Bill Walton had potential to be one of the 20 greatest basketball
players ever, but he had feet of clay.
Walton was perhaps the second greatest college basketball player
of all time, but he was only able to play as many as 50 games in six out of 10 seasons
in the NBA. He sat out three seasons entirely. After two disappointing years to
start his career, he was able to play 65 games in 1976-1977, leading the league
in rebounds and blocked shots. In the playoffs, Walton’s Trailblazers swept
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Lakers and then Portland topped Julius Erving and the
76ers in six games, earning Walton NBA Finals MVP.
Portland was even better in 1977-1978, going 48-10 in games
that Walton played. He broke his foot in the second playoff game, ending his
time in Portland and beginning a stretch of seasons for the San Diego and Los
Angeles Clippers where he spent more time on the disabled list than on the
floor.
Walton was pretty much an afterthought when the Celtics
traded Cedric Maxwell and a first round draft pick to the Clippers for his
services in 1985-1986. Walton was able to play a career-high 80 games and was Sixth
Man of the Year for the best Celtics team in the Larry Bird era. That was the
last hurrah as foot injuries derailed him again and again until he gave it up
in 1990.
His 1977-1978 season was so good though he ranks 37th
all-time for single season, more than enough points to safely land in the top
100.
|
Bill
Walton bio info
|
|
|
Career
|
1974-1987
|
|
Games
|
468
|
|
Points
|
13.3
|
|
Rebounds
|
10.5
|
|
Assists
|
3.4
|
|
FG Pct.
|
52.1%
|
|
All-Star Games
|
2
|
|
MVPs
|
1
|
|
NBA Titles
|
2
|
|
Playoff seasons
|
4
|
|
Playoff games
|
49
|
|
Points
|
10.8
|
|
Rebounds
|
9.1
|
|
Assists
|
3.0
|
|
FG Pct.
|
52.5%
|
|
Hall of Fame
|
1993
|
|
Top 100
rankings
|
||
|
|
Points
|
Top 100 ranking
|
|
1-year
|
357.29
|
37th
|
|
5-year
|
1,265.38
|
95th
|
|
10-year
|
1,718.14
|
Not in top 100
|
|
Career
|
1,718.14
|
Not in top 100
|
|
Bill
Walton at his peak
|
|||
|
1977-1978
|
Walton
|
NBA Top 5
|
Points
|
|
PER
|
24.8
|
25.46
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
8.4
|
12.09
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
7.0
|
6.17
|
|
|
VORP
|
4.4
|
5.08
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
44.6
|
48.80
|
91.39
|
|
Playoff PER
|
28.6
|
24.75
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
0.2
|
2.36
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
7.2
|
6.80
|
|
|
VORP
|
0.1
|
1.18
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
36.1
|
35.09
|
102.89
|
|
Reg. Season Win %
|
82.76
|
|
82.76
|
|
Playoff Win %
|
50.00
|
|
50.00
|
|
MVP Voting (75 points)
|
96/238
|
|
30.25
|
|
Finals MVP (25 points)
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
Total Score
|
|
|
357.29
|
|
Walton’s 10 greatest seasons
|
|
|
1977-1978
|
357.29
|
|
1976-1977
|
348.87
|
|
1985-1986
|
280.34
|
|
1986-1987
|
175.85
|
|
1975-1976
|
103.02
|
|
1983-1984
|
94.39
|
|
1979-1980
|
92.58
|
|
1974-1975
|
90.96
|
|
1984-1985
|
90.56
|
|
1982-1983
|
84.26
|
|
Career
winning percentage
|
|||
|
|
W
|
L
|
Pct.
|
|
Regular Season
|
272
|
196
|
58.12%
|
|
Playoffs
|
38
|
11
|
77.55%
|
No comments:
Post a Comment