{"id":1513987,"date":"2022-06-12T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-12T15:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1513987"},"modified":"2022-06-12T11:12:04","modified_gmt":"2022-06-12T15:12:04","slug":"the-boston-celtics-took-a-serious-risk-with-bill-walton-in-1986-and-it-paid-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/the-boston-celtics-took-a-serious-risk-with-bill-walton-in-1986-and-it-paid-off\/","title":{"rendered":"The Boston Celtics Took a Serious Risk With Bill Walton in 1986, and It Paid Off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Boston Celtics<\/a> nearly repeated as champions in the 1985 NBA Finals. They knocked off the Los Angeles Lakers in 1984 for their second title of the decade. They faced LA again the following year but just didn't have quite enough as the Lakers bounced Boston in six games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The core pieces were there for the Celtics. Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale<\/a> made up arguably the best frontcourt in the league. Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge gave Boston a tremendous backcourt. The Celtics needed bench help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celtics president and GM Red Auerbach<\/a> took a risk. He reached out to Bill Walton,<\/a> a veteran and oft-injured center. Like most of Auerbach's moves, it turned out just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Boston Celtics traded for Bill Walton before the 1985-86 season<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Former Boston Celtics player Bill Walton waves to fans in the crowd in the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors during Game 4 of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 10, 2022, in Boston, Massachusetts. | Elsa\/Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Celtics had four future Hall of Famers in their starting lineup<\/a> (Bird, Parish, McHale, and Johnson) during the 1985-86 season. It was the bench that needed work. Walton needed a change of scenery<\/a> after playing for seasons with the Clippers, who recently moved from San Diego to Los Angeles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walton's career was marred by injuries. He missed three full seasons with a foot injury after playing four strong seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland made Walton the first pick in the 1974 NBA Draft after an outstanding college career at UCLA. With Portland, he helped guide the Blazers to an NBA championship in 1977. Walton was also named the MVP of the league for the 1977-78 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walton hit a stretch where he missed three out of the next four seasons. The one season he played came in 1979-80 when he appeared in 14 games with the San Diego Clippers. Walton then played three uneventful seasons with the Clippers. There was no winning culture. He needed a change, and the Celtics needed a veteran big man off the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a perfect match. It was also a completely different role for Walton. No longer the star of the team, he found himself among several stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a completely different role,\u201d Walton told former Celtics forward Brian Scalabrine in a 2020 video put out by the\u00a0Boston Celtics.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cI was only playing a few minutes a game. My basic role was to tell Larry what the schedule was and to make sure he knew what time the game started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Celtics made a risky and expensive move to land Walton<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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