"Brothers who attended Helix high school in La Mesa, Califonia. Then went to UCLA before hitting the bigs."
That would be Bruce and Bill. The B's. While trying to figure out more about Helix high, I looked it up on old Wikipedia, and then noticed a Bruce Walton. I wondered if their was a relationship. There was. Bill was actually a year younger than his NFL-bound brother.
But it's actually Bill Walton that got me here. Bill Walton's brother would, however, play in a Superbowl before he got to an NBA Finals.
So Walton's numbers on the floor at Helix? Amazing. The Redhead average 29 points and 25 rebounds per game as a senior. And before he got to UCLA and was undefeated for two years, he finished his secondary-school career on a 49-game winning streak (33-0 alone in his senior year). Wow!
Now how about his older brother? Well, he tried both basketball and football, but found the later more too his liking. A scholarship at UCLA presented itself and that's where he went. Among his honours received was an Academic All-American in 1972.
On to the bigs. Walton played with the Dallas Cowboys (Think of playing for assistant coach Mike Ditka and head coach Tom Landry), and was with them for the 1976 Superbowl. Dallas came up a little short (21-17) vs. Pittsburgh.
This, alas, was the last NFL game for Bruce. A knee injury forced his retirement.
Younger brother Bill needs little introduction. Two undefeated years at UCLA. In the third, however, the team came back down to earth. On January 19th, 1974, UCLA finally lost, 71-70 to Notre Dame. Well, 73 games won in a row at the collegiate level (And 122 overall to this point) isn't bad? But when UCLA was beaten back-to-back by Oregon and Oregon State in February, it appeared their run was coming to an end.
Wins over Dayton and San Francisco propelled UCLA to the Final Four. But there, despite Walton's 29 points, 18 rebounds and 4 assists, it was North Carolina State (Behind David Thompson's 28 and 10 plus Tom Burleson's 20 and 14) taking this one in two overtimes, 80-77.
So it was the younger Walton going to the NBA after being drafted by Portland. In 1976/77, he took 'em all the way. The next year, Bill took home the regular season MVP.
And then came some injuries.
In 1978/79, it was a foot injury. And a bad one. While he made it into 14 games in 1970/80, Walton, now with the Clippers, didn't play another until 1982/83. He healthiest season came in 1985/86 when he laced 'em up for all 82 regular season games with the Boston Celtics. He didn't miss a single playoff game, either. Boston won it all with an amazing 67-15 regular season and 15-3 postseason mark. Must have seemed like old time for Bill. Although he backed up centre Robert Parish, Walton was fourth on the team in rebounding despite playing less than 20 minutes a night.
Alas, the injuries returned next season. Bill only suited up for ten regular season games. And then, when things looked good in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. the Milwaukee Bucks, he broke the right ankle. That had been the same injury that basically wiped out four seasons earlier in his career.
Nine days later, The Redhead was back. But he was clearly no longer himself. He'd really been hitting the boards nicely in the playoffs of 1987. Bill averaged about six points and six rebounds in the first round series. The poor Chicago Bulls (Yes...They did have Michael Jordan) were pushed aside in the minimum of three games.
His return wasn't what he (Or the Celtics) had hoped for. Boston went all the way to the finals. But an old adversary (And fellow UCLA alumni) in Kareem Abdul Jabbar waited there with his Los Angeles Lakers. The 40-year old took it to both Robert Parish and Bill Walton. 40 was not too old to stop 14 points, 10 and 4 block shots in game one. Parish, Walton and Greg Kite, the centres on the Celtics, had just 5 rebounds combined. Walton and his great Boston team had met their match. Five games later it was over.
Walton tried to come back. Larry Bird was a great admirer of his. He felt the spirit of the team took a upswing the next year as Bill Walton looked ready to play again. But it never happened. Another attempt at a comeback two seasons later led nowhere. So Walton disappeared from the floor.
He just couldn't stay away from the game. He found a comfortable niche in the broadcast booth on the NBA's flagship station, NBC in the 1990s. Also in the 1990s, he found himself enshrined in both the pro basketball Hall Of Fame and Oregon Hall Of Fame. His number (32) was eventually retired at both UCLA and Portland. But perhaps The Redhead's highest honour came in 1996, however, as he was named to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players Of All-Time.
References
Bird, Larry, and Bob Ryan. Larry Bird: Drive: The Story Of My Life. Doubleday, 1989. Print.
Goldaper, Sam. “WALTON IS SIDELINED WITH BROKEN FOOT.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 8 May 1987, www.nytimes.com/1987/05/08/sports/walton-is-sidelined-with-broken-foot.html. Newspaper Achive, Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
Hilton, Lisette. “Walton Weathered Injuries To Win Titles.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Walton_Bill.html. Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
Sports Reference LLC. Basketball-Reference.com - Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.basketball-reference.com/. Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
Sports Reference LLC. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com - College Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/. Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
Sports Reference LLC. "Bruce Walton State." Pro-Football-Reference.com - Pro Football Statistics and History. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WaltBr20.htm. Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
That would be Bruce and Bill. The B's. While trying to figure out more about Helix high, I looked it up on old Wikipedia, and then noticed a Bruce Walton. I wondered if their was a relationship. There was. Bill was actually a year younger than his NFL-bound brother.
