Dead & Company honors Bill Walton during Las Vegas Sphere show

Sports and entertainment

From Nicholas McEntire

Dead & Company paid tribute to “the greatest Deadhead in the world,” the late Bill Walton, during their performance at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

While the Grateful Dead offshoot band played “Fire on the Mountain,” several photos of Walton, the legendary NBA Hall of Famer and current broadcaster, were shown on the video boards in the newly constructed entertainment arena on the Strip.

The photos show Walton at various Dead concerts, snapshots with band members, and the tie-dye number “32” – the number he wore during his college and NBA years.

Walton died on Monday after a long battle with cancer. He was 71 years old.

The tribute to the basketball icon came as Dead & Company opened their third week at the Sphere.

“The music and the basketball were exactly the same,” Walton said of his enjoyment of the band.

“You have a team with a goal, a band with a song and fans who cheer because they are happy, but also to improve the players’ performance, make them faster and take everyone further.”

After Walton’s death, the band remembered their friend on social media.

“Farewell, farewell, we love you more than words can express,” Dead & Company shared in an Instagram post, saying Walton was the greatest Deadhead of all time and “an irreplaceable force and soul in our family.”

Walton’s love for the band was no secret.

In his 2015 autobiography, Back from the Dead, he revealed that he had attended over 800 Grateful Deal and Dead & Company concerts.

In the book, Walton said he went to his first Grateful Dead concert in 1971 while he was still in college, according to Fox Sports.

“Over 1000 shows and couldn’t get enough of it. He loved this band and we loved him,” the band said.

“We will greatly miss our beloved friend @BillWalton. Rest in peace and may the four winds carry you home safely.”

Some of the original band members also shared their own personal memories with Walton.

“Yo Bill, thanks for the ride,” wrote co-founder and guitarist Bobby Weir next to a photo of the two.

“Thank you for the wonderful friendship, the years of exciting commentary – and the existence in the Hall of Fame, which you wore like a spotlight. Safe journey, old buddy. We will certainly miss you – but don’t let that discourage you …”

Longtime drummer Mickey Hart said he was lucky to have known Walton.

“Bill was my best friend. He was an incredible human being, unique, irreplaceable, generous, loving. He called himself the luckiest man in the world, but we were the ones who were lucky enough to know him,” Hart said.

“There are things you can replace. And others you can’t replace. Safe travels, old friend, I love you.”

John Mayer, 45, who is following in the huge footsteps of legendary frontman Jerry Garcia at Dead & Co., said Walton “had an eye for the really important things, the things we already know we shouldn’t lose sight of but often do.”

“The road to acceptance is steep in the Grateful Dead universe and Bill helped me tremendously with his kindness, encouragement and friendship in climbing those stairs,” Mayer wrote in an obituary on Instagram.

“He will be greatly missed, but his attitude towards life will never be forgotten. I think it’s pretty good advice that when times are tough, if you just pretend you’re Bill Walton, everything will be OK. Thanks, Bill.”

With post wires