30 for 30
- Thread starter CJM
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Part 3 of the Walton series is the best. Portland, as was, is a large part of the story and the finals fiasco could be its own episode.
People here may recall that years ago Simmons had Walton on his pod and when Simmons brought up the Halberstam book, The Breaks of the Game, Walton got emotional and ended the interview, saying it was too painful to talk about. As Part 3 points out, the Blazers were 50-10 when Walton got hurt in 1978; they finished 58-24 and were eliminated in the first round by the Sonics without him. There's another timeline in which Walton doesn't get hurt, and the Blazers repeat and probably win 3-4 championships before Magic and Bird take over the league in the following decade. Throw in his sense of betrayal because of the failures of their medical staff to diagnose his injuries, and it's no wonder why Walton's feelings were so raw about that period.
He was able to fill a roster spot on the Dream Team. Isn’t that enough?
In four years at Duke, Christian wasn’t as good at playing college basketball as Bill Walton was at UCLA In three. I don’t think it’s close.
Walton wasn’t allowed to play by rule as a freshman. UCLA still won the title, but maybe doesn’t lose the one game in-season with Bill playing as a freshman.
And as pointed out, everybody hates Christian Laetnner!
That was a fun documentary.
A lot of people weren't as good as Bill Walton was in college. But despite people's hatred for him, no one could deny Christian Laettner had one of the greatest careers in the history of college basketball. If that's the only requirement for inclusion in the BBHoF, he should be in.
It's not an exclusive requirement, but the vast majority of Laettner's HOF resume is his play at Duke. HIs NBA career was long, well paid, and undistinguished.
Walton added two NBA rings and a league MVP to his college resume. Walton isn't paper thin when it comes to HOF credentials at the NBA level, in spite of the "math" at basketball reference. The talent was immense unfortunately so were the injuries, but his pro career wasn't Greg Oden.
Do you think the arrival of Grant Hill for the title years hurts him? Some of the blame for the hatred goes to Coach K. I think Christian was playing a role he encouraged.
Fun Fact: Christian was a guest on The Mad Fisherman and they filmed the fishing segment at the retention pond behind the Costco at the Town Center in Jacksonville.
The basketball HOF standards aren’t terribly high. Laettner should be in. He’s a big figure in the history of the game.
To bring this back on thread, my point was and remains that Walton's peak in the NBA was remarkably brief, which is part of what makes his career so fascinating since it's compromised as much of "what ifs" as it is actual accomplishments. And those situations have made for some of the best episodes in this series.
Apparently the 30-30 Walton documentary was originally going to be on the 77 Blazers. But there is so much material on Walton they extended it and made it about him and the Blazers. After watching it, I can now see how that played out and why such a heavy focus on the 77 Blazers.
Random side note, 1977 by many is considered one of the best years of the Grateful Dead. Bill must have been a happy man that year; championship, no real injuries and great Dead year. I think they mentioned in the doc (may have been in his memoir), he's been to 1,000+ GD shows or something and band members would stay at his house when playing in San Diego. Crazy. When he goes all in on something, he goes all in.
Random side note, 1977 by many is considered one of the best years of the Grateful Dead. Bill must have been a happy man that year; championship, no real injuries and great Dead year. I think they mentioned in the doc (may have been in his memoir), he's been to 1,000+ GD shows or something and band members would stay at his house when playing in San Diego. Crazy. When he goes all in on something, he goes all in.
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I’m trapped in a hotel room and just watched two episodes, I had no idea about the Patty Hearst connection. Sounds like Walton is still maybe a little cagey about the whole thing? Wild.
Those Celtics practices between the starters and the green team looked more intense than actual games.
The Bill Walton 30 For 30 is not only the greatest 30 For 30 in the history of 30 For 30s, but probably the greatest visual presentation of a human being‘s life in the history of film and video.
Bill Walton is a national treasure. I loved him when I was a teenage, and I love him a half century later. We must protect him at all cost. I met him many years ago on the street in front of The Garden, right before he fixed his back. Despite barely being able to walk, he had the biggest smile on his face, and his exuberance in meeting a fan (me) was as genuine and over the top as some of his in game basketball commentary.
Him getting to put his imprint on the 1986 Celtics was a reward to him for hanging in there for all those years of injury, surgery, and rehab, and was a treat for the many Celtics fans who were basketball purists. Big Bill grabbing a defensive rebound, his shoulders eclipsing the bottom half of the backboard, then turning around to zip the perfect outlet pass was such a beautiful sight.
Bill Walton is a national treasure. I loved him when I was a teenage, and I love him a half century later. We must protect him at all cost. I met him many years ago on the street in front of The Garden, right before he fixed his back. Despite barely being able to walk, he had the biggest smile on his face, and his exuberance in meeting a fan (me) was as genuine and over the top as some of his in game basketball commentary.
Him getting to put his imprint on the 1986 Celtics was a reward to him for hanging in there for all those years of injury, surgery, and rehab, and was a treat for the many Celtics fans who were basketball purists. Big Bill grabbing a defensive rebound, his shoulders eclipsing the bottom half of the backboard, then turning around to zip the perfect outlet pass was such a beautiful sight.
Just finished watching, and it really was that good. It showed his joyful perseverance that allows him to consider himself the luckiest person on earth even while unflinchingly acknowledging his dark and difficult times. My highlight was learning the story behind how he chose to wear #5 with the Celtics, which I'll Spoiler for those who want to watch the documentary to learn it. The decision underscores his grateful understanding of his place in basketball history.
He told Kevin that he had worn #32 for his entire basketball life, and asked Kevin if he would allow him to wear it with Boston. Kevin said hell no, of course not. Bill decided that he was 32 at UCLA, one below the 33 of Alcindor before him. Since the greatest center ever wore 6 with Boston, he would wear the number one below 6 in Boston. I wonder if Russell ever knew that story.
I didn’t see that part of the documentary, but knowing what kind of man Walton is, figured it out before reading the spoiler.
I’ve always lamented that both legendary number 5s on the Celtics didn’t play in Boston when they at their peak as younger players. The first time I saw Garnett sky for a rebound, arms spread, basically eclipsing the backboard, I thought of Walton in his short time in green.
Trivia question: Besides Walton and Garnett, who's the other Celtic #5 that's a Hall of Famer?
John Thompson