But it's actually Bill Walton that got me here. Bill Walton's brother would, however, play in a Superbowl before he got to an NBA Finals.
So Walton's numbers on the floor at Helix? Amazing. The Redhead average 29 points and 25 rebounds per game as a senior. And before he got to UCLA and was undefeated for two years, he finished his secondary-school career on a 49-game winning streak (33-0 alone in his senior year). Wow!
Now how about his older brother? Well, he tried both basketball and football, but found the later more too his liking. A scholarship at UCLA presented itself and that's where he went. Among his honours received was an Academic All-American in 1972.
On to the bigs. Walton played with the Dallas Cowboys (Think of playing for assistant coach Mike Ditka and head coach Tom Landry), and was with them for the 1976 Superbowl. Dallas came up a little short (21-17) vs. Pittsburgh.
This, alas, was the last NFL game for Bruce. A knee injury forced his retirement.
Younger brother Bill needs little introduction. Two undefeated years at UCLA. In the third, however, the team came back down to earth. On January 19th, 1974, UCLA finally lost, 71-70 to Notre Dame. Well, 73 games won in a row at the collegiate level (And 122 overall to this point) isn't bad? But when UCLA was beaten back-to-back by Oregon and Oregon State in February, it appeared their run was coming to an end.
Wins over Dayton and San Francisco propelled UCLA to the Final Four. But there, despite Walton's 29 points, 18 rebounds and 4 assists, it was North Carolina State (Behind David Thompson's 28 and 10 plus Tom Burleson's 20 and 14) taking this one in two overtimes, 80-77.
So it was the younger Walton going to the NBA after being drafted by Portland. In 1976/77, he took 'em all the way. The next year, Bill took home the regular season MVP.
And then came some injuries.
In 1978/79, it was a foot injury. And a bad one. While he made it into 14 games in 1970/80, Walton, now with the Clippers, didn't play another until 1982/83. He healthiest season came in 1985/86 when he laced 'em up for all 82 regular season games with the Boston Celtics. He didn't miss a single playoff game, either. Boston won it all with an amazing 67-15 regular season and 15-3 postseason mark. Must have seemed like old time for Bill. Although he backed up centre Robert Parish, Walton was fourth on the team in rebounding despite playing less than 20 minutes a night.
Alas, the injuries returned next season. Bill only suited up for ten regular season games. And then, when things looked good in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. the Milwaukee Bucks, he broke the right ankle. That had been the same injury that basically wiped out four seasons earlier in his career.
Nine days later, The Redhead was back. But he was clearly no longer himself. He'd really been hitting the boards nicely in the playoffs of 1987. Bill averaged about six points and six rebounds in the first round series. The poor Chicago Bulls (Yes...They did have Michael Jordan) were pushed aside in the minimum of three games.
His return wasn't what he (Or the Celtics) had hoped for. Boston went all the way to the finals. But an old adversary (And fellow UCLA alumni) in Kareem Abdul Jabbar waited there with his Los Angeles Lakers. The 40-year old took it to both Robert Parish and Bill Walton. 40 was not too old to stop 14 points, 10 and 4 block shots in game one. Parish, Walton and Greg Kite, the centres on the Celtics, had just 5 rebounds combined. Walton and his great Boston team had met their match. Five games later it was over.
Walton tried to come back. Larry Bird was a great admirer of his. He felt the spirit of the team took a upswing the next year as Bill Walton looked ready to play again. But it never happened. Another attempt at a comeback two seasons later led nowhere. So Walton disappeared from the floor.
He just couldn't stay away from the game. He found a comfortable niche in the broadcast booth on the NBA's flagship station, NBC in the 1990s. Also in the 1990s, he found himself enshrined in both the pro basketball Hall Of Fame and Oregon Hall Of Fame. His number (32) was eventually retired at both UCLA and Portland. But perhaps The Redhead's highest honour came in 1996, however, as he was named to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players Of All-Time.
References
Bird, Larry, and Bob Ryan. Larry Bird: Drive: The Story Of My Life. Doubleday, 1989. Print.
Goldaper, Sam. “WALTON IS SIDELINED WITH BROKEN FOOT.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 8 May 1987, www.nytimes.com/1987/05/08/sports/walton-is-sidelined-with-broken-foot.html. Newspaper Achive, Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
Hilton, Lisette. “Walton Weathered Injuries To Win Titles.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Walton_Bill.html. Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
Sports Reference LLC. Basketball-Reference.com - Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.basketball-reference.com/. Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
Sports Reference LLC. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com - College Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/. Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
Sports Reference LLC. "Bruce Walton State." Pro-Football-Reference.com - Pro Football Statistics and History. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WaltBr20.htm. Web. 27 Dec. 2018.
Wasserman, Jonathan. “The 10 Best High School Basketball Players of All Time.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc, 3 Oct. 2017, Web. 27 Dec. 2018. bleacherreport.com/articles/1760932-the-10-best-high-school-basketball-players-of-all-time#slide0.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web 27 Dec. 2018. <https://en.wikipedia.org>.
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