With the passing of NBA legend Bill Walton on May 27, the NBA family lost one of its legends. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first broke the news of the 71-year-old’s death on X, formerly Twitter. The two-time NBA champion’s cause of death was cancer.

The Hall of Famer fought a “prolonged battle” with cancer, however, it was unclear what kind of cancer he had, according to ESPN.

Walton was chosen in the 1974 NBA Draft with the first overall choice. The Portland Trail Blazers selected him following his illustrious career at UCLA.

In addition to winning the NBA championship twice, in 1977 and 1986, he also received the MVP award during the first NBA Finals. To add to his already outstanding list of achievements, he also won the league MVP title in 1977 and the Sixth Man of the Year award in 1986.

His number 32 jersey was retired by the Trail Blazers, making it an enduring memento.

Bill Walton helped the Portland Trail Blazers win their lone NBA championship.

Fans of the Portland Trail Blazers for a long time will have pleasant memories of Bill Walton. Ultimately, he guided the team to its lone NBA championship victory in history.

The Blazers’ lone championship triumph was in 1977, under head coach Jack Ramsay’s tenure. Under the direction of Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas, Walton and the Blazers finished 49–33 in the 1976–77 campaign.

Walton played in 65 games that season, averaging 18.6 points, 14.4 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks. For the Hall of Fame center, it was also the first of two All-Star selections made in that year. In addition, he came in second in the MVP voting to the then-LA Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He later became a member of the legendary Boston Celtics team, which included players like Rick Carlisle and Danny Ainge. Legends like Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish were also on that team.

With the Celtics, Walton largely played off the bench. Despite playing in only two of the 80 games that year, he averaged 7.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks, good for sixth man of the year. Walton won his second NBA Title that season when the Boston Celtics defeated the Houston Rockets in six games.

Bill Walton suffered numerous injuries throughout his career. He missed four complete seasons, from the time he entered the league in 1974 until his retirement in 1988. After retiring from competition, he went on to become one of the most reputable sports broadcasters.