Few people in sports media have a way with words quite like Bill Walton does. Only Walton could compare an NBA team’s offense to a body of water and have it make sense. Walton somehow managed to compare Nikola Jokić to Dirk Nowitzki and his role in the Denver Nuggets offense to the Arkansas River in only a way he could. And yet we all probably watched the clip and collectively said, ‘Yeah, that checks out.”
Walton made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday and between him and McAfee, the personalities were off the charts. Walton, who made his appearance virtually, had a unique Zoom background that made him look like Zordon from the Power Rangers franchise. He later described that it was where he lives on planet Earth and it’s a mural he created with some of his favorite places.
“I am very much into nature,” he said. “I tried to be tuned into nature.”
When Walton, a great big man in his heyday, wasn’t busy gushing over nature, he was gushing over Jokić and the Nuggets.
He's shooting like this @BillWalton 💦#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/CGMpALm6Fr
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 1, 2023
“Nobody has been able to take the control of the flow of the game away from Nikola Jokić, who is such a remarkable player in every way,” Walton said.
Walton was amused by McAfee mimicking Jokić’s jump shot. “Splash,” he said.
“He’s a combination shooting-wise of Jack Sikma, of Dirk Nowitzki, of Patrick Ewing,” Walton added. He’s just a remarkable, mind-dominant player. He’s smart as can be. There’s every aspect of the game he’s totally in control of. And what I love, I love the team game…Denver plays the team game because their best player, Nikola Jokić, is so humble and so selfless. And he enjoys passing. His passes are timely and accurate. When you have that, it allows the offense to flow seamlessly, pretty much like the Arkansas River coming off the eastern slope of the continental divide.”
Leave it to Walton to take us on a trip through nature, while using it as a way to personify Jokić’s game. McAfee looked as stunned as could be, as he made motions with his hands to indicate a river flowing.
McAfee and Walton mesh pretty well with one another. There’s certainly a chance we’ll see more of Walton on the Pat McAfee Show, now that it’s set to move to ESPN, the same network which the former is a college basketball analyst for. Perhaps next time he can compare Joel Embiid’s offensive game to the Missouri River.
