Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Sports
Related: About this forumBill Walton’s Long, Strange Tale of N.B.A. Survival
Bill Walton arrived at the San Diego Natural History Museum carrying a large black chair. I watched him walk with it, a little stiffly, past the Moreton Bay fig tree outside. The tree is one of the citys grand natural treasures: more than 100 years old, nearly 100 feet tall, hugely spread, still standing despite a century of weather and air pollution and climbing children. Its so large that it made even Walton, one of basketballs dominating giants, look small.
Why is he carrying a chair? the woman working the museums front door asked me.
I had no idea. We were standing inside the building, near the skeleton of a dinosaur (Allosaurus fragilis, the sign said), watching him approach. Walton wore jeans and a Grateful Dead T-shirt. He chewed gum. His hair, formerly long, red and curly, was now a sparse white wisp. His stride was deliberate, determined; each step seemed to cost him something.
Walton is another of San Diegos grand natural treasures: a 1970s basketball superstar, celebrated sports broadcaster, proud public hippie and to quote the man himself the most-injured athlete in the history of sports. He is now 63, at least in regular human years, but his body has always operated on some other, more severe time scale. His injuries have been relentless; his life story reads like a jock Book of Job. Walton has had 37 orthopedic operations, many of which came at the worst possible moment. The biggest difference between him and any of the other greats youd care to name Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille ONeal, Larry Bird is that Waltons brilliant career barely ever happened. Instead of winning the three or four or five or six championships he seemed destined for, Walton became a legendary failure. (He did manage to win two.) His injuries caused him to miss nine and a half of his 14 N.B.A. seasons.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/magazine/bill-waltons-long-strange-tale-of-nba-survival.html
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
6 replies, 1732 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (1)
ReplyReply to this post
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Bill Walton’s Long, Strange Tale of N.B.A. Survival (Original Post)
Ptah
Mar 2016
OP
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)1. I never did understand why his son Luke chose Arizona
coached at the time by Lute Olson, who would actually have an FBI agent address his teams about the dangers of drugs!
Ptah
(32,983 posts)2. Perhaps Luke wanted to play for a winning program.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)3. His dad went to UCLA, for Pete's sake.
You know, the one with the eleven banners hanging from the rafters at Pauley?
There are plenty of other winning programs where the coach doesn't try to indoctrinate and intimidate his players like that.
Ptah
(32,983 posts)4. Well, apparently, Lute Olson was a better recruiter.
bluedigger
(17,077 posts)5. A lot of sons choose not to follow directly in their father's footsteps.
His dad is still a Legend there, after all. The media exposure would have been intense. The path he chose worked out fine for him, I think.
Ptah
(32,983 posts)6. Well, I think it is a good article.
I spoke with the announcer Jim Gray, who has worked with Walton on TV for decades. Bill is a brilliant man, he said. He has such a fertile mind. Hes probably the only person whos ever been able to tie together, in the same sentence, Mother Teresa, Michael Jordan, climate change, the Berlin Wall and whats that ballerinas name? Baryshnikov. Before you know it, youre off to Ferdinand Magellan. Ill say to him sometimes: What about the game? Hell say: It doesnt matter, the people can see the game.