They were the two greatest players in college basketball history, separated by just a couple of years in Westwood. Lew Alcindor was 88-2 with three national titles at UCLA from 1967-69. A couple of years later the Big Red-Head, Bill Walton, arrived on campus and guided the Bruins to two more championships and an 86-4 record. John Wooden's dynasty was literally centered around these two stars.
Now, the two former college standouts are on the cover of Sports Illustrated as they are about to face-off for the first time in the NBA, in Dayton, Ohio of all places. The Milwaukee Bucks and 3-time MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar against the Portland Trailblazers and their number one overall pick... Bill Walton. It was as big of a matchup as one could imagine for a preseason game with the center of attention on the two teams prolific centers.
Bob Ryan covered the NBA for the Boston Globe for over 40 years and is known within the industry as a basketball guru. He's seen it all. He's covered it all. And he has the stories to prove it. He joins us for a 3rd time to discuss the dominance of Kareem, how Walton helped Portland become a championship team. How both of them loved music and how his friend Bill went from a shy college kid, to an announcer who "would never shut up."
Ryan and Walton went from a working connection to a relationship built on trust and respect that lasted for the better part of almost 40 years until Bill's untimely death this past May. If you want to talk about the NBA in 1974, there is nobody better to do that with than Bob Ryan... and that's what we do this week on the Past Our Prime podcast.
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