Bill Walton
Bill Walton
William Theodore "Bill" Walton IIIis an American retired basketball player and television sportscaster. Walton achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early 1970s, winning three successive College Player of the Year Awards, while leading the Bruins to two Division I national titles. He then went on to have a prominent career in the National Basketball Associationwhere he was a league Most Valuable Playerand won two NBA championships. His professional career was significantly hampered by multiple foot...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth5 November 1952
CityLa Mesa, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I might be the most injured athlete in the history of sports. I've had 31 operations. An endless string of stress fractures.
I'm mainstream. Always have been.
At 49, I can say something I never would have said when I was a player. I am a better person because of my failures and disgraces.
Tracy McGrady is doing things we've never seen from anybody - from any planet!
Mick Jagger is in better shape than far too many NBA players. It's up in the air whether the same can be said of Keith Richards.
Growing up, my parents were very, very strict. And then I went to UCLA with John Wooden, who was just off the charts.
I don't sleep much. I'm on the go. My mind is racing. My wife says my mind is like the rolling dials on a slot machine. So, yeah, I think about everything.
I mean, I'm 6-foot-11, I've got red hair, freckles, I'm a goofy, nerdy-looking guy, I've got a speech impediment-I stutter and stammer all the time-and I'm a Deadhead.
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.
Life is about growth. People are not perfect when they're 21 years old.
Right now, you know, it's not about the refs or anything else, it's about hitting first, getting on the run and never looking back.
Well, we've made some changes on this tour. We're no longer sleeping in the parking lots and swimming in the fountains. We've been staying in hotels most of the way, though I will say some hotels have declined to take us because we're just having too much fun.
Without question, no hesitation, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the best player I ever played against.
But you have to understand, my beard is so nasty. I mean, it's the only beard in the history of Western civilization that makes Bob Dylan's beard look good.