[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 100 (Thursday, June 13, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H3980-H3981]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LEGENDARY BILL WALTON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Peters) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PETERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the loss of one of San 
Diego's most accomplished native sons and one of our most devoted 
citizens. On May 27, Bill Walton passed away from colon cancer at just 
71 years of age.
  Most people know Bill Walton as a successful basketball player, and 
that he certainly was.
  After winning titles at Helix High, he enrolled at UCLA where he was 
a three-time college player of the year, and he led the Bruins to two 
national championships in 3 years.
  In the NBA, despite a series of injuries, he won titles with the 
Portland Trail Blazers and the Boston Celtics, and he had an all-around 
game.
  His college coach, the great John Wooden, said: ``Walton is the type 
of player who wouldn't have to score at all, yet he'll dominate the 
game.''
  Magic Johnson called Bill ``one of the smartest basketball players to 
ever live.''
  Most count Bill as one of the two greatest college players ever, 
along with Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bill was 
inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and included 
in ESPN's ranking of the 50 greatest basketball players of all time.

  Bill retired from basketball almost 40 years ago, so his most famous 
accomplishments, those on the basketball court, have been history for a 
long time now. However, his generosity, his gratitude, and his 
determination, which set an example for me and so many, were present to 
the very end, and we will miss those qualities very much at home.
  I understand when he was young, Bill may have been a bit cranky. 
Well, I never knew that Bill Walton. By the time I met him, he wanted 
to make everyone happy. He wanted to volunteer. He wanted to help. He 
wanted to boost San Diego.
  Bill was a champion for the poor and for addressing homelessness 
through

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his work with the Lucky Duck Foundation, Champions for Health, Father 
Joe's Villages, and Feeding San Diego. He supported the Brad Fowler 
Memorial Scholarship, which used sports to help teens overcome 
substance abuse. He helped the Challenged Athletes Foundation equip 
disabled people to participate in sports.
  He helped San Diego State become a national basketball power. He 
cared deeply about the environment and joined the activists and 
organizations working to protect San Diego's natural resources. He 
never just raised money, although he was willing to do that. He was 
there personally to thank, to encourage, to congratulate, always with a 
big smile and never intending to be the center of attention, but 
inevitably always the center of attention.
  Bill also faced hard times. The injuries he had suffered in sports 
led to such intolerable pain that Bill actually considered ending his 
own life. Fortunately, medical innovations in spine surgery helped him 
have close to a normal life, though he often brought his own tall chair 
with him so he could have a more comfortable spot for his 7-foot frame 
to sit.
  Given the physical pain he suffered, I guess it is a little ironic 
that when you encountered Bill, what you noticed was his joy. You could 
feel that joy when he did a basketball broadcast or when he talked 
about the Grateful Dead or when he told basketball stories about Coach 
Wooden or about Larry Bird. Thankfully, he found joy in riding his 
bicycle.
  When I rode the Bike the Bay with him once, he told me that that was 
really important to him. Even though this amazingly accomplished world-
class competitor was notoriously slower on a bike than his friends, he 
would regularly proclaim himself the luckiest man in the world. Just 
being healthy enough to ride was the win.
  Mr. Speaker, I offer condolences to Bill's wife, Lori; to his sons; 
Adam, Nate, Luke, and Chris; and his grandchildren; Olivia, Avery Rose, 
and Chris.
  Bill Walton was a great San Diegan and a great American, and while we 
will miss him so much, he will live on through the thousands he served 
as a philanthropist, as a citizen, and as an example.

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