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Bill Walton, a towering figure, both on and off the basketball court, passed away on Monday at 71.

His cause of death was related to a prolonged battle with cancer, the NBA announced on behalf of his family.

Known for his nearly 7-foot frame and larger-than-life personality, Walton was a two-time NCAA champion at UCLA and a two-time NBA champion, earning a place in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Walton’s illustrious career began at UCLA, where he played under the legendary coach John Wooden.

He became a three-time national player of the year and led the Bruins to an incredible 88-game winning streak, including a memorable performance in the 1973 NCAA title game where he scored 21 of 22 shots.

“Bill Walton was truly one of a kind,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement, according to CNN.

Tributes pour in for Bill Walton

In the NBA, Walton’s impact was immediate,...

Basketball legend Bill Walton has died at the age of 71. The Hall of Famer and Emmy-winning sports broadcaster with two NBA championships to his name died on Monday, May 27 after a prolonged battle with cancer, the NBA announced in a statement. Walton played for UCLA under coach John Wooden in the 1970s and played for the Portland Trailer Blazers, the Boston Celtics, and the San Diego/L.A. Clippers in the NBA. He was surrounded by his family upon his death. “Bill Walton was truly one of a kind,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As a Hall of Fame player, he redefined the center position. His unique all-around skills made him a dominant force at UCLA and led to an NBA regular-season and Finals Mvp, two NBA championships and a spot on the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams. “Bill then translated his infectious enthusiasm and...

Bill Walton, the gregarious NBA star who became an ESPN commentator and was well known as a dedicated fan of the Grateful Dead, has died after battling cancer, the NBA confirmed Monday. He was 71.

A towering figure who stood 6 feet 11 inches, Walton played for three NBA teams and won two championships during his 13 years in the league, which ended in 1987 after numerous injuries. He was a college superstar at UCLA and was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1993.

“Bill Walton was truly one of a kind. As a Hall of Fame player, he redefined the center position. His unique all-around skills made him a dominant force at UCLA and led to an NBA regular-season and Finals Mvp, two NBA championships and a spot on the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

“Bill then translated his infectious enthusiasm and love for the game to broadcasting,...

The United Auto Workers want the Big Three automakers to share the wealth. The powerful union went on strike on Thursday after making aggressive demands including big raises and a restoration of old benefits. It’s the first time in history the Uaw has gone on strike against the three manufacturing behemoths at the same time.

For now, the action is limited in scope. The Uaw has stopped work at just three facilities, one plant for each company. But the union has vowed to secure its demands “by any means necessary.

Neil Everett, who along with co-anchor Stan Verrett spearheaded ESPN’s long-awaited and highly anticipated invasion of Los Angeles in 2009, says his time at the network is already “in the rearview mirror” after a 23-year stint that ended with Friday’s “SportsCenter.”

Everett spoke to Ktla’s “Frank Buckley Interviews” after his final show and reflected on the highlights from his days with the World Wide Leader.

“I did Coach John Wooden’s last TV interview,” Everett said. “I became friends with Bill Walton. I met my boyhood idol Jerry West. I introduced myself to Denzel Washington who then looked at me and said, ‘I know who you are, I watch you every night!’ I talked story with Michael Keaton for 49 minutes on set…that’s got to be a ‘Sc’ record!”

Everett added, in the interview you can watch in full above, “I feel like I’m living outside...

The first time Bill Walton says “I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” he’s sitting by a river in his home state of Oregon, wearing a kaleidoscopic tie-dye T-shirt, and grinning from ear to ear. Aside from the brief video that precedes his oft-repeated tagline — a montage which hints at the disastrous injuries Walton sustained as a professional basketball player and the controversy he stirred as a Vietnam War protester — it’s easy to believe him. He’s so blissed out he’s beaming, and he’s flashed that smile so consistently over his five decades in the public eye, it’s what first comes to mind when picturing the NCAA legend, NBA star, and broadcast favorite. He’s just a happy guy. With all he’s accomplished, why wouldn’t he consider himself lucky, too?

Director Steve James, who’s often behind the camera when Walton is in focus,...

Bill Walton feels things more intensely than just about any human being on the planet. The former basketball star – a legend in college and the pros – communes with nature at almost a cellular level, taking in the beauty of his beloved Oregon, for instance, with rapt pleasure. He can tell you perhaps every body of water in the state, and its metaphorical significance (a river he compares to a fast-break in basketball).

