It was Tribute Night at Moda Center, and Bill would have approved

A Walton mural was part of a memorabilia table fans were able to pore through before the game and at halftime

(Note: Here is a link to my story posted the day following Bill Walton’s death last year.) 

For a night, Bill Walton was alive again at Moda Center, living through his family, his friends, his former teammates and the Trail Blazer fans.

Big Red passed away from cancer last May 27 at age 71, but his spirit moved those in the building as the Blazers celebrated Bill Walton Tribute Night Sunday during the team’s 119-112 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

An announced crowd of 19,661 included seven of the eight living members of the 1977 NBA championship team led by Walton. In the house were Lionel Hollins, Dave Twardzik, Bob Gross, Lloyd Neal, Wally Walker, Johnny Davis and Corky Calhoun. Larry Steele was in Las Vegas, watching granddaughter Ally Schimel play for Oregon State in the West Coast Conference Tournament.

Bill Walton’s former teammates in attendance at his tribute night at Moda Center, all wearing Walton memorial tie-dye shirts, are shown on the Jumbotron. From left, they are Bob Gross, Dave Twardzik, Corky Calhoun, Wally Walker, Lloyd Neal, Lionel Hollins and Johnny Davis

The other four team members, all deceased, were Walton, Maurice Lucas, Herm Gilliam and Robin Jones.

Sunday’s crowd also included Walton’s widow, Lori Walton, and a huge delegation of family members.

Fourteen of Walton’s grandchildren attended Sunday night’s game. Three of them pose for the camera

“We have six kids and spouses and 14 grandkids here,” Lori told me before Sunday’s game. “It is the first time we have all been together in forever. When Bill was alive, very rarely were we ever together with all four kids and the grandkids.”

Bill’s sons were on the scene — Adam, Nate, Chris and Luke, the latter an assistant coach with the Pistons.

During his media availability, Detroit coach JB Bickerstaff made mention of the occasion.

“In our basketball world, this night is a huge deal,” Bickerstaff said. “I would love for our (Piston players) to understand just how much Bill Walton meant to the game of basketball and to the world in general.

“From a basketball standpoint, you would be hard-pressed to find anybody … who was more world-renowned or famous or impactful society-wise than Bill. It wasn’t just his basketball game that made him special or unique. His personality was one of the more effusive we have seen. His care for the world was different than most people. The way he played the game was so selfless, but that’s how he lived his life, also. He lived a life of uplift, to bring people together.

Todd Bosma, director of game operations for the Blazers, poses in his unique tie-dye jacket

“I am fortunate to be here to be part of this, and to have had a relationship with big Bill. And I appreciate the friendship I have with Luke because of it.”

Also at Moda was David Lucas, son of Maurice, Walton’s best buddy and chief running mate with the ’77 Blazers. During a timeout, David sank three free throws to secure free Jamba Juice coupons for everyone in the house.

Video tributes to Walton played before the game and during timeouts. Tie-dye T-shirts were the principal apparel item for the evening. Chauncey Billups wore one to his pre-game media availability, cracking, “I’m the black Bill Walton.” The Blazers donned them for warmups and veteran Matisse Thybulle wore one on the Blazer bench throughout the game.

Blazer TV crew member Dale Plog models a tie-dye T-shirt that he says Walton himself gave him in 2002

In the arena, vendors were moving tie-dye shirts to customers with rapidity. Free tye-die headbands were distributed at the door to ticket-holders. A Grateful Dead tribute band played at halftime. It was all stuff that would have had Bill nodding his head and smiling with approval.

Tie-dye shirts were a hot purchasing item at kiosks throughout the Moda Center concourse Sunday night

Neal and Gross live in the Portland area, but the Blazers flew in the other five former players from the East Coast. Three live in North Carolina — Twardzik in Pinehurst, Davis in Asheville, Calhoun in Clayton. Hollins came from Memphis and Walker from Charlottesville, Va.

The Blazers put them up in the Ritz-Carlton and hosted a dinner on Saturday night for the entire group, then a brunch for the family on Sunday.

“We are absolutely blown away by everything the Blazers are doing,” Lori Walton said. “They could not be more kind, generous, thoughtful. They have gone over the top to make sure this weekend is super special for us. Their attention to detail has been amazing. We are so grateful. I just wish Bill could have been here to enjoy it with us.”

Bill’s widow, Lori Walton (right), with Stephanie Krohn, Neil Everett’s wife, and broadcaster Everett in a Moda suite before the game

Lori continues to live in the seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom ranch-style home in San Diego that Bill purchased in 1979 after leaving the Trail Blazers.

“I am In the process of packing it up,” she told me. “Bill and I were married 34 years and he had the house 10 before that. We had never planned on moving. When you have that mentality, you never throw anything away.

“I loved Bill to death, but he was basically a pack rat/borderline hoarder. There is not an inch of wall space that wasn’t covered by Grateful Dead posters, family pictures … there are just things everywhere.”

Walton’s former teammates were appreciative of the Blazers’ hospitality, too.

“Wally and Corky hadn’t arrived yet, but everybody else showed up for dinner (Saturday night), and it was fabulous,” said Twardzik, who arrived last Thursday with wife Kathe and was scheduled to fly home on Tuesday.

Davis, who came with wife Lezli, echoed Twardzik’s sentiments.

“It has been a wonderful weekend,” Davis said. “The Blazers have been phenomenal, provided everything we needed, made us feel very comfortable.”

One quibble. The fans never had a chance to show their love for the former players on hand for the celebration. The group stood and waved to the fans from the suite in which they watched the game between the first and second quarters, but that was it. Couldn’t they have been made available for a short pre-game autograph-signing session on the concourse? I don’t think the “alums” would have minded, and the fans would have eaten up the opportunity to see them up close.

The players have gotten together for reunions in Portland periodically through the years. It is always an occasion they enjoy.

“The thing that strikes me whenever we get together is this: Everybody likes everybody else,” Twardzik said. “We were a close team not just on the floor. It’s not like we went out to dinner with each other all the time, but we liked each other and we respected each other. It has been great coming back.”

This time was particularly meaningful, Davis said.

“My former teammate and good friend Bill Walton deserves all of this and more,” he said. “I am so happy that the city and the Trail Blazers and all of Bill’s fans have shown this support and love for him.

“You go through the memories and all the things along the journey to the championship — those are the things that are really important. The camaraderie, your experiences together — that’s what made it special. “Bill Walton was the reason that all of this happened. Bill gave us the greatest gift that he could ever give to his teammates — the right to call ourselves champions. He provided that for us and the city of Portland.”

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