Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton are united in NBA draft history
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly Lew Alcindor) and Bill Walton are united as UCLA basketball icons. They both won multiple national championships and are among the very best college basketball players of all time. Kareem and Walton are easily top-10 college basketball players, based strictly on what they achieved when in college. Most college basketball experts would put both in the top five, probably the top three. These two giants also have one other thing in common: They are both No. 1 NBA draft picks who won NBA championships, fulfilling their potential as the top prospects they were. USA TODAY recalled Kareem's tribute to Walton after the ol' redhead's death last year:
'My very close friend, fellow Bruin and NBA rival Bill Walton died today. And the world feels so much heavier now,' Abdul-Jabbar wrote. 'On the court, Bill was a fierce player, but off the court, he wasn't happy unless he did everything he could to make everyone around him happy. He was the best of us.'
Alcindor/Abdul-Jabbar won the 1971 NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks and collected many more titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s. Walton won the Portland Trail Blazers' only NBA championship in 1977 before then winning it all with the 1986 Boston Celtics. Two towering centers left behind legacies to match, with elite achievements in the world of pro basketball.
As a postscript, it is also worth noting that "They met in the 1977 Western Conference finals, with Walton's Portland Trail Blazers sweeping Abdul-Jabbar's Los Angeles Lakers on their way to an NBA title. They would match up again in the playoffs, this time in the 1987 NBA Finals, with Walton then playing for the Boston Celtics. Walton and the Celtics won the 1986 NBA Finals vs. the Houston Rockets before Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers defeated them the following year."
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