RIP Bill Walton

[Greg from Chestertown]

Read yesterday that Bill Walton had passed. It musta been September, ‘80, going back for sophomore year of college. My roommate has a copy of Rolling Stone magazine with an article about the Dead and Deadheads. The centerfold is a handful of various Deadheads in their typical attire posing for the camera along with Bill Walton. Roommate is showing me this, points to one kid and tells me that he met him on tour and the kid was telling him about hanging out with Bill Walton and what a cool guy he was. Yea, the tall guy has been part of my Grateful Dead universe since the Big Bang. 

[Rude]

prob have seen this but it’s a good 3 minute watch. Whether this happened exactly like he told it may be questionable but it’s a story from years past and details are always fuzzy. 

[Greg from Chestertown]

Wow! That was a pretty good job of describing the indescribable. Thanks 

[Ammagamalin Crew]

got to party with Bill during the JGB 5 night run at the Wiltern in November of 1990. The guy next to him, next to me said: "here's some hash Bill brought back from the European tour" ~ he's joined the heavenly fold

[Vic81]

Late night on the east coast sometimes I would watch pac 12 or wcc college hoops if  he was broadcasting just to hear him say the funniest and wildest shit. He always peppered in some dead lyrics, something about being on tour or just talk about Jerry or the band. 
during Covid one of the games they had cardboard cutouts of people in the stands. He made sure there was a Jerry cardboard figure behind him. 
His recent special on Sportscenter is called “Luckiest man Alive” and it was a really good. 
 

very special to the dead community, NBA and college basketball world.  Alotta love poured out for him today. 
  
RIP Bill

[Island Bro]

Wow such a sudden loss…age 71 for him seems much to young to take off.

As a native Portlander and deadhead this one hurts…

Even though I was a youngster I still remember the energetics in town when Bill helped bring home the championship in ‘77 for the trailblazers…it was a huge deal for that small (then) town…

Such a great guy, the kind of guy you want to meet and hang out with,,,and I found him to be an ideal ‘spokesperson’ to gracefully bridge the gap between GD culture and  mainstream American culture as a famous NBA player…what a great dude to be straddling those worlds…

 

Thank you Bill 🙏🏼

[Billy DeLyon]

A cool local news clip from back in the day

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXznln7_7Vs

 

 

 

If you get a chance, seek out the 30 for 30 Bill Walton The Luckiest guy in the world.  Very well made with tons of Dead references 

[Rude]

I read Mickey and Bill’s insta tributes to bill and literally started crying just now. Could be a few day post jubilee emotions involved but it was these happy tears that just kept flowing reading comments and stories of others below. The luckiest man in the world. I feel that way every time I’m at a show. I say “we are in the best place in the world at this moment” and to us it’s true. There’s nothing like a dead show and if it ain’t the real thing it’s close enough to pretend. 

[Tea]

Bill was always a beacon of light - even though he was in constant pain.  He didn't like to obstruct fans view at shows but he admitted that it was just too painful to sit down and get back up. 

 

He was positivity and hope personified

[Rude]

This was some of the stuff that made me tear up this morning. I remember a few years ago all our deadhead friends in KY were so excited that Bill Walton was an announcer for his 1st and only KY basketball game as he did PAC 10. We were so pumped to watch the game just to hear how off the rails he’d go. Dave Pasch was his 12 year announcing partner and just a brilliant play by play guy who had to reel Bill in a lot and also became a deadhead and would quote dead lyrics himself. He posted a bunch of funny tweets and screenshots bill sent him over the years and I linked them below. One video about bill made me cry again just now. 

 

 

bill kreutzmann

There are incredible stories about Bill Walton that I promised him I would only tell after he passed away, and it's not nearly that time yet because before we laugh, first we must allow ourselves to cry. Darn it. This is a mournful day. This is a period of mourning.

Sure, Bill Walton was an NBA legend. But in the Grateful Dead orbit, he was just a fan - and that made him a legend here, too. In many ways, he was our number one fan... but Bill would've taken issue with that ranking because, while he won many awards in his storied basketball career - including MVP

— Bill insisted that the Grateful Dead was not a competition - and that all Deadheads were equal.

By that same notion, as I flash through decades of adventures with him, there isn't one favorite memory. They all shine through. And they're all important, because they all brought us both real happiness. And that's special. That's friendship.

