Rockets and their “Twin Towers,” Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon, in the Finals in six games.” [Read]
