Bill Walton - Special Guest Announcer

[Q_FBE]

Bill Walton is recognized as one of the best centers to ever play a game of basketball.  His career was cut too short by injuries.

Another side of him, which he has written about, is that he suffered from a serious stuttering and stammering problem that he finally conquered in adulthood.  This could be why he is so enamored with the sound of his own voice now.

I didn't know he is going to be on the whole west coast trip.   I don't get comcast, but if he is on a League Pass away channel, I will definitely give it a look.  I agree that he is very knowlegable, and can be funny...but I find him hard to listen to for long periods...reminds me of Howard Cosell.  I really haven't listened to him for a few years...so will try again.

Bill Walton brightened up many a telecast during the Dark Ages of the Jordan and then KobeShaq Eras of the NBA (To us it was the Duration of Paul Gaston and Rick Pitino Great Sufferings). His priceless pontifications and words of wit   kept me tuned in to the NBA game of the week. Keep in mind I never watched the basketball... It was the opportunity to spend a cold Kansas Sunday afternoon listening to Bill Walton compare Boris Diaw to Mozart and the Romantic Era   Having him wander off on various tangents that had nothing to do with basketball was his way of expressing that the game we were watching had very little importance to the overall history of the NBA It seemed that he was waiting for something good to happen for the Celtics, Clippers, or Trailblazers. Perhaps he can sweet talk Don Sterling into trading us Blake Griffen for Glen Davis and a 1st round draft pick some time on this West coast trip. If the Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown trade can go down, why not Blake Griffen for Glen Davis and a Number One to balance things out and keep the greatest rivalry in Western Civilization going .

I was stuck with the TNT broadcast and was deprived of the opportunity for a lively exchange between Bill Walton and Mike Gorman. I had to settle for pontificating in the chat room . Most of all I miss that . Throw it down, big fella, THROW IT DOWN.

[kozlodoev]

I was quite underwhelmed with Walton's performance. Not only were his comments repetitive, but he also insisted to cut into the play-by-play time.

I actually had to switch to TNT mid-first quarter, because watching Comcast was getting _that_ annoying.

[action781]

OH NO!!  I love Bill as a commentator, truly miss him, and caught the game on TNT last night!!  I had no idea he was calling the game.  Does anybody know if he's scheduled to do any other broadcasts???  Please tell if so! 

[j804]

Is he covering the game against LA? Thatd be interesting

[kozlodoev]

He will be covering Phoenix as well. I think Max will be doing the Lakers game.

[thirstyboots18]

Bill Walton is recognized as one of the best centers to ever play a game of basketball.  His career was cut too short by injuries.

Another side of him, which he has written about, is that he suffered from a serious stuttering and stammering problem that he finally conquered in adulthood.  This could be why he is so enamored with the sound of his own voice now.

I didn't know he is going to be on the whole west coast trip.   I don't get comcast, but if he is on a League Pass away channel, I will definitely give it a look.  I agree that he is very knowlegable, and can be funny...but I find him hard to listen to for long periods...reminds me of Howard Cosell.  I really haven't listened to him for a few years...so will try again.

Bill Walton brightened up many a telecast during the Dark Ages of the Jordan and then KobeShaq Eras of the NBA (To us it was the Duration of Paul Gaston and Rick Pitino Great Sufferings). His priceless pontifications and words of wit   kept me tuned in to the NBA game of the week. Keep in mind I never watched the basketball... It was the opportunity to spend a cold Kansas Sunday afternoon listening to Bill Walton compare Boris Diaw to Mozart and the Romantic Era   Having him wander off on various tangents that had nothing to do with basketball was his way of expressing that the game we were watching had very little importance to the overall history of the NBA It seemed that he was waiting for something good to happen for the Celtics, Clippers, or Trailblazers. Perhaps he can sweet talk Don Sterling into trading us Blake Griffen for Glen Davis and a 1st round draft pick some time on this West coast trip. If the Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown trade can go down, why not Blake Griffen for Glen Davis and a Number One to balance things out and keep the greatest rivalry in Western Civilization going .

I was stuck with the TNT broadcast and was deprived of the opportunity for a lively exchange between Bill Walton and Mike Gorman. I had to settle for pontificating in the chat room . Most of all I miss that . Throw it down, big fella, THROW IT DOWN.

If he makes you smile that much, Q, I hope I can get him on League Pass!  I like to smile, too. 

[vinnie]

Lakers game is a national broadcast. There is no CSNNE broadcast for this game.

[Alowesio]

I loved when he was talking about Joel Pryzbilla.  He said something like "There's Pryzbilla, doing what he does best, violating the rules!"  and later he said that Pryzbilla has no respect for humanity.  He seems to be a love him or hate him kind of guy. 

[Mike-Dub]

Lakers game is a national broadcast. There is no CSNNE broadcast for this game.

Bill's gonna be in the studio for that.

[Neurotic Guy]

A piece on Bill Walton overcoming his stuttering (also a blurb on former NBA star Bob Love).

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Speech-Language_Pathology/Stuttering/Famous_People_Who_Stutter/Athletes

[butterbeanlove]

Just catching up on last night's game (thanks to my two-hour commute tonight, don't get me started).

Walton is brilliant. I love Tommy, but Walton is totally pointing out useful knowledge (like when Portland switched to a 1-2-2 zone - he spotted that before the ball had even crossed half-court).

I'd still take Tommy over any national announcer other than the occasional Hubie Brown, though. You have to listen to somebody as good as Walton to realize how bad most of these hacks are with their prepared story lines and no knowledge of the game.

MIKE BREEN I'M TALKING TO YOU

[jambr380]

Bill Walton is a genius as a commentator. I really began to love him duuring the older NBA 2K games and then was very sad when he no longer did those games or real NBA games.

He is articulate, informative, and funny - seriously one of a kind in my opinion.

[BASS_THUMPER]

"throw it down big man"

[butterbeanlove]

Bill Walton is a genius as a commentator. I really began to love him duuring the older NBA 2K games and then was very sad when he no longer did those games or real NBA games.

He is articulate, informative, and funny - seriously one of a kind in my opinion.

TP - he is an individual, not somebody who is parroting someone else's catchphrases. The same with most of KG's quotes. No cliches or talking points.

The more people are on Twitter, etc., the less they will bring something new to the table, and the more we will all have the same thoughtstream.

Thank God Tommy doesn't know what Twitter is.

[birdwatcher]

I wish I could agree--I had to switch broadcasts both nights because Walton is so bad IMO. I'll take Van Gundy over Bill Walton any day...