Bill Walton was in peak form for the Arizona-Texas A&M game Tuesday night on ESPN2.
Walton was paired with play-by-play man Dave Pasch, who does an amazing job putting up with Walton’s wacky commentary and understanding Walton’s unique sense of humor. This was put on display in one of the first sequences of the broadcast (the Texas-VCU ending on ESPN2 went a couple minutes into this game), when they were talking about Arizona star center DeAndre Ayton, the potential top pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Walton said, “You just look at him and you say, ‘Oh my gosh, I believe in evolution.'” That was followed by a hilarious back-and-forth between Walton and Pasch.
And Walton had more commentary on evolution near the end of the broadcast, telling Pasch, “Not only do you hate my grandchildren, you don’t believe in evolution.”
The bizarre grandchildren commentary began earlier in the second half. Again, it really is incredible how well Pasch puts up with this, and in doing so, he brings out the best/weirdest of Walton.
Walton referred to this Texas A&M possession as “one of the four worst possessions in Aggie history.”
Walton made Pasch laugh by calling this Texas A&M horrible shot a “great pass.”
And Walton said he was going to impale himself on a cactus.
During a promo for SportsCenter with SVP, Pasch asked Walton if he knows what a “Bad Beat” is, and no, Walton does not know. But he tried to offer an explanation, and that was interesting.
As you can gather from all of these clips, it went on and on like this for the entire broadcast.
In the last 5 minutes of Arizona-Texas A&M, Bill Walton has:
-Compared himself to solar energy
-Gushed about a Fleetwood Mac concert
-Showed off a picture of Dave Pasch's grandchildren that Dave didn't know he hadHe is a national treasure and I hope he lives forever
— devin kharpertian (@uuords) December 6, 2017
Gotta feel for Dave Pasch calling this A&M/ Arizona hoops game
— Mike McGlinchey (@mmcglinch68) December 6, 2017
Make up for it by coming to play for the @AZCardinals so I can do YOUR games (minus Bill, of course). https://t.co/eStRxLFShE
— Dave Pasch (@DavePasch) December 6, 2017
[ESPN2]
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.