In the conversation about great NBA big men, Bill Walton sort of gets an asterisk. Everyone acknowledges his brilliance, but his fragile body, especially his feet, kept him from playing consistently.
Out of 1,148 possible games, Walton played in just 468, meaning that he missed 59.23 percent of those contests.
But when he was healthy, Walton was an astonishing basketball player.
He wasn’t an immense scorer. His best season scoring wise was 18.9 ppg. He was a very good rebounder, averaging 10.5 for his career. He was an excellent passer, too.
But mostly what made Walton great was his understanding that the team’s success was the most important thing, and he was passionate about winning. And it was never more evident than in his third season with the Portland Trail Blazers, when, in 1977, he won his first championship.
As you’ll see in this video, Walton was immensely dominant. He was quick and agile, and he blocked a lot of shots. In one play, you’ll see him do a spin move to bank in a shot well away from the basket.
The most dazzling aspect of his game, though, was his ability to rebound and fire off an outlet pass immediately. You’ll see a bunch of those here. Along with Bill Russell, Wes Unseld, and Kevin Love, Walton was one of the absolute masters of the outlet pass. He made them immediately, fearlessly, and with immense confidence.
And you should note this, too: aside from Maurice Lucas, the other starters were Dave Twardzik, Lionel Hollins, and Bob Gross. Most of you will never have heard of any of those guys.
With Walton as the driving force, that group coalesced into a superb unit. Philadelphia had tremendous talent, but Portland was far more cohesive.
That team was extraordinary and Walton was its driving force. Watch this and you’ll realize why people have to include him in conversations about the best centers of all time.
No other center has ever had a better combination of skills than Walton, and in the 1977 playoffs, we saw just how great he was.
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