Roxy Bernstein on His Broadcast Partner: `There will never be another Bill Walton'

Cal grad Bernstein, who worked hundreds of games with Walton, says he's a better person because of the Hall of Famer

Bill Walton and Roxy Bernstein / Twitter

Broadcaster Roxy Bernstein estimates he’s called more than 300 college basketball games alongside Hall of Famer Bill Walton.

So when Walton died earlier today at the age of 71 after a battle with cancer, we went to a Cal grad to talk about his friend, a UCLA alum.

Here’s my conversation with Bernstein:

*** Roxy, please share with us your reaction to the news of the day:

“Even though I had an inkling this was coming, I know he’d been battling cancer for a bit, but yet the devastation, how much it crushed me when I got a call this morning about it, it’s still fresh, even though I was semi-prepared for it.

“It’s certainly been an emotional day . . . a lot of tears, a lot of smiles, talking to our friends close to Bill. We’re there for each other right now. I just keep thinking of my friend and I can’t help but smile at the joy he’s brought to my life. I’m certainly a better person because of Bill Walton.”

*** What do you think accounts for Walton's widespread appeal with people?

“I think because of his passion and how genuine he is. It’s not fake. When you see him on TV and he’s saying these outlandish, wild things, he’s having fun. He’s celebrating where he’s at. And every game he did, that was the most important place in the universe to be. And that’s the way he embraced it.

“It didn’t matter what game we were doing. The way he celebrated life, it was genuine. He loved to be in the moment. And I think people gravitated toward that. He’d been through so much in his life in terms of the pain and the physical ailments, the nearly 40 surgeries that he had had for all the knee, foot, back issues. And he came out better because of it in terms of his mental approach. The way he celebrated his life, I think people wanted to be just like Bill Walton if they could.”

*** Talk about some of the challenges of being the play-by-play guy with Bill as the analyst. Because Bill could stray from the topic a little bit.

“Could? Nothing was planned. Nothing was contrived. It was all natural and organic when we were on the game together. Let’s say we had a Saturday night game 7 o’clock and both teams had their shoot-arounds earlier in the day and we would go to them. Bill and I would never talk. There was nothing prepared. 

“I’d try to say something, even to say hello, and he’d look at me with his quizzical look, like, `Why am I talking to him?’ I’d even ask something innocuous like, `How’s Lori doing?’ He’d look at me and go, `Roxy, save it for air.’ 

“I enjoyed the challenge of it. I’d strap a seatbelt on when I hopped into my seat. It was his game within the game. He wasn’t competing anymore, but he was competing maybe with me. It was so much fun to be a part of. So different, whether I was working with Sean Farnham or Corey Williams or Don MacLean or Matt Muehlebach. Whoever it was, it was nothing like working with Bill and I cherished every time I got to work with him.”

*** Twenty years from now you’re at dinner with friends and one of them asks you to tell your best Bill Walton story, what would you say?

“Gosh, I have so many. And it’s funny because I’ll think of one, and another one will pop into my head. Like when he begged me to take my kids and go see the (Grateful) Dead. They were 8 and 5 years old — he challenged me to go see the Dead with him . . . that I was scared to do it with him.

“I got to return the favor sort of and took him to see Adam Duritz and Counting Crows. Adam texts me right at the end of the show and said, `Bill might have been the greatest audience member I’ve ever had in my life.’ 

“The trip to China with the Pac-12 Network and spending a week with him and having breakfast with Bill and Yao Ming. These are the doors that he opened for me. They were celebrating the 50th anniversary of his ’72 (UCLA) national championship team and he made me go to dinner — like he really had to twist my arm — with Jamaal Wilkes and all those guys.

“But that’s who he was. He was so embracing. We’re in Hawaii doing the Maui Invitational one year and he would knock on my door at 6 a.m. and would ask if he could take my kids to breakfast. Every day we were in Maui he wanted to do that. He just did it because he loved it and loved being around people. 

“And I loved being around Bill.  It made my life better. It enriched my life. He made me a better version of myself. You’ve seen it at games: You know when Bill gets done with a broadcast he’s not done for the night. There’s a line out the door, no matter what arena we’re in, to take pictures, to get autographs, just to meet Bill. And he doesn’t turn anyone away. They all leave with the experience of meeting Bill Walton. Nobody is disappointed. I’ve seen him give his email out. I’ve seen him give his phone number out to people. 

“That’s who he is and, again, it’s so genuine. It really is a trait that I wish everybody had. Because we’d be such a better place as a world if there were more Bill Waltons around. There’s not — there will never be another Bill Walton. I’m sad because I’ll never be in that aura again.”