Bill was a genuine fan that became a genuine friend and someone I always looked up to. But his towering presence was more than just literal. Whenever I play, there will now always be a hole where a seat should be, about ten rows back, center, where Bill used to stand, eyes closed, arms raised, while he felt the music running through him. That was a happy place for him and seeing him out there was one of mine. We never did have a hard time finding him in the crowd.

Similarly, when he walked into a room, you knew it - but it wasn't because of his size. It was because of that laugh of his that broadcasted joy, and it was his easygoing smile that beamed sunshine across any space he ever entered.

So, yeah, losing Bill is an irreplaceable loss and, in simple terms, I am heartbroken. When somebody means that much to you, when their friendship is that important - that's called love. I loved Bill Walton. As we say in the land of the Dead:

May the four winds blow him safely home.

 

 

 

Bob Weir

Yo Bill, thanks for the ride. Thanks for the wonderful friendship, the years of color commentary - and the Hall of Fame existence that you wore like headlights.

Bon voyage ol' buddy. We're sure gonna miss you - but don't let that slow you down...

 

 

mickey hart

Bill was my best friend, the best friend I ever had. He was an amazing person, singular, irreplaceable, giving, loving. His love for our music was beyond description. He called himself the luckiest man in the world but it was us who were lucky-to know him, to share the adventure with him. He was the biggest Deadhead in the world and used our music as the soundtrack to his life. After our shows, he would regularly send messages that said, "thank you for my life." Over 1000 shows, he just couldn't get enough. Bill had an incredible passion for drums. After any meal at his house, we would play.

There was nothing like a Bill Walton... nothing.

There are things you can replace. And others you cannot. Bon voyage, old friend, I love you.

 

 

 

john mayer

Bill Walton lived a life that the rest of us could only hope to achieve on our second (or third) go-round. He had an eye toward the truly important stuff, the stuff we already know better than to lose sight of, but often do. One of Bill's great talents was to reorient you so as to stand bedside him and see the light in life that he refused to break eye contact with.

The climb to acceptance is steep in the Grateful Dead universe, and Bill gave me a huge lift up those stairs with his kindness, his encouragement, and his friendship. He will be so deeply missed, but his approach to life will never be forgotten.

I think it's pretty good advice that when times get tough, everything will be okay if you just pretend to be Bill Walton.

Thank you Bill.

this is a vid Dave Pasch retweeted that pretty much sums up the type of person Bill Walton was. Couldn’t help but cry  

 

 

 

 

 

 

the last t-shirt “I survived 12 years working with bill walton and I’ll I got was this t-shirt” couldn’t be truer. Dave Pasch was like a cattle wrangler trying to keep bill in some games. On the blowouts he’d just let bill tell stories as that was probably the only thing that kept anyone watching. Bill would be like what’s the point of talking hoops. This games over. Now let me finish my story

 

i have a video somewhere on my phone where bill was off the rails announcing a game and Dave said “maybe you had too much too fast”  😂

[robbok3]

Rob K here.  Very sad news, for sure.  Bill was one of a kind and a beacon for the rest of us to search for.  Here is an "interview" I did with him during one my pandemic Q&As

 

https://www.facebook.com/robert.koritz/videos/10158207653300170

[Dead duck]

I’d say about 80% of my NCAA bball viewership was based on whether Walton was calling the game. I loved him now……..

 

 

But as a kid I f’ing hated his ass. I was an NBA nerd thru the Jordan years and my dad was a Larry bird Celtics fan. By the time Bill got to the C’s he was older and always hurt and cried about every call. It was Pre internet so I had no knowledge of UCLA or Trailblazer Bill. I just saw old broke down crybaby bill. And once my dad and I were in a memorabilia shop and there was a framed article on the wall. “Why Bill Walton was the greatest center to ever play the game of basketball” and my dad laughed his ass off as I ranted about all the guys I thought were a million times better. Best part was the the end of the article was in small print…. “Written by Bill Walton”

😆🤣🤣 

I of course learned the legend of Walton and once I became a head obviously our relationship in my mind changed. He was an American treasure. I’d love to put out 1/10 of the love of life he showed when at a show or calling a basketball game. 

[gr8fulpair]

A ray of light in the land of darkness. An insatiable appetite for joy for himself and more importantly, those around him. Solid gold…. RIP you big, goofy ol’ sonofagun!