Why is Bill Walton in the Hall of Fame?

Question

4923 rebs, 1590 assists, 380 steals, 1034 blocks, 6215 points are his career totals. How in the world did he get to the hall? And please don't tell me it's because he was great in college. It was only 3 seasons and he just played 10 seasons and 468 games in the NBA. What is wrong with this world!? lol
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/waltobi01.html

FYI Magic player 13 seasons and had way better stats than that!

Answer 1

You've put your finger on the biggest problem with the Basketball Hall of Fame. There's a Pro Football Hall of Fame and a College Football Hall of Fame, but the basketball version covers everyone, including overseas contributors. The college basketball hall of fame is just getting started; we'll have to see how it does. (It's not an issue in baseball and hockey.)

Guys like Walton and Bradley are odd cases in that sense. They were clearly dominant in college to the point where it is almost impossible to ignore their contributions. I would guess you could compare them in a sense to Sandy Koufax and Gale Sayers, great players who performed at clear Hall of Fame levels for a while but had careers cut short to injury.

Walton and Bradley probably are on a list of the top 20 college players ever, and that's not an insignificant line on a basketball resume.

Answer 2

It's called the BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME; there's no such thing as the NBA hall of fame, which explains why you see WNBA coaches and players in it. Walton was the greatest college basketball player of all-time, winning 3 National player of the year and 3 National championships at UCLA. Also, if it weren't for his back injuries, he'll be in the top 10 of all-time centers. Some people get into the Hall of fame based on their college career, alone.

Answer 3

In the NBA, Bill Walton won an NBA Title in 1977, and an NBA MVP trophy in 1978. However, he did not get in the Hall-of-Fame because of his pro career. He was voted into the Hall primarily because of his college career. He was a three-time All-American, leading UCLA to an 86-4 record and NCAA Titles in 1972 and 1973. Once hit 21 out of 22 shots in the NCAA Finals.
This is also the reason Bill Bradley is in the Hall-of-Fame. Bradley won NBA titles with NY in 1970 and 1973, but only had a so-so NBA career. Just like Walton, his college career however, was outstanding.

Answer 4

I hate to tell you this, but it's got to be his college career.
His pro career was so-so (he did win a NBA Title with the Trailblazers), but when you combine that with his college career, (Two Titles at UCLA), that's probably how he got in. It shouldn't be for his NBA only.

During his time in college all players only got three years to play. Here are his college accomplisjhments ( from Wikipedia): When UCLA the national title in 1972 over Florida State and again in 1973 with an 87-66 win over Memphis State, Walton made an impressive 21 of 22 field goal attempts and scored 44 points. Some regard this as the greatest ever offensive performance in American college basketball. The Walton-led 1971-1972 UCLA basketball team had a record of 30-0, in the process winning its games by an average margin of more than 30 points,one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time.

He was the backbone of two consecutive 30-0 seasons and was also part of UCLA's NCAA record 88 game winning streak.

Bill Walton was the 1973 recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Walton also received the USBWA College Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year as the top college basketball player in the country three years in a row while attending UCLA, at the same time earning Academic All-American honors three times. Some college basketball historians rate Walton as the greatest who ever played the game at the college level.

That year, Walton went 21-22 in the 1973 championship game against Memphis State with 44 points. In Bill Walton's senior year of 1973-1974, UCLA was inexperienced at guard, and the school's streak of seven consecutive national titles was snapped when North Carolina State defeated the Bruins 80-77 in double overtime in the NCAA semi-finals.

With the departures of Wooden and Walton, the UCLA dynasty came to an end.

Answer 5

While he did not play a long time, by the standards of many others. When, he did play he was by far the best passing center in the NBA. Only Tim Duncan of today would be in his class. Quite frankly he dominated any center in the league that tried to play man on him. Statistics don't always drive the reason some one is in the HOF. Statistically speaking Magic Johnson shouldn't be there either, because he only played 10 years.

Answer 6

I have no clue