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Reactions from the Sports World on Bill Walton's Passing
What Did The NBA Community Post to Commemorate the Hall of Famer?
Aaron Eisman
June 03, 2024
This past week, The SMSports Weekly took a week off as my family and I went traveling in Southern California. With that said, we are back to regular programming.
Today I did some thinking on what the topic would be and it was easy one to do for the newsletter, the passing of basketball legend Bill Walton.
While I never met Walton, I felt like I knew him as one of my weird hippie uncles. He loved the band Grateful Dead and saw them more than 850 times!
But, he was way more than a “Deadhead.” He was a basketball icon. Just read his career highlights and you will see that.
Career highlights (to name a few): 2-time NBA champion, 2-time NCAA champion, NBA MVP (1978), NBA Finals MVP (1977), 3-time National college player of the year and the list goes on and on.
He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
How many basketball players can say that?
How did the sports world react to the passing? With love, stories and admiration for the big man.
Reactions from the sports world on social media:
My thoughts on Bill Waltons passing.
kareem.substack.com/p/bill-walton-…
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33)
1:35 AM • May 31, 2024
.@notthefakeSVP and @RealMikeWilbon honor the great Bill Walton.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter)
3:29 AM • May 28, 2024
Rich Eisen remembers Bill Walton with an incredible story that is well worth your time. ❤️
(via @RichEisenShow)
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing)
1:24 AM • May 29, 2024
Mike Breen tells an incredible Bill Walton story
@rhoback
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake)
6:58 PM • May 31, 2024
An early rivalry with Kareem, a championship with Portland in 1977 and another one with Boston in 1986... through the ups and downs, Bill Walton always stayed himself during a special career.
— NBA History (@NBAHistory)
7:30 PM • May 31, 2024
Rest in peace, Bill Walton. ❤️
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune)
6:09 PM • May 27, 2024
Even the non-sports world reacted:
Bill Walton lived a life that the rest of us could only hope to achieve on our second (or third) go-round. He had an eye toward the truly important stuff, the stuff we already know better than to lose sight of, but often do. One of Bill’s great talents was to reorient you so as… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— John Mayer (@JohnMayer)
6:16 PM • May 28, 2024
What an honor to meet the great Bill Walton at our gig in San Diego. What an amazing man, super Deadhead/music fan, one of basketball GOATS!! RIP one of a kind Bill ❤️
— Sheryl Crow (@SherylCrow)
3:38 PM • May 29, 2024
The outpouring love for Walton has been clear as day. He was more than a basketball player, a broadcaster and a “deadhead,” he was a husband and a father to four sons.
May Bill Walton rest in peace. Prayers to his family during these tough times ♥️