There’s his ardor for the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and many other musicians; fandom for Paul Krugman, Timothy Egan, Robert Reich – “everything they write.”

UCLA Bruins’ Bill Walton on the cover of The Sporting News February 23, 1974.

It’s not just the present Walton feels intensely. That goes for the past, too. For example, the January 19, 1974 game when UCLA lost to Notre Dame 71-70, ending the Bruins’ unprecedented (and still never matched) 88-game winning streak. “Worst game ever,...

Bill Russell, one of the NBA’s all-time greatest players and a 11-time champion with the Boston Celtics, has died at the age of 88, his family announced on Sunday.

“It is with a very heavy heart we would like to pass along to all of Bill’s friend, fans, & followers: Bill Russell, the most prolific winner in American sports history, passed away peacefully today at age 88, with his wife, Jeannine, by his side,” his official Twitter feed said. “Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon.”

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Chicago – The legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 74 years young on April 16th, 2021, and the athlete/activist is more in demand than ever. With a commitment to social justice his entire basketball career, his achievements in that pursuit shine as bright as his record-breaking days on the b-ball court. Photographer Joe Arce publishes an Exclusive Photo of Jabbar from 2016, when he appeared at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, through Anderson’s Bookshop.

Born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor in New York City, and topping out at 7-ft-2-in., Jabbar began dominating the roundball scene early with three straight high school championships in the 1960s. At UCLA, he helped Coach John Wooden win three straight NCAA championships from 1967-69. He began his commitment to social justice during his college years, boycotting the 1968 Olympic team due to the treatment of blacks, converted to Islam during the same period and changed his named to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Baylor upset top-seeded Gonzaga, 86-70 tonight to win its first NCAA men’s national basketball championship. The Bears, who last played for the title 73 years ago, went into the game a decided underdog. That despite having lost only twice all year and coming off a lopsided win over the University of Houston on Saturday.

The Bears outhustled the typically uptempo Bulldogs on offense, playing with overwhelming energy and force and running off 9 points before Gonzaga even scratched. They would never trail.

The Zags got into foul trouble in the first half when the hero of their game against UCLA — Tyler Suggs — was forced sit after two quick calls went against him. Baylor ran up a 29-12 lead with Suggs on the bench.

As a result, Gonzaga turned the ball over repeatedly and Baylor made them pay, scoring more than a dozen points off the Bulldogs sloppy play in the half.

Paul Westphal, a Hall of Fame basketball player who starred for USC and later in the NBA, died Saturday from complications of brain cancer. He was 70.

NBA teams honored Westphal with moments of silence before Saturday night’s games. NBA commissioner Adam Silver called him, “One of the great all-around players of his era.”

Born on Nov. 30, 1950, in Torrance, Calif., Westphal surprised many by choosing USC over UCLA, which was in its heyday of national championships under the purview of legendary coach John Wooden.

Westphal led the Trojans to a 24-2 record and a No. 5 ranking as a junior, its only two losses to UCLA. He was recognized as an All-American as a junior and senior before he was selected 10th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1972 NBA draft.

His NBA career was equally successful. He won an NBA championship in 1974 with Boston. After the1975 season, he was traded to Phoenix,...

The NBA announced Saturday that it has set the date to celebrate its new Hall of Fame inductees, including the late Kobe Bryant.

The San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Bryant, the beloved Los Angeles Lakers icon, will join the sport’s greats at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in May 2021. The event, which was set to occur in Springfield, Mass. in August but eventually delayed by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, will now take place from May 13 to May 15.

The May 2021 event will be a posthumous honor for Bryant, who died at the top of 2020. Also known as “Black Mamba” on the court, Bryant was an 18-time NBA All-Star and basketball legend.

Beyond the court, Bryant was a husband to Vanessa Bryant, father to four daughters and also an Oscar winner. In 2018, he snagged his first Academy Award for his animated short film, Dear Basketball. Narrated by Bryant,...

Tommy Heinsohn, who won 10 NBA titles with the Boston Celtics as a player or coach and went on to a decades-long career as an announcer, died Tuesday in Boston, the club announced. He was 86.

