UCLA Basketball: Fans Ponder Fate Of Bruin-Turned-Broadcaster With Collapse Of Pac-12
RIP to the "Conference of Champions."
With the recent announcements that Arizona, Arizona State Utah and Colorado were deserting the Pac-12 for the Big 12 and Oregon and Washington were joining the USC Trojans and your UCLA Bruins in the Big Ten, it's become evident that the Pac-12 (soon to be the, uh, Pac-4?) is possibly on its death bed.
Understandably, fans are very concerned about the fate of former UCLA superstar center Bill Walton, now a play-by-play commentator for the soon-to-be-former Pac-12 Conference.
Very, very concerned:
Walton, a three-time national college player of the year and two-time NCAA champ, helped continue the legacy of his Bruins predecessor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and cement the greatness of 10-time national champion head coach John Wooden during his stint as a uniquely gifted passing center who could still bring the ruckus on defense.
The three-time consensus first-time All-American's No. 32 jersey hangs in the rafters at Pauley Pavilion. He was voted a two-time NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player while en route to his two national championships. He was also a three-time All-Pac-8 selection, a three-time NCAA All-Tourney and All-Region pick, a two-time Associated Press Player of the Year, a three-time Naismith Award winner and a three-time Rupp Trophy recipient while in college.
He went to enjoy an injury-abbreviated Hall of Fame career as a two-time NBA title-winner while with the Portland Trail Blazers and later as a reserve on the Boston Celtics. The two-time All-NBA selection was named the 1978 MVP and the 1986 Sixth Man of the Year. Across 87 regular season contests in college (Wooden didn't allow freshmen to play varsity hoops at the time), Walton averaged 20.3 points, 15.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists per bout.
And NBA Twitter is concerned about what the decimation of the Pac-12 will mean for his broadcasting future. The "Conference of Champions" is soon to be no more.
Practically speaking, one fan wonders where Walton will next be headed as a game commentator. Obviously the Big Ten would make the most sense given his UCLA ties:
Not everyone agrees with my Big Ten prescription, apparently.
Another fan felt worse for Walton in the whole affair than he did for another other collective group:
In response to the Pac-12's fairly toothless reaction to its own impending doom in 2024, another fan predicted Walton's reaction:
Another fan joked that the 2023-24 season now will serve as potentially the final time we'll hear some particular Walton-isms during games:
Jeremy J. Dodd astutely pointed out that, for another classic Walton-ism, it would behoove sports media to get a Walton quote about the whole deal:
A Kansas fan put in a bid for his services with a classic clip:
The man is a national treasure. He'd better keep this up for years to come, even if it's for another conference.
