The ex-Blazers superstar revolutionized the center position.
Former Portland Trail Blazers MVP center Bill Walton has sadly passed away after a cancer battle, aged 71.The 6-foot-11 big man was a revolutionary force during his NBA tenure.
Walton ascended to "Best Player Alive" status by the 1976-77 season, during which he finished second in league MVP voting and led Portland to its only league championship . He was named MVP in 1978, despite being limited to just 58 contests due to a career-destabilizing foot injury. Walton missed the entire 1978-79 season with the ailment, and the next time fans saw him he was playing for his hometown San Diego Clippers in 1979-80.
But it cannot be understated how big an impact he had on Portland basketball. That 1977 team, coached by the legendary Jack Ramsey, went 49-33, then torched the Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Playoffs before trouncing Julius Irving's Philadelphia 76ers in a six-game Finals encounter. During that subsequent MVP season , he averaged 18.9 points on 52.2 percent shooting from the floor, 13.2 rebounds, five assists, 25. blocks and a steal.
Walton wasn't just a great scorer, rebounder and defender — he was a stupendous passer for his position, perhaps the best prior to the arrival of three-time Denver Nuggets MVP center Nikola Jokic.
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