“This is a devastating loss,” the Celtics ownership said in a statement. “Tommy was the ultimate Celtic. For the past 18 years, our ownership group has relied hugely on Tommy’s advice and insights and have reveled in his hundreds of stories about Red Auerbach, Bill Russell and how the Celtics became a dynasty. He will be remembered forever.”

A popular and respected Beantown legend, Heinsohn won eight titles with the Celtics as a player — including seven in a row from 1959-65 — and two more behind the bench during the 1970s. He is one of only four people inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.

Heinsohn partnered with Mike Gorman...

As football season ramps up this week, HBO Sports and NFL Films announced their teaming on a feature-length film about the long-standing relationship between generational football coaches Bill Belichick and Nick Saban.

Belichick & Saban: The Art of Coaching will air in December on the premium cabler. Check out the promo, which will air during HBO’s Hard Knocks tonight.

The film focuses on a four-decade-long friendship between two of the sport’s most successful and revered coaches. New England Patriots master Belichick and Alabama Crimson Tide frontman Saban grant unprecedented camera access to their annual coaching retreat, where they share a multi-layered conversation about their interwoven history, admiration, coaching philosophies and more. The intimate portrait invites viewers to examine first-hand their blueprints for organizational success.

“Bill Belichick and Nick Saban have become the modern versions of Vince Lombardi and John Wooden – symbols of success not just in sports but in life,...

She’s here! Khloé Kardashian gave birth to her baby girl on Thursday, April 12, and fans are so excited for the reality star. On Friday morning, Kim Kardashian responded to the birth of Khloé’s daughter on Twitter, and her message is so, so sweet. "@khloekardashian I’m so happy for you! Your baby girl is so beautiful!" she wrote. "You are so strong, you made that look so easy! I can’t wait for our baby girls to grow up as best friends the way we are! I’m so happy I was able to return the favor of holding your leg while you pushed Lol." The mother-of-three couldn't seem to contain her excitement about meeting her new niece. She added, "You guys she’s so gorgeous!!!!!" An insider actually told Life & Style that Koko's baby looks just like Tristan Thompson. "He was happy to see his daughter and was overjoyed,...

You’d think the first people to come to Khloé Kardashian’s defense after videos of Tristan Thompson cheating on her went viral would be her sisters, but Kourtney Kardashian and Kim Kardashian seem to have other plans. The reality stars have been blatantly ignoring the news, and instead, are posting sexy bikini photos of their beach vacay in Turks and Caicos. Watch the video above to see their pics! Fans think Kourtney and Kim’s posts are a little bizarre, considering all of Twitter erupted in chaos as soon as the news broke. According to the Daily Mail, Tristan was reportedly caught locking lips with a mystery woman on Saturday night, with witnesses claiming they were “obviously making out all night.” After rumors began to circulate, TMZ released a video of the NBA star kissing two women, fondling their breasts, and letting them touch his junk. Meanwhile, Khloé has...

Her best friend has her back! It's hard to imagine what Khloé Kardashian is going through after her baby daddy, NBA star Tristan Thompson was caught cheating on video and in photographs with multiple women — and all of the proof came to light while Khloé is alone at their home in Cleveland, pregnant and just days away from giving birth to their first child together. But even though most of her friends and family are in La, her longtime best friend Khadijah Haqq took to Instagram to show her support for Khlo while subtly throwing shade at Tristan at the same time. A post shared by Khadijah Haqq McCray (@foreverkhadijah) on Apr 10, 2018 at 8:26am Pdt Khadijah took to Instagram to share a text post featuring a quote by John Wooden that read, "The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." Even though...

Her best friend has her back! It's hard to imagine what Khloé Kardashian is going through after multiple reports claimed that her baby daddy, NBA star Tristan Thompson was caught cheating on video and in photographs with multiple women — and all of the proof came to light while Khloé is alone at their home in Cleveland, pregnant and just days away from giving birth to their first child together. But even though most of her friends and family are in La, her longtime best friend Khadijah Haqq took to Instagram to show her support for Khlo while subtly throwing shade at Tristan at the same time. A post shared by Khadijah Haqq McCray (@foreverkhadijah) on Apr 10, 2018 at 8:26am Pdt Khadijah took to Instagram to share a text post featuring a quote by John Wooden that read, "The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.