When Bill Walton is calling a game, you know it’s likely to get strange. He’s done everything from bringing up Mozart and Steve Jobs to sampling mushrooms off a tree branch to taking off his shirt to growling like a bear to discussing bridges, weed and volcanoes. Walton has been in Hawaii this week for ESPN’s coverage of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, and he’s again made it anything but typical. First, here’s Walton with a plant that he used to screen out play-by-play voice Jason Benetti (and bring in the “What’s your name?” gag he usually uses on Dave?):
Here’s him giving Jay Bilas a massage:
Here's @BillWalton ̶a̶b̶u̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ giving @jaybilas a massage pic.twitter.com/btXnlQ4edO
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 20, 2018
Here’s when he brought up “The spirit of Danny Ainge, the joyous, boyish enthusiasm of just an incredible force of nature?”
Some further highlights from Twitter:
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/1064633112573956096
Bill Walton just talked about playing Wheel of Fortune against Dick Butkus. Here's Bill winning a car after Phil Esposito blew it and Dick Butkus loses his mind pic.twitter.com/Mnr5TAdz4h
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 20, 2018
“They come [to the Maui Channel] to breed in the summertime. I prefer to breed year-round.”
— Bill Walton, talking about humpback whales before lurching into TMI territory— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) November 20, 2018
Bill Walton: "Did your dad play for Jerry Tarkanian?"
Jason Benetti: "My dad was an air traffic controller."
Bill Walton: "How cool would it have been, though, if your dad had played for Jerry Tarkanian?"
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) November 20, 2018
Bill Walton: “Finally, somebody put some WD-40 on this game.”
Benetti: “Got all the creaks out.”
Walton: “That’s what WD-40 does. It works when you drink it too.”
Benetti: “That is not true.”
— Bonkers Productions (@passmethatBONK) November 20, 2018
.@jasonbenetti says oddsmakers took a beating when he found out @BillWalton didn't know what Kombucha tea was pic.twitter.com/KaiIJMujpL
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 20, 2018
“Do you fertilize your garden?”
— Bill Walton, while calling an actual basketball game involving the No. 3 team in the country— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) November 20, 2018
Bill Walton just mentioned the World's Largest Truck Stop in Walcott. Life is good.
— Mike Hlas (@Hlas) November 20, 2018
I need more Bill Walton in my life. Goes from saying the refs should quit calling tic tac fouls to explaining volcanic island formation and the biodiversity contained on them without missing a beat.
— Charles U. Farley (@krakhouse) November 20, 2018
There are always going to be plenty of people criticizing Walton and hoping for more standard analysis, but he’s very appreciated from this corner. We’ll take non-sequiturs about humpback whales over typical color commentary any day.
[Matt Clapp on Clippit]
