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Millions of Americans have grown up to think of Bill Walton as ESPN’s house flake, a guy who shows up to games in tie-dyes, who might talk about Hawaiian trees and the geography of Patagonia and the mating habits of tree sloths before his broadcast partner gently pushes him back towards the current game.
Others know him as the great lost talent, the guy who could have been the greatest center if he could only have stayed healthy if his feet hadn’t crumbled and his back hadn't collapsed.
A relative few now will remember this.
In 1973, when he played for John Wooden at UCLA, Walton was young, incredibly focused and able to do things that no 6-11 players had ever done before him and very few since.
Look how quick he is. Look how easily he eludes defenders. And the passing!
Walton was an absolute master of the game.