(ProsperNews.net) – NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton has died at age 71. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Walton’s death on May 27, saying the “cherished member of the NBA family” had lost his battle with prostate cancer. Considered a ground-breaking center, Walton is credited with changing how the game is played, redefining the center position, and bringing an infectious enthusiasm to his later broadcasting career.
Born in La Mesa, California, in 1952, Mr. Walton’s basketball journey began at Helix High School, where he helped win the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Championship in 1969 and 1970. He went on to join UCLA, whom he had supported since childhood, in 1970 and played in 87 games before graduating and joining the Portland Trail Blazers in 1974. A year earlier, he received the 1973 James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
Throughout his professional career, he played with the San Diego Clippers and Boston Celtics before going on to become one of the game’s most beloved and eccentric commentators, winning him an Emmy Award in 2001. Today, Mr. Walton’s achievements are recognized in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the California Sports Hall of Fame, and the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. In 1996, he was included in a list of the 50 greatest basketball performers of all time.
Walton’s popularity grew after appearing in several films and TV shows, usually playing himself. Friends remember him as someone with a vast passion for life and an affinity for people. Fellow NBA star Charles Barkley described him as a man who was “great at basketball, great at life, great as a broadcaster, a great person.”
Mr. Walton married twice and had four sons. He was divorced from his first wife Susie in 1989 and married Lori Matusoka in 1991. His son Luke played in the 2019 and 2020 NBA finals with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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