Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton dies of cancer at age 71

Bill Walton, who starred for John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins before becoming a Basketball Hall of Famer and one of the biggest stars in basketball broadcasting, died Monday, the league announced on behalf of his family.

Walton, who had a prolonged fight with cancer, was 71.

He was the NBA’s MVP in the 1977-78 season, a two-time champion as a player, and a member of both the NBA’s 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams. That all followed a college career in which he was a two-time champion at UCLA and a three-time national player of the year.

“Bill Walton,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said, “was truly one of a kind.”

Walton was the star of the Portland Trail Blazers team that stunned the 76ers to win the NBA Finals in 1977. Directed by Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, the former St. Joseph’s and Sixers coach, Walton and the Blazers came back from a two-games-to-none deficit with four straight wins to capture the championship.

On June 5, 1977, Walton collected 20 points and 23 rebounds in a 109-107 victory in the decisive Game 6 against Julius Erving, George McGinnis, and the Sixers.