If Bill Walton stayed healthy

[Nowitness]

Does he go down as the GOAT C and top 3 player of all time?

[Suguru101]

Probably top 5. He had a great team around him, there is no reason he could not have won 2-3 titles, or even more.

As far as comparing him to other centers, the closest i can describe him would be: Make Bird a center, take some of his scoring ability, and give him DPOY capabilities instead. I think that would have made him a top 5 GOAT.

[LAZERUSS]

The reality was, Walton's Blazers had a two year run (and, of course, he was injured in the second year and basically missed the playoffs)...in perhaps the weakest two years in NBA history. How weak were they? The Lakers, with KAJ and nothing else, had the best record in the league in one of them, at 53-29. And despite the Blazers sweeping them in the WCF's, the last three wins were by narrow margins, and in a series in which KAJ just pummeled Walton. Then Walton led a back-door sweep over a 50-32 Sixer team in the Finals.

In the next season, while the Blazers were streaking to a 50-10 record, the rest of the NBA was mired in mediocrity. And when Walton went down, his Blazers limped home at 58-24. The next best mark was achieved by the Sixers, who went 55-27. In a league with 22 teams,THREE won 50+ games. Oh, and the 44-38 Bullets knocked off the Sixers, 4-2, en route to beating a 47 win Seattle team, 4-3, in the Finals.

In fact, from the 74-75 season thru the 78-79 season, the NBA was just a weak damned league. In 74-75 the 48-34 Warriors shocked the heavily-favored 60-22 Bullets in the Finals, 4-0, and coming from behind in the 4th period in each to eke out all four wins.

Then that Warrior team just blew away the league in 75-76. In the year before the ABA would merge with the NBA (and only added four teams BTW), the Warriors had a 59-23 record, and by far the largest ppg differential in the league, and that was only +6.7. The next best team in the league was Boston, at 54-28, and their ppg differential was only +2.3. Oh, and the Warriors and Celtics were the ONLY two teams in the league to post 50+ wins. But it gets worse. The Warriors then lost in the WCF's, 4-2, to a 42-40 Phoenix team. Boston went on to beat the Suns in the Finals, 4-2, but most of the games were close.

And after Walton went down in that 77-78 season, he never again was completely healthy. In the 78-79 season, the NBA again only had THREE teams win 50+ games, with the defending champion Bullets putting up the league best record of 54-28. And they would get their clocks cleaned by the 52-30 Sonics in the Finals.

HOWEVER, both MAGIC and BIRD would arrive in the 79-80 season, and suddenly the age of parity was blown away. Bird's Celtics went 61-21, and Magic's Lakers went 60-22. The Sixers went 56-26, and the defending champion Sonics went 56-26. All told there were now SIX teams with 50+ wins.

So, do I believe a healthy Walton would have won more rings? Most likely he would have won a ring in '78. And had he and that same roster been healthy in '79, there was a good chance he would have won another.

Of course, we will never know how all of the circumstances would have played out had he never been injured, but if the conditions would have somehow remained as they would become, in all likelyhood, that would have been it. We saw what Kareem could do against his Blazers with no help. Now with Magic, I don't see that Blazer roster having a prayer against LA (as the defending champion Sonics found out.)

And the reality was, the Celtics and Sixers got stronger, too. And, of course when Philly added Moses, they became invincible (at least for a year.)

Walton was never on Kareem's, nor Moses' level, either. Moses could single handedly carry pathetic rosters to the Finals, and when he was finally blessed with a talented roster, he wiped out the league.

A healthy Walton would have essentially been what he was when he was healthy...a 19-14-4 .525 player who was one of the best defensive centers in the league, but not a truly dominant center like Moses and a near-prime KAJ.

And for those that believe the hype, just watch this video footage. Here was KAJ just crushing Walton one-on-one, then easily handling Walton and a double; and even abusing triple-teams. And the reality was, had Kareem had a guard who could get the ball past half-court in that series, and he likely would have averaged 40 ppg on 60%+ shooting, instead of "only" 30 ppg on 60%+ shooting. Furthermore, had he had even an average roster, with a couple of decent shooters, Walton would not have had the help that he did have. One-on-one it would have been pure bloodshed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coHMK...os=YqP06ya0k4w

Enjoy...

[Joshumitsu]

Probably win 3 more championships in between 78-82 (definitely winning 78, most likely winning 79, not going to beat Magic's first year but probably lucky enough to win another later on). Definitely not GOAT center but people will cite him as the prototype player to Duncan and Hakeem.

Also, this means the Blazers curse doesn't exist in this universe.

A healthy Sabonis+Drexler+Porter would probably net 1-3 championships during the 92 Finals and during MJ's injury/first retirement.

And Oden+Roy+Aldridge would get one the year the Mavs won.

[Duggrr]

Probably win 3 more championships in between 78-82 (definitely winning 78, most likely winning 79, not going to beat Magic's first year but probably lucky enough to win another later on). Definitely not GOAT center but people will cite him as the prototype player to Duncan and Hakeem.

Also, this means the Blazers curse doesn't exist in this universe.

A healthy Sabonis+Drexler+Porter would probably net 1-3 championships during the 92 Finals and during MJ's injury/first retirement.

And Oden+Roy+Aldridge would get one the year the Mavs won.

[stalkerforlife]

Is it true black players tried to injure Walton on a constant basis and ruin his career?

[stanlove1111]

Probably top 5. He had a great team around him, there is no reason he could not have won 2-3 titles, or even more.

As far as comparing him to other centers, the closest i can describe him would be: Make Bird a center, take some of his scoring ability, and give him DPOY capabilities instead. I think that would have made him a top 5 GOAT.

Sport on with the Bird comparison.

One thing I don't understand is why say top 5. There are a top 6 right now and they 4 are so close that if you bump any then you could easily bump a few. Top 6 right now are Russell,Wilt,Jabbar,Bird,magic, and Jordan..I think Walton would join them and there would be a top 7 right now.

[SHAQisGOAT]

Wow, that's too much... But I'd still say big chances for top10 all-time, and top5 center.

Dude was only going into his mid-20s and already was just a great player with terrific impact... A great rebounder, arguably the GOAT passing center, played DPOY-level defense, even capable of impacting the game with his scoring, made FT's, putting up almost 20 ppg on pretty good efficiency, raised his game when needed, and again, he still had ways to go, already with enormous impact. He was sort of like a taller "version" of Bill Russell with good athleticism but not as good, with better scoring, bit worse defense and rebounding but even better passer.
MVP, FMVP leading his team to the title, DPOY in 1978 most likely if the award was already given... All before 26 years old. Still got to win another title and 6MOY as a shell, too.
Blazers were something like 48-10 before he went down in 1978, and they finished 58-24, not being able to win the title again obviously.