Bill Walton Quotes

• "At 49, I can say something I never would have said when I was a player, that I'm a better person because of my failures and disgraces."
• "Bill Russell was my favorite player of all-time."
• "But you have to understand, my beard is so nasty. I mean, it's the only beard in the history of Western civilization that makes Bob Dylan's beard look good."
• "Growing up, my parents were very, very strict. And then I went to UCLA with John Wooden, who was just off the charts."
• "I don't sleep much. I'm on the go. My mind is racing. My wife says my mind is like the rolling dials on a slot machine. So, yeah, I think about everything."
• "I love to cheer, and yell, and joke and to celebrate the best basketball in the world. And to see these new players, to see how good they are-guys like Paul Pierce and Jason Kidd and, of course, Shaq and Kobe, who are just off the charts. It's a real pleasure."
• "I mean, I'm 6-foot-11, I've got red hair, freckles, I'm a goofy, nerdy-looking guy, I've got a speech impediment-I stutter and stammer all the time-and I'm a Deadhead."
• "I might be the most injured athlete in the history of sports. I've had 31 operations. An endless string of stress fractures."
• "I was a skinny, scrawny guy. I stuttered horrendously, couldn't speak at all. I was a very shy, reserved player and a very shy, reserved person. I found a safe place in life in basketball."
• "I'm mainstream. Always have been."
• "Life is about growth. People are not perfect when they're 21 years old."
• "Right now, you know, it's not about the refs or anything else, it's about hitting first, getting on the run and never looking back."
• "That's what makes it so fun to be on a team. You're sitting at your house, thinking up this wild, crazy stuff as to how it's going to go, and the other guys are sitting at their houses doing the same thing."
• "Well, we've made some changes on this tour. We're no longer sleeping in the parking lots and swimming in the fountains. We've been staying in hotels most of the way, though I will say some hotels have declined to take us because we're just having too much fun."
• "Where else but the NBA could people like Bill Russell, Spencer Haywood, Ricky Barry, Dennis Rodman and Allen Iverson come in and be allowed to be who they are?"
• "Without question, no hesitation, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the best player I ever played against."