Here are some of the leaders, newsmakers, sports legends and entertainment greats who have died so far this year.
Walton was a familiar face to basketball fans for more than half a century, first as a star player and later as a sportscaster.WASHINGTON — Bill Walton, who starred for John Wooden's UCLA Bruins before becoming a Hall of Famer for his NBA career and one of the biggest stars in basketball broadcasting, died Monday, the league announced on behalf of his family. Walton, who had a prolonged fight with cancer, was 71.
“It’s very hard to put into words what he has meant to UCLA’s program, as well as his tremendous impact on college basketball," UCLA coach Mick Cronin said Monday."Beyond his remarkable accomplishments as a player, it’s his relentless energy, enthusiasm for the game and unwavering candor that have been the hallmarks of his larger than life personality.
Walton retired from the NBA and turned to broadcasting, something he never thought he could be good at — and an avenue he sometimes wondered would be possible for him, because he had a pronounced stutter at times in his life.“In life, being so self-conscious, red hair, big nose, freckles and goofy, nerdy-looking face and can’t talk at all. I was incredibly shy and never said a word,” Walton told The Oregonian newspaper in 2017. “Then, when I was 28 I learned how to speak.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” he once said on a broadcast, tie-dyed T-shirt on, a Hawaiian lei around his neck.
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