Bill Walton, basketball’s renaissance man known to everyone from Jerry West to Jerry Garcia, is getting his own platform from the NBA.
The league is taking a page from the NFL by giving the ‘Redhead Deadhead’ his own NBA simulcast, where the famously verbose Walton can speak at great length on whatever pops into his mind. Like ESPN’s Manningcast, where brothers Peyton and Eli Manning muse about the NFL during Monday Night Football, ‘Throw it Down with Bill Walton’ is an alternative telecast, only instead of appearing on cable, fans can view it on the NBA League Pass subscription service.
‘This incredible dream is the thrill, honor and privilege of a lifetime,’ said Walton, a UCLA legend who went on to win NBA titles with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics, not to mention the 1978 MVP award.
Bill Walton, 70, is getting his own NBA simulcast show on the league app
‘Wow, and on the NBA’s global and intergalactic platform too!’ Walton’s statement continued. ‘I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Please help me throw it down as this volcanic eruption celebrates the best of life, nature, sport, the NBA and everything else.
‘We promise to blast through the real, imaginary and self-imposed limits of the known universe and beyond.’
And like the Manningcast, Walton’s show will also take place on Monday’s starting with the San Antonio Spurs facing off against his Trail Blazers. He’ll also
Fox Sports’ Jason Benetti will try to rein in Walton as the show’s co-host, but that’s going to be a struggle.
Walton will continue to call college games for ESPN and the Pac-12 Network, where some viewers have complained that his commentary veers too far into history or philosophy, and away from basketball.
Former Boston Celtics player Bill Walton cheers with fans in the third quarter during Game Three of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors
From left, Boston Celtics’ Bill Walton, Larry Bird and Robert Parish share a laugh on the bench in the final minutes of the game. The Boston Celtics host the New York Knicks in a regular season NBA basketball game at the Boston Garden on March 15, 1987
Bill Walton poses with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart before the Sacramento Kings take on the Dallas Mavericks on February 9, 2011 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento
UCLA’s Bill Walton (32) during the last moments of the NCAA Photos via Getty Imagess via Getty Images National Basketball Championship Semifinal game in Greensboro, NC, Greensboro Coliseum. North Carolina State defeated UCLA 80-77 in two overtimes
Asked to give a description of his new show, Walton told the New York Post.
‘We’ve got the NBA intergalactic platform,’ Walton said. ‘We’ve got the world’s greatest basketball players. We’ve got the business. We’ve got the entertainment. We’ve got the sports world.
‘We’ve got the celebration of life and health and all good things here. We have fantastic guests. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. We are set for blastoff and the volcanic eruption on Monday night January 23. Seven o’clock Pacific time, be there. Miss this at your own peril. You’ve been suitably warned. I’m fired up.
‘Throw It Down’ will be like life. It will be like an incredible book. It will be a phenomenal concert. It will be an extraordinary basketball game. It will represent everything that’s good in life, in sports, the NBA business, in the world. But one of the things that I love so much about all the things that I just mentioned, you have no idea. You have a dream. You have a vision. But you have no idea how it’s going to play out. It’s going to be live.’
As a basketball player, he was a two-time national champion and Final Four MVP at UCLA, and after being drafted with the first pick of the 1974 NBA Draft, he went on to win title with the Trail Blazers (1977) and Boston Celtics (1986). He was also the 1977 NBA Finals MVP, the 1986 Sixth Man of the Year, and a two-time All-Star, but his career was plagued by injuries to his feet, ankles, and knees
Former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson (right) photobombs the scene by laying his head on NBA great Bill Walton (second from right) as he sees a photographer shooting Walton with Mickey Hart (far left) of the Grateful Dead as he talks with former NBA player and current media personality Jalen Rose (second from left) around two hours before the start of the game. The Boston Celtics visited the Golden State Warriors for Game One of the NBA Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, CA on June 2. Jefferson is a family friend of Walton, having played with the 70-year-old’s son, Luke, at the University of Arizona
For the uninitiated, Walton is a larger-than-life figure in both basketball and Grateful Dead circles.
As a basketball player, he was a two-time national champion and Final Four MVP at UCLA, and after being drafted with the first pick of the 1974 NBA Draft, he went on to win title with the Trail Blazers (1977) and Boston Celtics (1986). He was also the 1977 NBA Finals MVP, the 1986 Sixth Man of the Year, and a two-time All-Star, but his career was plagued by injuries to his feet, ankles, and knees.
His son Luke played at Arizona before being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and has coached in both LA and Sacramento.
In addition to his own broadcasting career, Walton has spent much of his retirement attending Grateful Dead shows and interacting with members of the band’s community. He was even seen attending the NBA Finals games with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and guitarist Bob Weir.
He also spent much of his youth as an activist, marching in protests while playing for John Wooden at UCLA, and later befriending members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. The group was later involved in a shooting with LA police, but Walton has not been accused of any crimes involving the SLA, including the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst.
Bill Walton battles with Boston Celtics legend Dave Cowens for a rebound during a 1970 game
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