BASKETBALL

Bill Walton Vs. USC Photo Gallery

Here’s some photos of Bill Walton vs. USC during his college career:

Walton against USC at the Sports Arena in 1972.

Here are three pictures of Bill Walton facing USC in 1974.

Bill Walton, Tommy Curtis and Keith Wilkes guarded by Mike Westra, Danny Anderson and Gus Williams in 1974.

Here is Walton facing USC great Ron Riley in 1972.

At first glance, it looks like Bill Walton is facing USC at the Sports Arena. But this is Florida State in the national championship game in 1972, which was played at the Sports Arena. Imagine the Sports Arena hosting a Final Four.

21 thoughts on “Bill Walton Vs. USC Photo Gallery”

  2. I recall seeing Walton up close entering the sports arena versus SC, a very tall red-headed goofy looking kid and how he dismantled SC over and over again, probably a good reason why I never warmed to the guy, that and as an announcer he was a prima donna show-off

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    1. Wooden continued to play on bad ankles for the gutties, he was pushed by Wooden to keep playing despite being in constant pain. After his NBA career, I believe he had both of his ankles fused (e.g., no movement at all in that joint) due to horrible arthritis.

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      1. “The Coach” got the most out of his players —- even if it screwed them over for life.

        #WoodenAsAMan:MIxedBag….

        [I guess if this storyline doesn’t bring back our old friend Owns —nothing will]……..

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      2. Yes, Wooden of course wasn’t the only coach to do this back in the day, but the press and NCAA treated him with kid gloves.

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      3. 100%! L. A. Sports Press was The Last Word back in those days. No way was it gonna undercut a UCLA National Championship run.

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  4. Trojan 1971 team was 24-2, I believe, with the 2 losses to the gutties. Trojan center Mike Westra played his heart out against Walton, but Westra was undersized. Those were the days when gutty booster Sam Gilbert’s organized crime $$$ ensured that Wooden signed the best of the best, with the guys riding the gutty bench likely starting on almost any other team.

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      1. Walton said the following about Sam Gilbert and ucla violations:

        “ucla should have lost about 10 national championships and been put on probation for about 100 years”

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      2. 67. I heard that comment. Walton said a lot of provocative things. But the statement lacks any detail. Alcindor and Walton, the two biggest stars ever, to my knowledge, never suggested that UCLA paid them to play. Both were adamant that they went there for the education and the Wooden reputation of producing great teams.

        LA Times did a series of articles on Sam Gilbert about 20 years ago. They described him as a fixer. He supposedly procured an abortion for a player’s girlfriend. Paid for a few airline tickets. Paid some rent when players were facing eviction. Got some legal problems to go away. And would use his home to entertain the players on Sundays complete with dinners and an open bar. All of these are NCAA violations. But the article did not say that UCLA players were being paid $10,000 or $25,000 or any other amount to play. I was really surprised that the article did not make that point given that so many have accused Gilbert of paying players. If he did, the LA Times did not report on it.

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    1. ucla hoops accomplishments during the Wooden years will probably never come closed to being equaled. But the rules never applied to them as they did to everyone else.

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      1. If the NCAA had left them alone, Carroll & Garrett would have gone on quite a run…..but that wasn’t gonna happen.

        #[Golden Age USC baseball came close, btw]…..

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  6. One final note on Bill Walton is that now he knows for sure whether to be grateful to be dead, but despite his constant upbeat persona he sure was not rewarded with the best health while on earth from serious back problems to cancer finally taking him down

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  7. A cute story about how Walton was at a Grateful Dead concert and a group of guys approached him, apparently not knowing who he was, and said, “Man, you are really tall you should try playing basketball,” to which Walton good-naturedly said, “I never thought of that, maybe I should give basketball a try”

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    1. …..Bill was only 9 years old at the time…turned out that was just the nudge he needed…..

      #RestIs[Apocryphal]History

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