Bill Walton was infinitely grateful to the Grateful Dead

Former Portland Trail Blazers center and Hall of Fame member Bill Walton, who won the franchise’s only league MVP award and one of its two NBA championships, died last week at age 71 after a battle with colon cancer that he kept largely secret.

Walton, listed as 7’10” (though he was probably closer to 7’10”), was selected by the Trail Blazers with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1974 draft out of UCLA. He led the Bruins to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973 and was named national player of the year three seasons in a row. In 1977, Walton brought Portland its only NBA title. In 1978, he was the league’s MVP – despite only being healthy for 58 games due to a nagging stress fracture in his foot. During his time in Rip City, he was also named to the All-Defensive Team twice and an All-Star twice. The foot injury permanently altered the course of his career, and he eventually requested a trade to his hometown team, the then-San Diego Clippers, in 1979.

During his 209 regular season games with Portland, Walton averaged 17.1 points on 51 percent shooting from the field and 67.4 percent from the free throw line. He also had 13.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.6 blocks and one steal.

Big Red was always one to let his freak flag fly, both on the court with his unique, pass-heavy game (totally unheard of for a center at the time) and off, as one of the league’s most radical hippies.

Tracy Brown of the Los Angeles Times recently recalled his Grateful Dead fandom in an article. According to Brown, Walton was a fixture at at least 850 Dead shows.

He eventually became friends with the band, who stayed at his San Diego home when they were in town. Walton was one of the few people invited to bandleader Jerry Garcia’s private funeral in 1995. His house was littered with Grateful Dead memorabilia. His 2016 memoir, Back From The Dead, was also full of Dead lines. During his time with the Boston Celtics as a key sixth man, he even brought his colleagues to a concert.

“I’ve learned and I’ve received a lot of encouragement and help from my friends, especially the Grateful Dead: Don’t look back,” Walton said during a televised interview about his retirement. “Just keep going and something good will happen.”

Three former members of the Grateful Dead – rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, drummer Bill Kreutzmann and percussionist Mickey Hart – used their various social media channels to pay tribute to their longtime friend Walton.

In his moving tribute, Kreutzmann praised Walton as a “true fan who became a true friend and who I always looked up to.”

Hart, meanwhile, described Walton as “the best friend I ever had.”

Weir, meanwhile, wished him a safe journey on his final journey.

Portland fans will forever cherish Bill Walton’s memory. We will get through this, but it won’t be easy.

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