This is not a post about the Orioles, but this post is about my dear friend, Bill Walton.

[Roy Firestone]

Please forgive the indulgence, but Tony gave me an ok to post this piece about my closest friend in sports.

I cannot believe I am writing these words

Bill Walton has died.

I am absolutely devastated.

He was the sweetest, kindest, most generous, warm, funny, smart, caring, and humane person I have EVER met in sports and pretty much anywhere.

He was an epic human being.

I have known Bill for most of 45 years, through his weird,"strange trip"period, the Patty Hearst stories, the zany, the wise, the serious, the silly, the great, and I mean great, basketball excellence, the love he had for just about anything and anybody...the wacky Bill, the incredibly compassionate Bill.

Oh my God, I am heartbroken.

I knew something was wrong when he didnt get back to me recently...because he ALWAYS did.

And every time, and I mean EVERY TIME, he got back to me he always wrote the same words."I love, you Roy.I owe you my life".

He said that because I helped get Bill a TV job on my show when he stuttered and no one would hire him. But Bill's insight and talent and thoughtfulness is what got him his "broadcast life", surely, not me.

I ALWAYS KNEW WHERE I STOOD WITH BILL. HE ALWAYS TOLD ME HE LOVED ME.

Someone said he was sick, but Bill was often in hospitals it sounded like "same old Bill".

But this time , when he didn't get back to me I was worried.

It was cancer.

I may just keep writing here, because I am having trouble processing this right now.

He was probably the sweetest human being I ever knew. Loved people, basketball, of course, and little kids, and dogs, and really just about everything in life.

Anyone who knew him, and the millions who didnt, but think they did, should only marvel at the life of William Theodore Walton.

I have never met any person in my life with a greater appreciation for life, a greater sense of his own humanity and how it impacted his world..than this man.

Bill was not some tripped out "hippie". Anyone who bought into that cliche was missing the point , missing Bill.

He was well read, and curious, and a lover of the world around him.

Bill was in pain for most of the last 30 years of his life...He had 50 surgeries, and a near suicidal period of his life because of excruciating pain..Bill had to use a special chair to sit down after a spinal surgery that finally worked.The chair was something close to his loyal friend, that brought him comfort and safety. Bill Walton was been my dear friend I've known him when he was the silent, mysterious, and "distant" rebel. And I knew him when he was this contagiously joyful, supremely irreverent and reverent at the same time person....I was honored to have had Bill write the foreword of my book. But the truth is, I was honored to know him at all. He was absolutely, positively, without any doubt, the most loveable person I ever knew in sports..

I am going to re-post my many stories about Bill here...if you'd like you can re-read them....or not...but I have to.

I cannot believe Bill is gone. I am shattered.

The most wonderful person is no more.

My God, how sad and unfair is life at times.

DAMN THIS.

HE WAS ALMOST 7 FEET TALL. BUT HE WAS BIGGER THAN THAT TO ME.

HE WAS A GIANT OF A HUMAN BEING.

 

[Roy Firestone]

I'm absolutely heartsick.

[Flash- bd]

Sorry for your loss, Roy, Bill seemed like a great guy, indeed. I used to love watching him on NBA telecasts. Why did he move away from NBA broadcasting, do you know? 

[Frobby]

Some may know that Bill Walton went to Stanford Law School for a while while pausing his NBA career due to injuries.  He was two years behind me and had the locker right next to mine.  Sometimes we’d be at our lockers at the same time, but I was always too intimidated to say hi or introduce myself.  Now reading Roy’s post, I’m sorry I didn’t.  

My closest friend was 6’10 and played pro basketball in Spain, but when I was standing side by side with Walton, there was no comparison with my friend.  Not only was Walton 6’11, but his shoulders were just incredibly broad and they seemed to start right at the top of my head (I’m 6’2”).   He was amazing physical specimen.

Obviously Roy didn’t post this thread to talk about Bill Walton the basketball player, but I have to say, he played the single most dominant game of college basketball I have ever watched in the 1973 NCAA Championship Game.  He shot 21 for 22 from the floor and Memphis was powerless to stop him.  Most on 10-15 foot bank shots from either side of the key.  It was unbelievable to watch.  

