UCLA Basketball: Bruins Superstar Bill Walton Dead at 71

The two-time NCAA champ was one of the legendary staples of college hoops.

Jan 27, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Pac-12 Networks analyst Bill Walton (left) and play-by-play announcer Roxy Bernstein during the game between the Southern California Trojans and the UCLA Bruins at the Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Former UCLA Bruins superstar center Bill Walton has died following a cancer battle, reports Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report. He was 71.

A native of La Mesa (outside San Diego), the 6-foot-11 superstar first blazed into the national consciousness as an affable giant with the Bruins in 1971 during the team's storied John Wooden tenure. Walton immediately became a superstar at the NCAA level, impressing fans with his deft passing touch, unique for a big man, as much as he did with his scoring and rebounding. He was thrice named the National College Player of the Year, as well as a three-time consensus All-American First Teamer, while guiding the Bruins to two consecutive undefeated (30-0) seasons that culminated with national championships in 1972 and '73. The team went "just" 26-4 during his senior season, falling in the national semifinal, 80-77, to North Carolina State.

During his three seasons with UCLA's varsity team (Wooden at the time would not let freshmen play with varsity, so Walton languished in 1970-71), Walton led the club to an 86-4 overall record, while averaging 20.3 points on 65.1 percent shooting from the field, 15.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

Walton then declared for the NBA draft, where he was a no-brainer No. 1 pick to the Portland Trail Blazers. Foot injuries abbreviated his time atop the league, although he still managed to win the 1977 title and the 1978 league MVP before his health reconfigured his availability. Walton eventually reinvented himself as a critical sixth man on one of the best NBA teams ever, the 1986 Boston Celtics, before transitioning to a broadcasting career as a free-wheeling philosopher of the game across NBC and the Pac-12 Network.

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