What would have been a run-of-the-mill ESPN Wednesday double-header became a spectacular night thanks to “The Crossover” — a special day in which college basketball analysts cross over to the pro game, injecting their colorful emotion into these NBA games, this time prior to the impending All-Star break.
However, last night's case was different.
Personally, I happened to be in attendance for the Golden State Warriors vs. Portland Trail Blazers game at the Moda Center, and while I've had my fair share of opportunities to cover teams with media access, enjoying the game as a fan is a precious feeling much tougher to replicate.
While being part of nearly 20,000 screaming fans in an NBA arena is an exhilarating feeling, I was partly bummed to miss the call by Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who was one of two color analysts, along with Doris Burke — a tandem that screams excitement for longtime basketball fans like myself.
Walton visited both teams during morning shootaround and spent time talking to players prior to this season's debut at the mic, but his passion and exuberance showed throughout the call, evoking a roaring congregation of basketball fanatics through years of experience as a player, fan, and student of the game.
In a normal broadcast, Kevin Durant scoring a season-high 50 points, but proving not enough against Damian Lillard's 44 and C.J. McCollum's 29 — would have been the headliner, but for some — it was Walton who stole the show.
Throughout the broadcast, it's evident that Walton is unapologetically a raving fan of this fast-paced, ball-sharing Warriors team, yet his respect and knowledge of the history of the team who once drafted him is unparalleled.
From random tirades of past heroes who played for the Trail Blazers franchise to geographical gems from various landmarks of both cities. Remembering names, ages, and even the birthplace of some of the teams' executives — tidbits that any other analyst would struggle to even find in the most detailed of pre-game notes.
While most would peg the 65-year-old as a ramblin' man, Walton rattles off names and years with deadeye precision — not only an NBA historian but a Lexicon of all things hoops — a trait that comes to him innately.
Walton's commentary style combined two of the best things for basketball pundits — the ability to see things from a broader perspective and the sheer joy of seeing something spectacular take place right in front of him and bringing it to life in our TV sets.
The once-former Trail Blazer notes the things most fail to mention, such as bringing up how Stephen Curry's career was on the ropes after his second year in the league due to chronic ankle injuries, and how he was able to develop his now-famous pre-game dribbling routine after working with Accelerate Sports in his native Charlotte — forced to be in a cast for several months and limited to using only his upper body.
Sure, Walton will cut people off more times than a mother-in-law will over Thanksgiving dinner, but his style is indisputably unlike any other in today's pro game.
For those tired of former-player analysts tooting their own horn during the broadcast, Walton is a fresh breath of air, always talking about others in a great and positive manner and ensuring that even the people behind the scenes get their due credit.
Walton is at times reborn into a poet mid-broadcast, railing off some of his favorite tirades, as he did when musing over the “All-Pac-12″ All-Star Team, including the likes of DeMar DeRozan (USC), Kevin Love (UCLA), Klay Thompson (Washington State), Russell Westbrook (UCLA), and James Harden (Arizona State).
“The West is the best,” said Walton during the broadcast. “Just get here and we'll take care of the rest.”
Walton is a giant in person, but a radiant child at heart, and one who hasn't lost the passion for the game, the players, or the rules — living every play in ways that would make Stevie Wonder see what we see in our couches when we flip to an NBA game.
“Shoot it! Shoot it!” he yells into the mic as Curry dribbles past the half-court line, excited to watch a good shooting display as any other fan paying a share of hard-earned dollars to come see these two teams in a Western Conference clash.
“This is the NBA, these are men playing for fame, money, and history,” Walton says, cutting off Burke for what seemed like the 50th time during the broadcast to complain about a foul call on Draymond Green. “Let them play!”
The 7-footer isn't shy about having fun during the broadcast, picking at play-by-play commentator Dave Pasch — thing that no other color commentator would dare to do in a regular game.
But all of this stuff that would be seemingly frowned upon in a professional basketball game becomes forgivable because he is Bill Walton, resident hippie of the NBA and one of the most beloved people within the game, for players, coaches, and many others in NBA circles.
A game like this, that already had plenty of fireworks to keep viewers at the edge of their seats, was made into a galactic explosion by Walton's commentary.
Want something better than a top-of-the-line steak? — season it. And boy did Walton bring the right set of spices.
Walton's epic verbal prose wasn't limited to comparing Curry to Mozart or Durant to Steve Jobs, thanks to his new partnership with Apple; but his humor applies even to his natural self-deprecating attitude when learning that his son, Luke; now coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, had been ejected from a game earlier in the night.
“Luke was ejected?,” asked Walton in complete shock. “I have failed as a father.”
Never change, Bill Theodore Walton III.
Please never change.
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