Perspective | Bill Walton, brilliant on the court, became basketball’s bard

Everybody who met Bill Walton has a story about him.

Walton, who died Monday at 71 after a bout with cancer that he never talked about publicly, was, without question, one of the best basketball players of all time, even though his career was interrupted by foot and ankle injuries that dated to his days as a 6-foot-11 center at Helix High near San Diego. At one point in his career, despite the various injuries he dealt with, teams Walton played on went through four consecutive undefeated seasons: Helix his senior year (33-0); the UCLA freshmen team (which went 20-0 at a time when freshmen couldn’t play varsity ball); and the John Wooden-led UCLA dynasty, which went 30-0 in both his sophomore and junior years.