Anyway, Bill Walton was one of a kind and I was shocked to hear of his death.  I didn’t know he was a friend of Roy’s.  That makes me all the sadder.   

 

[Roy Firestone]

3 minutes ago, Flash- bd said:

Sorry for your loss, Roy, Bill seemed like a great guy, indeed. I used to love watching him on NBA telecasts. Why did he move away from NBA broadcasting, do you know? 

he didnt want to travel far...he liked the Pac basketball games...ESPN wasnt particularly kind to him either...I know years after cutting him loose, they wanted him back at ESPN and actually traveled to his house and asked if they could come in...they made him a deal for Pac games...but he remembered how crappy they treated him.I WILL say this. I got him a start in TV on ESPN with my show, and he never ever forgot that.He was always grateful to me. Im just grateful I got to know him and know him well.

[Fiver6565]

Oh man this is terrible news. Always loved Walton on basketball telecasts. Not many dudes married the Dead and sports so well - those are streams that don’t cross that often. Really admired him.
 

A huge loss for the world, and @Roy Firestone clearly a huge loss personally for you. My deepest condolences. 

[accinfo]

Sorry for your loss as well.  He was a great broadcaster but he was a greater basketball player.  What he could do at over 7 feet tall was amazing.  

[RZNJ]

I’ll always remember that Portland team that didn’t really have any stars besides Walton but played so great as a team and beat the Sixers for the NBA title.

I always enjoyed his commentary as a broadcaster.

[Roy Firestone]

I interviewed Bill Walton, literally dozens of times. He was always earnest, candid, and humane with all of his answers to my questions.

But NO interview I ever did, represented Bill better than the clip you are about to see, if you haven't already.

I asked Bill about his dad, Ted Walton, who had passed in 2004.

When you watch his clip, you can see Bill's immense gratitude, his deep respect for his dad...and of course, a powerful love for him.

This clip shows you Bill's humanity, and love of life and I think it is the single MOST memorable and favourite interview moment I had in 45 years of interviewing.

Bill loved his dad, and I loved Bill with all my heart.

My God, what a loss.

Please watch this:

 

[Jim'sKid26]

I am sorry for your loss, Roy. He must have been a great friend. He will live on in your heart.

[Roy Firestone]

11 minutes ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

I am sorry for your loss, Roy. He must have been a great friend. He will live on in your heart.

Yes, he will. No one like him. No one.

[Sports Guy]

Jay Bilas had some nice words about him today.

Walton would just start rambling during basketball games. It would be so hilarious while also thought provoking and well informed.

Always enjoyed his announcing even if he had a “west coast bias(PAC 10)”.

Edited May 28 by Sports Guy

[Just Regular]

Sorry for your loss, Roy.

He and Kareem for me as a young child it was amazing one college could have two such greats, when I learned the backgrounds of some of the teammates in the Magic-Bird classics.

[rudyrooster]

Speaking as an old "hippy".  This planet would be a much better place to live if their were more Bill Waltons walking among us.

[NashLumber]

36 minutes ago, rudyrooster said:

Speaking as an old "hippy".  This planet would be a much better place to live if their were more Bill Waltons walking among us.

When I was in my mid teens, his hippie ethic appealed to me and I followed his early NBA career when he was allowed to turn loose and be himself. I admired his playing in college, but I had to pull hard against him in his senior year as NC State was my hometown team and David Thompson was my guy. We all know how the '74 tournament went. But Walton was an intimidating presence on the court and that semi-final was one I dreaded. He had an amazing run at UCLA and as Frobby mentioned, the '73 title game was off the charts as far as domination and excellence, and propelled him straight into legend.

I didn't follow college nor NBA much in the last few decades, so I missed him as a commentator or analyst. But I'd heard a lot about how colorful he was. 

Rest in peace, Bill. I'm so sorry for your loss, Roy. Thanks for sharing.